Meeting the Needs of a Child's Speech, Communication, and Language

Speech , language and communication are closely tied to other areas of development, this learning outcome requires you to understand and be able to explain links between speech and development and the likely impact of any difficulties that children may have in acquiring speech, communication and language.

Early identification of speech, language or communication delay is important for a child or young persons’ well-being. All practitioners have a responsibility to identify children’s needs and intervene with appropriate support as early as possible, to help children achieve the goals of ‘Every Child Matters’ and progress towards the Early Learning Goals. The importance of early language and communication skills for children’s later achievements is now well documented and the need to provide support for children at this early stage is so that they can achieve their full potential. This means recognising a child’s difficulty quickly:

Speech is way of communicating to people it means speaking, verbal communication or to express thoughts, feelings and ideas. Children may learn through copying other children or adults which helps them to produce sounds which will then help to say words that other people can understand. In my setting I have non-verbal children so there speech is usually babbling or making a gesture through pointing.

Identify and describe the different strategies and targets that can support children and young people’s speech, language and communication needs.

1.1 People communicate by many ways including non-verbal highlighting facial expression, eye contact, body language, physical gestures such as touch, dress and behavior, along with verbal including tone and pitch of voice. The age and knowledge of a person one is communicating with, also dictates somewhat the amount of vocabulary i.e words and terms used too . People communicate to share ideas, information, educate, build relationships, express feelings and emotions, to be social, ask questions and expand their knowledge and share different experiences.

Speech means that someone is speaking out loud to inform someone what is on their mind or how they feel. For example, a child telling a practitioner what they did the previous night. Language is a preferred way of communicating with someone. For example, a child may use hand signs as well as using verbal communication, pointing at what they are talking about. Communication is about different methods of telling people information. For example, a child may speak out loud to an adult. Someone who has speech, language and communication needs (SLC needs) has a problem when it comes to communication. This could be because they speak another language which many do not, or they could have learning difficulties which can make it harder to understand many things.

4.1 Analyse the importance of early identification of speech, language and communication delays and disorders and the potential risks of late recognition. It is essential that speech, language and communication delays and disorders are noticed early so the relevant interventions can be used to support the child or young person. Answer the questions below.

Speech – The act of speaking, verbal communication. The act of expressing or describing thoughts, feelings or ideas by articulate sounds or words.

Sam is an adopted child. Quite early on his adoptive parents had concerns about his speech and language. They noticed he uses very few single words and is very reluctant to communicate with anyone. Initially they thought he is feeling shy or taking time to adjust to new environment but Sam started having more tantrums. They were worried about his communication and ability to cope at nursery school. He was referred to the Speech and Language Therapy Service when he was two years old.

Communication can be defined as a social interaction where at least two interacting agents share a common set of signs and a common set of rules (Schramm, 1954). There are different forms of communication, verbal and non-verbal. Verbal communication can be defined as a

But “if there is a difficulty understanding what people say, difficulty speaking or forming sounds or words and using language in appropriate social contexts then this can affect a child’s behaviour and emotional development”. (Speech, Language Communication Action Plan 2011)

The word speech when used in relation to children and young people’s development literally means the act of speaking, verbal communication, or to express thoughts, feelings, or ideas.

As adults caring for children it is important to support and encourage them in their speech, language and communication skills.

How could knowing various theories of speech and language development help you understand a child’s speech and language problems?

Language is the way of human communication. It is how thoughts, feelings, knowledge, opinions, beliefs, mannerisms and intentions are communicated and shared. Language is typically thought to just be spoken or written, however it has many depths. Language can be communicated through gestures, glances, changes in tone of voice and other supplementary communication devices to emphasize what we say and do (O'Neil, 1998-2009). Humans are the only species to have a known language communication. Most non-human species can link information between each other however no other species is known to have such a complex communication structure such as language (Gee, 2011).