Every pupil should have access to high quality speech and language support, as well as those who are struggling, according to a charity.
In a white paper published ahead of the government’s SEND reforms, which will be unveiled later this year, Speech and Language UK said investment must include better training for school staff to spot and support children who are facing challenges with communication.
This support should include working with technology and developing lesson plans that will help pupils with speech and language problems to learn.
According to the charity, about two million children in the UK have speech and language challenges of some kind.
Isolation and frustration
The report said: “Too many people who work with children simply haven’t been given the training or the tools they need to help. Teachers, for example, often aren’t trained to spot issues and offer support.
“This means that school can be tough for children with speech and language challenges. They can find it impossible to keep up with their lessons or make friends. Feeling misunderstood, isolated, and frustrated, their mental health can suffer.
“Rigid behaviour and attendance policies mean children are often punished for things that aren’t their fault, like not following instructions.”
A plan for the future
The charity’s eight-point plan also includes:
- Rethinking what children learn so that it supports the development of speech, language and communication skills, so that it prioritises talking and words in the early years
- Ensuring that every school has access to specialists, including speech and language therapists and specialist teachers with extra qualifications and training. Teachers of children who are deaf or who have multi-sensory challenges should take specific qualifications for those jobs
- Delivering enough quality special schools for children with complex speech and language challenges across England, so that no child is deprived of an education
- Getting better value out of special schools, with national accreditation programmes for schools which operate as speech, language and communication specialists
- Guaranteeing access to help so that families do not have to fight for support, and so that children’s rights are protected by law. Families should get free advocacy during the EHCP process, rather than having to become experts by themselves
- Launching a National Year of Speech and Language to provide parents, carers and professionals with information and support – and change how speech and language challenges are viewed
- Being clear in all government statements that children who struggle with talking and understanding words face different challenges and have different needs. The government often conflates these difficulties with lifelong conditions such as Developmental Language Disorder
The report added: “When we get SEND reform right, it will be transformative for children, their families, and our society.”
