Speech and language videos and resources

>> Female narrator: Welcome to this video about Augmentative and Alternative Communication, often shortened to AAC.

By watching this video, you will:

• gain an overview of what AAC is
• learn what our top tips are for using AAC

AAC can come in lots of forms.

A Speech and Language Therapist may recommend using:

• individual symbols 
• signing 
• objects 
• activity boards
• core boards
• communication boards 
• a communication book
• switches
• a Voice Output Communication Aid, often shortened to VOCA

We need to learn with the AAC user

When we use AAC, we have to learn what the symbols or signs mean as well as the individual. It is almost like learning a different language!

Look at this picture; do you know what these symbols mean?

It is our job as a communication partner to model the words alongside the symbols or signs.

Did you know what the symbols meant?

[pause]

The research tells us that 89% of children and young people had an increase in using language, that is, talking, after implementing AAC. None of the AAC users involved in the research lost any of their spoken language skills.

AAC does not stop verbal communication. People will use verbal communication if they can, as this can be the most efficient way of communicating for those who have functional skills. AAC augments communication, which means it adds to it; it does not take away any other skills.

Now we are going to look at our top tips for using AAC.

Firstly, AAC needs to be seen and heard.

An AAC user will have to hear words, and see you pointing to the symbols, or using signs lots of times, before being able to use them themselves.

It is important that we show individuals how to use symbols and signs lots of times, in lots of different situations.

We should be modelling for at least 18 months before expecting them to start using their AAC more effectively.

The more someone hears and sees a word or symbol or sign being used, the more likely they will use it themselves.

Talk and use AAC

It is important we keep talking whilst using AAC.

For example if we are signing to child or young person and want to sing a song, we should pick out the key words to sign as we sing.

If you are using symbols, remember to talk and point. Again, pick out the key words. You can start with one word. For example, if you are at the park, you can say “Look a duck!” and point to the ‘look’ symbol. The actual duck is already there for you to point to!

When you are using AAC, pause to see if the individual wants to communicate with you. This does not have to be by using AAC; it could be a different communication method such as a smile to show enjoyment, or pointing to something.

It is important we do not put pressure on someone to use AAC. This can make it feel like work or stop them from wanting to use it for fun and enjoyable interactions. Remember, it should be a conversation, not a test, so try not to ‘force’ them to point to or sign things.

Like we said before, it can take some time for someone to feel confident to use AAC, so if they do not initially respond, keep modelling!

Communicating is more than requesting.

Use the AAC for more than just requesting things. We communicate for lots of different reasons for example:

• Greeting
• Commenting
• Protesting
• Questioning
• Describing

Make sure the AAC user is hearing and seeing these types of language use.

Use a variety of AAC

We can use AAC alongside other forms of communication, and it is really useful to do so. If someone speaking cannot find the word they want to use in their head, they often use other strategies such as pointing or gesturing. This is the same for an AAC user.

Some example of other types of AAC include:

• Pointing
• Gesturing
• Using objects
• Photos
• Songs
• Written words
• Spoken words

It is OK to make mistakes

AAC users need to see that we all make mistakes. Take this as an opportunity to share humour, and show them it is OK to make mistakes!

Show your working! The AAC user needs to see how you find things and problem-solve. You can say "I'm looking” or “I’m thinking" to keep their engagement. 

Use AAC all day and everywhere

If you are using symbols, a communication book or boards, or activity boards, where possible always keep AAC around the user so it is there for you to use it with them.

At home or school, keep the AAC with the user or in a consistent place so they know where it is when they want to use it.

Get everyone involved

As we grow up, we learn language from lots of different people.

Ask siblings, family members, school or setting staff, professionals, and friends to watch this video and then show them how to use the AAC.

The more normal and used the AAC is, the more likely the individual will be to use it. We all communicate in different ways, so it is important to show AAC users that we do this, and they can choose how they would like to communicate or use AAC.

Lastly, Have fun!

It is good to have fun with AAC! In fact, we should target this.

Expand from choice making around routines to thinking about what motivates the user.

Use the AAC system with them to support their understanding of your spoken language.

AAC users are more likely to use their system if communication is fun!

For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

The resources section has lots of useful information for supporting speech, language and communication needs and the training section hosts a range of free to access to videos as well bookable workshops.

Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

Thank you

Slide 1: Choice Boards. 

>> Male Narrator: Welcome to this video about choice boards. 

By watching this video, you will:

• know when to use choice boards
• will have explored how you can make one for a child or young person.

Choice boards are a great way of showing your child the power of communication – to make a choice about something that they really want.

A choice board is a way to visually present options to a child within an activity or a situation.

It is a visual represented by real objects, photos, symbols, or text.

We use choice boards to support spoken language for example, “shall we play with bricks or cars?”

A visual choice board can make the choices more concrete and help children understand more easily.

For children who have limited expressive language skills and/or are developing their spoken language skills, choice boards allow them to express their choice. They may do this by reaching for their preferred object or pointing to a photo or symbol.

So, where do you start?

First, identify what choices are meaningful to the child or young person, for example, preferred activities, favourite foods or drink or places. It is important to choose play activities closely linked to the child’s interests. That could be bubbles, a tea party, train track or even doing each other's makeup or hair. 

Think about how you can use choice boards in a range of contexts or situations. Try to avoid just having choice boards around one activity or routine for example mealtimes. This gives the child the opportunity to communicate in more situations.

Once you have decided on the meaningful activities then take photos of the item or activity.

Try to take these with a white or plain background so the item stands out.

You could also use logos from a favourite character such as Paw Patrol or Spiderman or cut logos from favourite food packaging such as crisps or cereal.

The next step is to print the photos.

You want the choice board to be accessible so aim for the photos to be about the size shown on screen 6-8 photos per A4 page is ideal.

Although not essential, it can be beneficial to laminate the pictures and the choice board so that they last longer. You can use Velcro or blue tack to help keep the photos in place – but again this is not essential.

Sometimes you might need to decrease the number of choices. For example if a child normally chooses from 8 options but they are distressed or dysregulated, it may be beneficial to present them with 2 to 4 choices during that time.

Present the symbol, object or photo choices whilst verbally labelling and pointing to them. When the child indicates their preference, the adult should verbally label the item again, and immediately give the object to the child. You could start by introducing symbols or photos alongside a single activity. It is important to show the pictures alongside the activity.

>> Female narrator: Let’s choose our snack. Biscuits, cheddars, biscuits, cheddars. Choose.

>> Male narrator: If the child does not respond to the photos, then offer them the objects as choices. If, or when they indicate their choice toward an object, then reinforce their choice by directing their attention to the photo representation and immediately give them the object.

When verbally labelling the item, we can build in pauses to provide an opportunity for the child to imitate to the word if they want to, however, we should not actively attempt to get them to copy our words.

As the child gets more comfortable or confident with the system you can add photos and build on the number of choices. 

>> Female narrator: Let’s choose what we’re going to play with. Tambourine. Cups. Bubbles

[Pause]

>> Male narrator: Always reinforce the choice.

>> Female narrator: Bubbles!

Here are some top tips for using a choice board

1. Create opportunities for communication. Think about times in the child’s day where there are opportunities for requesting, for example requesting more snack, requesting to be pushed on the swing, requesting a toy from the shelf.
2. Use the board consistently. The more you use the board to support communication, the more familiar the child will become with the strategy and the more their understanding of symbols and alternative forms of communication will develop.
3. The child needs to have lots of opportunities to learn how to use their choice board in a meaningful way. They may not understand straight away; this is all a part of learning.
4. Encourage use of the board through modelling it yourself. Do not ‘test’ the child using the board as this could deter them from using it. For example, do not ask your child to ‘find symbol X’ or to ‘point to symbol Y’.  
5. Equally we should never physically move the child’s hand or finger to point to the board. This could deter them from using the board and will not necessarily help their understanding of the symbols. Accept a total communication approach – for example, if the child doesn’t point with their finger but uses their eyes, this is totally fine.
6. Respond to every use of a symbol. If the child points to a photo or object by accident, you should still respond to them as if it was meaningful. For example, if they point to the ‘bubbles’, but you know that they want the ‘cups’, you should verbally label ‘bubbles’ and give it to them. This helps the child understand the meaning behind using their communication board.

For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

The resources section has lots of useful information for supporting speech, language and communication needs and the training section hosts a range of free to access to videos as well bookable workshops.

Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

Thank you

>> Narrator: Welcome to this introductory video about how to support social communication. 

In this short video, we will learn how to make activities desirable, meaningful, and predictable.

It is useful to think about how the children and young people we work with may experience the world, and how this links to their social communication.

For some children, social information may not be as motivating as non-social information. For example, they might be very motivated to learn words about their favourite objects or subjects, but less motivated to learn social language, such as people’s names, or words for actions (for example share, open, give, come). Understanding social information can be challenging for some children. 

Social communication needs to relate directly to the things that are important for the child. It needs to relate to something that the child wants or is motivated by.

This will make social communication desirable and meaningful. 

Here are some strategies for making sure activities are desirable and meaningful for the child:

Likes and interests. Making communication desirable means making activities fun and enjoyable. Making communication meaningful means using things that the child likes. This is particularly important for activities that involve interacting with other people – as this will help the child to associate social interaction with fun. For example, if they are interested in different kinds of transport, you could use this as part of an activity about giving and following instructions. You could also use the child’s interests as the basis for a social group where they can use their social communication and social interaction skills with others who share the same interest.

Modify sensory aspects of the activity and environment. It’s often helpful to think about the impact of any sensory sensitivities and make any necessary adaptations – think about things like noise, space, light and so on. Giving movement breaks in between sitting down or standing still may help the child maintain concentration and might help them with their sensory needs.

Adjust the difficulty of the task and use developmentally appropriate materials, so that it is an achievable jump from what the child can already do. Try to use materials that are adapted to the child’s age and their stage of development.  Perhaps the child can already ask familiar adults for help but struggles to ask unfamiliar adults for help. Making the jump between the two skills may involve opportunities for rehearsal, observation, and practise.

Adjust the group size to allow successful interaction. For example, when the child is learning the activity, you could do it with just one other child, and then add another child when they know the activity well.

Social situations may be confusing or stressful for the child. Providing predictability can help them to navigate social situations with more confidence.

Predictability enables a child to know what to expect and increases the chance of success. For example, by learning the routines and norms of a classroom, children can arrive on time, follow the rules, and engage in learning and social interactions.

Predictability is also essential for building solid relationships. When you know what to expect from someone, you can better understand who they are and what they can offer. This allows you to build a stronger connection with them.

Here are some strategies on how to make activities more predictable.

Use Visual support. This is often helpful for children with social communication difficulties. For example, you can use pictures, written words, timelines, charts, and checklists to structure interactions, show steps and help with transitions.

Have a clear beginning and end, showing a completed example.

Model language that the child can use in social contexts, for example “my turn” or “can I play?”.

Modify your language to the child’s language level. For example, if they are using single words then you can use 1-2-word phrases. 

If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

Watch the other videos on our website including introduction to social communication, comic strip conversations, and social stories, emotional regulation, and zones of regulation.

Access the Neurodiversity Support Pack.

Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school.

For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

Thank you!

>> Narrator: Welcome to this video on emotional regulation.

During this video, you will learn what emotional regulation is and some key strategies for supporting emotional regulation.

Emotional regulation is how people respond to and manage their emotional state. It is what we do to alert or soothe ourselves and how we seek support.

Managing our emotional state is important because it helps us to stay calm. Being able to regulate ourselves allows us to participate in daily activities and maintain a positive sense of wellbeing. It can also help us to interact and communicate with others. 

Children with social communication difficulties may need more support to find out which strategies work best for them. For a child, there is always a reason behind their behaviour. When children present with behaviours that adults find challenging, the child is often communicating a need that they are having difficulty expressing, in a way that we would expect or prefer.

The needs could be communication, for example, when learning becomes too difficult for the child, or sensory for example if they feel the need to move but are prevented from doing so.  

Therefore, we must tune into the child and work together to figure out what they are trying to communicate. When a child needs help regulating their emotions, they benefit from a collaborative approach across home, school, and services, such as, speech and language therapy.

Think about why the child might be carrying out a particular behaviour.

Whilst doing this, think about the environment; what happened before this behaviour, what time of day it is, who or what is around the child, and how often this happens? Thinking about whether there are any patterns to their behaviour can be useful to recognise triggers and use strategies to reduce an escalation of these behaviours. Looking for these patterns could also highlight any areas of development that need further support or adaptations.

To regulate ourselves, we all use strategies. These strategies are often found by copying other people and finding out which ones work best for us. For example, going for a walk when we feel sad, taking some deep breaths when we are feeling angry, exercising when we feel overwhelmed, or talking to a friend when we are upset.

It is key to have knowledge of different strategies to support the child with their emotional regulation. Sensory calming strategies, such as, deep pressure may be useful for some children. Thinking strategies, such as, assessing the size of the problem and discussing responses may also be effective. It is important for the child to know which thinking and which sensory strategies are effective for them.

Acknowledging the child’s emotional needs and providing support can ensure their feelings are being understood. This could be done though verbalising their feelings or using visuals such as, emotion boards, so the child can share how they are feeling. When dysregulated, we all find it more difficult to communicate our thoughts and feelings clearly. Having readily accessible visual support can help a child to identify and express their thoughts and feelings. Visual supports can also be used when the child is in a calm state to help them reflect on periods of emotional dysregulation.

This also makes social situations more predictable, as they may otherwise be confusing or stressful for your child. Your child might not like it when they don’t know what’s going to happen next.  Providing as much predictability as possible when supporting your child’s social communication and social interactions can be very helpful. It can help them to navigate social situations with more confidence.

Please refer to the advice sheet on our website about emotional strategy cards for more information.

Labelling and discussing emotions with the child will increase their emotional vocabulary.

Integrating opportunities to reflect on emotional states throughout the day is important. It provides opportunities for the child to practise emotional regulation skills they have learned and helps the adult to keep track of how the child is feeling. For example, allowing the children to share their emotional state when completing the register.

Using language to ask for help from others is important, for example, you may work with a child to help them to ask the adult for a break. In doing this, you can see how the child responds to assistance or strategies offered by others.

If the child is using unconventional coping strategies, demonstrating another, more effective strategy can be useful for them to copy. For example, modelling asking for help.

More complex strategies could be used, such as, writing a list of what they may need to do when feeling overwhelmed. This can assist with the child’s self-regulation and increases their independence.

Discussing how to cope in future situations is beneficial as the child can feel more in control and prepared. For example, if the child becomes upset or agitated by the sound in the classroom, they can use a card to ask for a break.

Recognising the cause of a child’s emotional dysregulation can help us to put the most effective strategies in place. It is key to model these behaviours to the child and allow them lots of opportunities to practice.

If you would like to find out more about emotional regulation, the websites and links on the screen have lots of useful information.

If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

• watch the other videos on our website including introduction to social communication, how to support social communication, comic strip conversations and social stories, and the zones of regulation
• access the Neurodiversity Support Pack

Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school.

For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

Thank you!

>> Narrator: Welcome to this video about The Zones of Regulation.

In this short video, we will look at what The Zones of Regulation are, how to use them and some top tips about how to do this.

The Zones of Regulation help to support a young person's ability to recognise their feelings and emotions and then act to regulate themselves in situations they find difficult to manage. It is a visual method of representing emotions and how you can use strategies to regulate them.

The Zones of Regulation organises emotions into four coloured zones: blue, green, yellow and red. The Blue Zone describes low states of alertness and down feelings such as when a person feels sad, tired, or bored. Our energy is low, and our body is moving slowly when we are in the Blue Zone. The Green Zone describes a calm yet alert state. We may be feeling happy or peaceful in the Green Zone. The Yellow Zone describes when our energy is higher, and our internal state starts to elevate. Our emotions get a little stronger. We may be experiencing frustration, anxiety, excitement, or confusion when in the Yellow Zone. The Red Zone describes a state of extremely high energy and intense very overwhelming feelings. We may be in an extremely heightened state of alertness, potentially triggering our fight, flight or freeze protective response. We may be angry, overjoyed, panicking or out of control when in the Red Zones.

You can access The Zones of Regulation website.

Please watch this video to give you an example of how to get started.

Although the green zone is a good zone for learning, there are other situations where being in the red, yellow, or blue zones are more helpful. All the zones are OK. For example, it may be appropriate for you to be in the blue zone when you are resting or getting ready to go to bed, and it’s fine to feel sad when sad things happen. It may be appropriate for you to be in the yellow zone ahead of a new situation for example your first day of school or being excited about going on a trip. It may be appropriate for you to be in the red zone when you have won a football match or if a lion was chasing you.

If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

• watch the other videos on our website including introduction to social communication, how to support social communication, comic strip conversations and social stories, and emotional regulation
• access the Neurodiversity Support Pack

Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school.

For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

Thank you!

Slide 1]

Welcome to this video about understanding words, sentences and beyond.

[Slide 2]

By watching this video, you will:

-          Gain an overview of how we understand language, that is, words, sentences and beyond

-          Know what key words are and how we use them in sentences

-          Know how understanding of questions develops

-          Know what non-literal language is, and

-          Understand how you can help a child or young person who has difficulties in any of these areas.

You can use the markers in the video to skip forward or back to any chapters you need to revisit or want more information on.

For the rest of this video, we will use the terms child or children to refer to children and young people.

[Slide 3]

Children learn to understand the language that they hear before they can use this language to communicate with others. A child’s understanding will usually be ahead of their ability to use spoken language.

As children grow and develop the range of words that they understand will increase, and they will be able to follow longer and more grammatically complex sentences.

Understanding what other people say and mean is a complex process, and involves skills such as attention and listening, understanding vocabulary, verbal reasoning, problem solving, and working memory.

Sometimes Speech and Language Therapists refer to this area as ‘understanding’ and sometimes as ‘receptive language’. Both terms mean how a child understands the words, sentences, and questions that are used with them.

[Slide 4]

A child who has difficulties with understanding may:

•       Need words or sentences to be repeated and/or simplified.

•       Not respond or give irrelevant responses to questions.

•       Only be able to follow parts of instructions.

•       Watch others so that they can work out what to do

•       Have difficulty understanding changes in routines and expectations.

•       Appear quiet, confused, or upset.

•       Become frustrated, withdrawn or avoidant.

Not every child with speech and language needs has difficulties with understanding.

[Slide 5]

There may be a variety of reasons why children do not understand what is said.

It could be because:

•       the child has limited focus

•       They do not know or understand the word or words being said to them

•       the sentence being used is too long

•       the sentence is not in a logical sequence for them to follow

•       OR, all of the above

[Slide 6]

You may have identified a difficulty understanding words, sentences, or beyond, but you are unsure where this difficulty lies.

They could have difficulties understanding:

•       The information carrying words in a sentence

•       The grammatical features of words and sentences

•       Questions

•       Information that is inferred, also known as ‘reading between the lines’

•       That we do not always mean what we say

We will look at each of these areas in more detail.

[Slide 7]

Many words in a sentence are redundant in common everyday situations. For a word to be classed as an ‘information carrying word’ (sometimes called a ‘key word’) there must be an alternative choice for the child to select.

An information carrying word is a word that carries meaning and has an element of choice.

 

The context, the equipment available and the language used determines how many key words are in a sentence or instruction.

Games and activities can be set up to control the level of understanding required.

For more information about how you can support a child to understand 1 to 4 information carrying words, please follow the link on the screen which will take you to this section of our website.

[Slide 8]

From an early age, children begin to develop the rules of grammar and knowledge of concepts, and this increases in complexity with age. For example they begin to understand:

•          Pronouns, like he/she, his/her, their

•          Negatives, using words such as ‘no’ or ‘not’

•          Prepositions, like in/on/under/behind/in front/next to

•          Comparatives, for example, big/bigger/biggest

•          Concepts, which are used to describe a range of ideas including size, colour, number, shape, time and personal qualities

•          Regular and irregular plurals

•          Past, present and future verb tenses

The more the children hear the grammatical features of words and sentences, the more they understand their meaning, and when and how to use them.

[Slide 9]

A child’s understanding of questions develops from easier questions, which are about the ‘here and now’, like “what’s that?” and “which one do we eat?”, to harder questions, which are beyond the ‘here and now’, like “what does erase mean?” and “why might we use a pencil instead of a pen?”

The different level of questions are often referred to as Blank Levels which come from the Blank model. For more information about the Blank model and how you can support in this area, please click on the link which will take you to this section of our website.

A training workshop on the Blank model is available for booking – please visit the training section of our website for more information.

[Slide 10]

Whilst learning what individual words and grammatical features mean, children also start to understand how we infer information, known as inferencing. This means they are required to deduce or conclude something from what was said, and make logical judgements. This is often referred to as ‘reading between the lines’.

Inferencing is a difficult skill to achieve for many children because it involves complex and abstract skills such as:

-          Understanding cause and effect

-          Recognising the emotions and motives of other people

-          Dealing with a variety of outcomes of a situation

-          Accepting the ‘point of view’ of other people

The ability to infer is a core skill to ensure progress through education.

 

[Slide 11]

Children also have to learn that we do not always mean what we say. We commonly use figurative, or non-literal, or ambiguous language, including idioms and metaphors.

[Slide 12]

Non literal language is used regularly in homes and schools, for example

•       “as cool as a cucumber” meaning “calm and relaxed”

•       “it’s raining cats and dogs” meaning “it’s raining heavily”

•       “hang on a minute”, sometimes used as a request which means wait until I am ready which may not be one minute at all, or sometimes used as an objection, dependent on the tone accompanying it, “hang on a minute!”

We often use this type of language without actually realising, but for some children, this can be tricky, and you will need to be aware that you are using figurative language and explain what you mean.

Understanding of non-literal language is dependent upon age, understanding, and experience. However, if a child struggles to follow simple, concrete language, then figurative language will usually be too complex for them to understand.

[Slide 13]

To help a child with understanding difficulties, you can:

Use visuals

Instructions, questions and explanations should always be supported with visual aids where possible. You can:

ü  Use a visual timetable to show the structure of the day or part of the day

ü  Use natural gesture, signs, finger points or eye points while speaking to highlight key words or messages

ü  Use pictures or real life objects to support what is said

ü  Demonstrate wherever possible

ü  Write down key points and vocabulary

ü  Use visual task plans for school aged children to refer back to, to build independence

[Slide 14]

You can: Simplify your language

ü  Use shorter sentences.

ü  Use simpler vocabulary, for example, say “mix together” rather than “combine’.

ü  Use positive statements, for example, “walk” rather than “don’t run”

ü  Avoid using conditional phrases like ‘if’, for example, say “Tom, you are having school dinners”, rather than “If you are having school dinners, please line up at the door”

ü  Emphasise the important words within a sentence and repeat key information.

ü  Explain figurative language, for example, “pull your socks up”

ü  Be explicit with instructions, rather than using inferred language, for example, say “please close the window” rather than “it’s a bit cold in here now”

ü  Where possible, pre-teach information that may come up in a school lesson, so the child may be more motivated to attend, and understand the language being used

[Slide 15]

You can: gain attention and slow down:

ü  Make sure you have gained the child’s attention, for example, by using their name, before giving an instruction or introducing an activity

ü  Slow down your own rate of your speech

ü  Pause more often to allow more time for the child to process information

[Slide 16]

You can: Be aware of instructions

ü  Say things in the logical order you want the child to do them, for example, say “Put your pyjamas on then brush your teeth” instead of “before you brush your teeth, put your pyjamas on”

ü  Break information into smaller chunks.

ü  Repeat information as required. Sometimes it helps to rephrase what you have said. Show the child what you mean if necessary, repeating the language as you do so.

[Slide 17]

You can: Consider your questions:

ü  Remember questions range in complexity For example, ‘how?’, ‘when?’ and ‘why?’ questions require inferencing skills, which may be particularly challenging to answer.

ü  Simplify your questions where possible

ü  Give the child enough time to respond to questions; 10 seconds is encouraged. 

You can: Check understanding:

 Monitor understanding by asking simple questions or looking for clues they have not understood

Ask the child to repeat the key points. This will help you to monitor what they have remembered and understood.

• ü  Encourage the child’s attempts to seek clarification. Praise them when they say they have not understood. Provide prompt phrases like “what does that mean?” or “can you repeat the question please?”

For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website by following the link shown on the screen.

The resources section has lots of useful information and the training section hosts a range of free to access to videos as well bookable workshops.

Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

Thank you!

>> Female narrator: Welcome to this video about using words, sentences and beyond.

By watching this video, you will:

• gain an overview of how we use language, that is, words, sentences and beyond
• understand how you can help with early language development
• understand how you can help with vocabulary development
• understand how you can help with storytelling skills

You can use the markers in the video to skip forward or back to any chapters you need to revisit or want more information on.

Speaking refers to how we use language; that is how we learn to say new words and put them together. This can also include non-verbal communication, such as use of gestures. As children develop, they grow their vocabulary and use longer, more complex sentences.

Speaking requires having words to describe objects, actions and attributes, using words to build up sentences, using sentences to build up conversations and stories, and following the rules of grammar. To be a successful communicator, children need to understand words and sentences before they can use this language to communicate with others. If you are concerned about a child’s understanding, please watch our video titled ‘understanding words, sentences and beyond’.

Sometimes Speech and Language Therapists refer to this area as ‘speaking’ or ‘talking’ and sometimes they will refer to it as ‘expressive language’. Each of these terms mean how a child uses words, sentences, conversations and non-verbal communication.

A child who has difficulties with speaking may:

• use single words or short sentences
• rely on non-verbal communication, like pointing or gestures, to get their message across
• stick to familiar, safe topics
• have limited vocabulary
• struggle to find the correct word, or use the wrong word, made-up words, or ‘empty’ words like “thingy”, “that”
• have difficulties learning and retaining words
• struggle to sequence words into the correct order in a sentence
• struggle to sequence sentences to tell a story
• make errors with grammatical features of language, like pronouns or verb tenses
• appear quiet
• become frustrated, withdrawn or avoidant
• have difficulties with friendships

Not every child with speech and language needs has difficulties with speaking.

There may be a variety of reasons why a child is having difficulties with speaking.

It could be due to:

• having limited exposure to words and sentences
• general learning difficulties
• conditions or disorders which can affect expressive language development, like Autism, or Downs Syndrome, or Developmental Language Disorder, or hearing loss OR
• sometimes there is no obvious cause or reason why a child is having difficulties with speaking

If you have a child who needs support with their early language development; that is, they are not yet using words, or are using some words, but not yet using sentences, here are our top tips:

Let the child lead; this might be in play or in conversation, but hold back and let them take the lead. This will help you to gauge what they are interested in, and how they are communicating with you. They might even surprise you by saying or doing something you had not expected.

Follow their interests in what they are saying, playing with, or motivated by. This can support their attention and listening skills, enabling a child to stay at an activity for a longer time. Using this strategy also helps them, that you are listening to them and valuing what they are saying and what they are doing. By following their interests during open ended activities, you are giving them time and space to think and communicate. For older children having conversations based on their interests shows you are listening and valuing what they say.

Join in with what they are doing. Even if the child is not playing with something as you might expect, go with the flow. By getting involved with children's games and conversations, you are engaging with their world, and building a rapport with them, which means they are more likely to want to communicate with you. This helps develop relationships, and supports social and emotional development.

Speech and Language Therapists often refer to these first few tips as ‘Stop, Listen, Respond’. Counting to 10 can help you to stop and listen first, before you respond or initiate play or conversation.

Ensure you are face-to-face where possible. Get down to the child’s level, for example, on the floor, on your lap, kneel down or lie down. When we are face-to-face, it makes it easier to see messages we are giving each other. This helps to engage the child, shows them that you are interested, and helps them to listen to you.

Say what you see. Comment on what the child is doing using short and simple comments. Children need to hear language in context for them to learn new words. It is important to model language, and comment on what is happening as it happens. The easiest way to comment is to name what the child is doing or the object they are interested in, for example, “you’re painting” or “car!”. If they are older you may wish to use more complex vocabulary, for example, “you’re painting a forest scene”, or “that looks like a sleek car”. Remember to comment using nouns which are the names of objects, people or places, verbs which are doing words, adjectives which are describing words, and more. Avoid non-specific or empty words that do not add in extra language.

Use non verbal communication alongside your words. Over 50% of our message is communicated by our bodies and the situation. Make sure you are using eye contact, gestures or pointing, and changing the intonation, pitch and tone of your voice to match the situation. All of these make it more exciting for the child, for example “vroom vroom the car is coming!” or “oh no the car has skidded off the side of the road”.

Repeat, repeat, repeat. Repetition is key: Children need to hear words over and over again to understand them and be able to use them. Introducing a word once will often not be enough for them to remember that word. If you have ever learned a second language, or attempted to, you will know that you need to hear a word many times to understand it and then use it. Likewise, if you don’t keep hearing the word or using it, you lose it from your vocabulary store.

Interpret what the child is saying and doing. Interpreting their communication attempts is important as it acknowledges what they are trying to say to you, and encourages them to attempt and say more. Over 50% of communication is non-verbal so look out for when children are communicating with you in this way; it could be a point, a look, a change in facial expression or body language. They might lead you somewhere or they might give you something. Accept all attempts at communication then model the words that you would like the child to use instead. For example, they might point to request something, and you could say “you want the banana”. They might bring you their open shoelaces, and you could say “you need help, help tie my shoelaces please”.

Model the correct words and sentences. If a child is making grammatical errors or using incorrect pronunciation, interpret what you think they are saying and model the correct language. For example, if they say “Bobby climb top of tree”, you model back “Bobby has climbed to the top of the tree!”, if they say “wainbow” you could say “yes it’s a rainbow”. Do not draw direct attention to their error, or ask them to copy you back, but they might do this naturally anyway.

Repeat and expand. This is a really useful strategy as it gives children the model they need for the next stage in their language journey. For example, if a child says ‘train' you can add a word so that it becomes 'big train' or 'fast train' or 'drive the train'. For children who are moving on to saying sentences you can add another clause or phrase to expand this, for example, 'big train' becomes 'yes, you're driving a big train’. Speech and Language Therapists sometimes refer to this as ‘match plus 1’.

Extend the child’s vocabulary. What does the word ‘sun’ make you think of? It might generate thoughts like: “hot”, “summer”, “happy”, “yellow”, “bright”, “beach”, “weather”, “shine” and so on. We need to make sure children are exposed to a range of vocabulary. Different types of vocabulary are important; nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and so on.

Speech and Language Therapists often refer to the words we need to expose our children to as ‘Goldilocks words’; they are not too hard, not too easy, but they are useful, likely to be encountered again, and likely to be in the vocabulary of a child who is a year or two ahead of them. For example, with cooking you might introduce them to words like pouring, kneading, stirring, when petting animals you might introduce words like care, gentle, stroke, fluffy, careful and so on. The words you use makes a difference to a child’s vocabulary.

Finally reduce your questions. We previously looked at the importance of using commenting to build a child’s expressive language skills. There is a time and a place for questions, but we need to ensure we are providing good language models, and this happens when we comment rather than question. Speech and Language Therapists often recommend the 1 in 5 rule. This means for every five things you say, only one should be a question, and the others should be comments. It is important to also think about the questions that you are asking; often these are testing questions rather than genuine need-to-know questions. Instead of asking “what is it?”, you could name the object. Instead of asking “what are you doing?”, you could name the action. By commenting, rather than asking a question, you are providing language for the child to learn from.

Did you know parents, or other caregivers including school or setting staff, who talk as they go about their daily activities expose children to 1000 to 2000 words every hour? Just by talking about what you are doing as you are doing it you are building a child’s language skills.

Now we are going to look at strategies to support vocabulary development.

First, Use visuals (pause to allow time to read screen):

• Use pictures, symbols and objects to support understanding and knowledge of words.
• Use a multi-sensory approach that engages more than one sense at a time, rather than relying on spoken language alone.
• Create personal vocabulary books or word glossaries, with diagrams and pictures. 

Use vocabulary learning tools:

• This word map template is available to download on our website or you can make your own.
• Mind Maps are an excellent way of tapping into visual memory skills to support vocabulary learning and recall. For more information on how to use Mind Maps please search for Tony Buzan online. 

Our top tips for supporting vocabulary development:

• Emphasise key words or concepts when speaking for example, “The mouse is UNDER the box”
• Reinforce new vocabulary in different situations and contexts.
• Repeat, repeat, repeat
• Where possible, pre-teach vocabulary that will come up in lessons or conversation topics
• Link new vocabulary to information the child is already familiar with.
• Give phonological or semantic cues to support word-retrieval. For example:
  • the beginning sound of the word
  • the first syllable of the word
  • an associated word
  • describe the word or talk about what it means

For more information about vocabulary development and how you can support this area, please click on the resources picture which will take you to this section of our website. There is also a training workshop on vocabulary – please visit the training section of our website for more information.

Lastly, we are focusing on strategies to support storytelling skills. These are also called narrative skills

You can:

• Use visuals.
• Use first, next, then, and last templates to help structure events. 
• Use story planners or narrative frameworks to help structure stories to support with the ‘beginning’, the ‘middle’ and the ‘end’. The templates shown are available to download on our website or you can make your own.
• Use visual timetables and make explicit reference to events, for example, “First it’s maths, next it’s lunch”.
• Use colour coding approaches to show that question words relate to story components
• Use timelines to help sequencing of past events
• Use mind maps to support recall or planning of a story

Some of the top tips from supporting early language development seen earlier, can also be applied to supporting storytelling or narrative skills.

Model:

• If the child makes a mistake in their sentence or story, help them to repair it by modelling back. You may need to adjust the order, add missing vocabulary, or add grammatical features
• Comment rather than question to allow the child to hear the appropriate language used in sentences and stories. 
• Expand their sentences and stories by repeating and adding one new word or idea.
• Don’t forget to use visuals!

For more information about narrative skills and how you can support this area, please click on the resources picture which will take you to this section of our website. There is also a training workshop on narrative – please visit the training section of our website for more information.

For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

Our Facebook page contains lots of useful ti[ps for supporting speech, language and communication.

Thank you!

Welcome to this introductory video about speech sounds.

In this short video you will learn how speech sounds are made and how they develop.

Let’s start by thinking about speech sounds within the wider context of speech, language and communication skills.

Often we can be quick to focus on speech because it is obvious to us as the listener that something is not quite right, but it is important to bear in mind that speech sounds are just one aspect of communication.

Communication involves a number of skills and it is important to think about speech amongst these other skills.

Is the difficulty just speech? Is the difficulty language rather than speech? Or perhaps a combination of speech sound difficulties and language? What impact are attention and listening having on speech sound development?  How are speech sounds impacting the child’s ability to interact?

Attention & listening are foundation skills for developing communication. Paying attention and listening to other people, activities or in play can be difficult for some children. They may be easily distracted. These skills are important when listening to and discriminating between speech sounds

Children’s interaction with others supports their communication development. Two way interaction helps to establish shared messages and meaning with their communication partner. Play and language develops hand in hand. It’s important for children to develop imaginative play in order for speech and language to grow.

Children need to hear language to be able to use it. They need to understand the meaning of words and sentences and the ideas behind them. As they get older, they begin to understand the way sentences are constructed. They also need to understand how different word endings can change the meaning of a sentence.

Use of language is concerned with the words children use and how they combine them together to make phrases and sentences.

Speech is a common concern amongst parents and professionals, it easy to spot a difficulty in this area. But it is important that the other communication skills are also developing. Some children may have speech sound difficulties alongside other communication difficulties or as a standalone area of need.

Have you ever thought about how the brain processes sounds? Let’s think about what happens when you ask a child ‘would you like some snack?’ what happens next…

Children must be listening to a sound in order to process it. Encouraging children to tune in to talking is an important step in the process. They must realise that you are talking to them

Some children have hearing impairments or hearing difficulties such as glue ear. This will impact on how they hear and perceive a sound. If you have concerns about a child’s hearing, ensure a referral to audiology is made.

Several things then happen in the brain before the child can respond

The child has to tell the difference between sounds they have just heard. They need to pick the target sound out from other sounds that they know.  This is called sound discrimination.

The child selects the sounds in their brain that they need for their target word. They have the knowledge of the concept of the sound and that sounds are the building blocks of words. For example, for the word ‘yes’, they must choose ‘y’ ‘e’ and ‘s’.

The child then selects the motor programme from their brain. This is the programme of how to say the sound and how to combine the sounds to make the word.

Finally the child can say the sounds in the right combination and answer the question.

This process all happens in a matter of seconds!

Any point in the chain can be disrupted and cause the child difficulties. As Speech and Language Therapists, we would look at this process to determine where the breakdown is occurring.

Thinking about the output side for a moment longer, there are additional steps in the process of producing speech. Join in with this activity

• Place your hand on your ribs and feel your breath go in and out. We make sounds on the out breath, for example say ‘paper’ and you will feel the air coming out of your mouth.
• As the air travels up the wind pipe to the vocal cords, they then vibrate to make some sounds, but don’t vibrate for others. You can feel this by putting your hand gently on your throat and alternating between a /s/ and /z/ sound – you should feel vibrations on the /z/ sound.
• We then use our articulators to make different sounds. Articulators include our tongue, lips or teeth. Think about how your lips come together for a /b/ sound for example.

We make many different types of sounds and Speech and Language Therapists will describe speech sounds in different ways.

Sounds can be loud or quiet depending on if the vocal cords touch together. Loud sounds are made on the out breath and the vocal cords vibrate together. Quiet sounds are made on the out breath but there is no contact between the vocal cords.

We also think about where in the mouth sounds are made. For example at the front of the mouth or the back. 

Finally we think about how the sounds are made, for example some sounds are long others are short.

It is important we model the sound and not the letter when working on speech sounds, for example we  must say ‘p’ and not ‘puh’ or ‘pee’.

Most children take time to develop their speech sounds. We are not expecting children to use all sounds correctly when they start to talk. It is common for younger children to be only understood by people that know them well and as they get more practice at talking their sounds and clarity improves.

Some children will alter their sounds without help whilst some children find learning sounds for talking difficult and need some support to help them get clearer.

Look at the wheel and notice how the early sounds are those made at the front of the mouth, for example  ‘p’ ‘m’ ‘b’ and are the babbling type sounds children learn first. The later sounds such as ‘r’ ‘th’ and the cluster sounds ‘sm, gl, pr’ for example are much later than many parents (and often teachers) realise.

Our website has a screening tool you can use to assess a child’s speech sounds either at home or in their setting

It will help support you in identifying any patterns to the child’s speech sound errors and if you need to consider further support.

There is a video to help explain how to complete it or talk to your child’s setting about completing it for you.

If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

• Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school
• Ask for a hearing referral if you are concerned about a child’s hearing
• Have a go at listening to the child’s speech and identify which sounds they are using.
• Watch our other videos 
  • Early sound play
  • Phonological awareness
  • Supporting speech: input activities

For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

Thank you

>> Female narrator: Welcome to this video about early sound play

You may find it useful to watch the video ‘An introduction to speech sounds’ before watching this video, but this is not essential.

In this short video you will consider the importance of early sound play and become familiar with some games and activities you can try

Communication involves a number of skills. Good attention and listening are important skills for developing communication including speech.

This is covered in more detail in the video ‘Introduction to speech sounds’.

Children need to be listening and attending when completing speech sound activities in order for progress to be made. If a child is not quite ready to take part in other activities, you could support them by playing simple listening games.

Developing skills in listening and awareness of sounds is really important, there are lots of ways you can support listening skills, here are some examples.

• Ready, steady, go activities with an instrument, bubbles, car or marble run are great for building anticipation and getting a child’s attention.
• Games like Simon Says where the child has to listen carefully for the command offer a more physical alternative to a listening activity.
• Going on a listening walk around the house, garden, playground or on the way to the shops can help give a child a focus, especially if they have to record what they can hear.

Please click the link on the screen to watch a short video. [Watch Letters and Sounds Phase 1 - Aspect 1: General sound discrimination – Environmental]

When the child is ready to engage in early sounds activities, it is really important that you accurately model speech sounds, using the pure sound and not the letter name for example ‘sss’ not ‘suh’ or ‘ess’ and ‘p’ not ‘puh’ or ‘pee’.

The most important element of these activities is the child hearing you say the sounds clearly on their own and in the words, if they join in that’s great but do not force them to repeat words – they will join in when they are ready.

You could try things like:

• Making a personalised sound book containing pictures of words with their target sound. For example if your child is struggling with the ‘k’ sound can you find pictures in old magazines or on flyers of cat, car, computer, carrot etc.
• You could go on a sound hunt around your house and see if you can find things with ‘k’ in them for example cooker, calendar, cake etc. There are many printed templates online but it is perfectly fine to make your own.
• Lots of books, songs and nursery rhymes have repetitive sounds in them for example Brown bear Brown Bear, hickory dickory dock and Fox’s socks. The BBC Tiny Happy People website has lots of videos of nursery rhymes including second language recordings, follow the link on the screen for more information.

As we have said, it is really important that children hear sounds being modelled, lots of times and that they are not forced to repeat sounds or words. However, once they are showing signs of wanting to join in then you will need to get creative and make speech sound work fun and motivating for the child.

A great way to engage children in speech sound activities is to make it into a game. Children will need to practise any tricky sounds in isolation before they can say them in words. Here are some examples of what you could try

For the sound /p/ try blowing a feather or a ping pong ball across the table by saying the sound /p/ and letting the out breath move the object. You could also do this by holding a tissue in front of the child’s mouth and see if they can make it flutter.

For the sound /m/ you could practise feeding a doll or teddy different foods and say ‘mmmmm’ if they liked it, you could of course do this during a family meal time as well.

Whilst playing with a ball you could practise saying /b/ as the ball bounces

Please click on the links to the resources section on our website for more information on supporting early sound play and other areas of speech, language and communication.

Section 3 of The Early Years communication and language toolkit contains further ideas for how to support listening and speech sounds

Letters and Sounds Phase 1 has lots of resources and useful videos to support this area.

Have a go at supporting early sound awareness using some of the ideas in this video, or follow the links given for more information, games and activities.

If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

• speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school
• ask for a hearing referral if you are concerned about a child’s hearing
• have a go at listening to the child’s speech and identify which sounds they are using.
• watch our other videos:
  • introduction to speech sounds
  • phonological awareness
  • supporting speech: input activities

For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

Thank you

>> Narrator: Welcome to this video about how to support speech sounds using input activities.

You may find it useful to watch our videos ‘Introduction to Speech Sounds’ and ‘Early sound play’ before this one, but it is not essential.

In this short video you will:

• learn what we mean by ‘input’ activities and why they are important
• begin to learn how to use input activities to support speech sound development

Children need to be listening and attending when completing speech sound activities in order for progress to be made. If a child is not quite ready to take part in speech sound activities, you could support them by playing simple listening games as covered in the video ‘Early Sound Play’.

An important first step in supporting speech sound development is to give the child lots of opportunities to hear the correct production of sounds. This is something you can get started with, it will never do any harm to expose the child to lots of sounds!

Remember it is important we model the sound and not the letter when working on speech sounds, for example we must say ‘p’ and not ‘puh’ or ‘pee’. 

Repeating sounds lots of time for a child is called auditory bombardment and is a great way to introduce new sounds to a child or let them listen to a sound that they find tricky.

An easy way to do this is to read a story that has repetitive sounds in. For example Fox’s Socks repeatedly uses the 's'/ sound both at the beginning and ends of words. Or the 3 little pigs has lots of 'p' words in.

There are commercially available resources that promote listening for sounds, but you can easily make your own sound bingo or matching pairs activities. Early vocabulary books often have whole pages of pictures arranged by initial sound and letting the child listen as you name them is a simple way to carry out ‘auditory bombardment’.

You could make a feely bag out of an old pillowcase or use a shoe box then fill it with everyday objects starting with the same sound, for example if you’re supporting a child who finds 'k' tricky you could include a cup, carrot, comb, a toy cow, a candle, a toy car etc. As the child pulls them out you can name them and talk about the object, using the target sound lots of times.

Search the internet for sound loaded scenes. These are pictures that contain lots of images relating to the target sound. The one on the screen is for the 'r' sound and contains words like rainbow, rocket, raking, royal, riding, racing, rinsing etc. 

Auditory discrimination means being able to hear the difference between sounds, it doesn’t mean a child cannot hear the sounds. Lots of children with speech sound difficulties struggle with this, even though their hearing is within normal limits.

The example shows 'k' vs 't' - children who struggle to hear the difference between these sounds, will have difficulties using the sounds in their speech and may say ‘tea’ for ‘tea’ and  also ‘key’

Do not underestimate the power of a child hearing sounds on their own and in words, it is a really important step in the therapy process. 

A minimal pair listening activity is likely to have been recommended by a therapist, if your child is consistently confusing one sound for another. Minimal pairs are a pair of words that include the exact same sound with the exception of one, the sound that your child is making an error with. For example with the minimal pair Pea versus Bee the only difference is the first sound. With the minimal pair Kit versus Kick the only difference is with the final sound.

The main way in which minimal pairs are used is to support your child’s listening and discrimination skills. The aim is for the adult to initially introduce both pictures in the pair and then encourage the child to listen carefully to your production.

So for example you may say “I’ve two pictures here this one is Pea and this one is Bee can you listen carefully and show me which one is Pea”. The aim would then be for the child to point to the picture that you have named. They may complete the task by posting the target picture or putting an object or counter onto the target picture. You could use a tick chart to motivate your child or and make sure you pick an activity that your child finds rewarding and motivating.

Practice each word pair multiple times for example the next time you could say point to Bee. It’s important not to just alternate between the two words otherwise your child may be able to anticipate what you’re going to say next.

It is also important to give your child specific feedback during the activity if they choose correctly then lots of praise “Well done”, “Good Listening”, “That’s Right”. If they choose incorrectly avoid making a negative comment and instead make a reinforcing comment such as “Good Trying but you’ve chosen Pea I was looking for Bee” show them this at the same time.

Even if your child finds discriminating between minimal pair words easy it's an important activity to implement as good listening and discrimination skills are essential for accurate production of sound.

You can search on the internet for lists of minimal pairs and pictures, many of which are freely available.

Websites such as Twinkl and Black Sheep Press also have commercially available resources, click on the links shown on screen. 

Have a go at input work using some of the ideas in this video.

Be creative when carrying out input work, try to incorporate the child’s interests, either in the words you use or the games and activities you play.

Remember to be positive and give lots of praise. There is no expectation that the child joins in or copies you at this stage, input work is all about modelling sounds clearly for the child.

If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

• speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school
• ask for a hearing referral if you are concerned about a child’s hearing
• have a go at listening to the child’s speech and identify which sounds they are using. 
• watch our other videos 
  • introduction to speech sounds
  • early sound play
  • phonological awareness

For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

Thank you

>> Narrator: Welcome to this video about communication friendly environments. This video is primarily aimed at school and setting staff, though parents may find some of the themes useful to consider for the home environment. 

Communication friendly environments encourage the development of good communication skills for all and create a more inclusive environment for those who need additional support.

Research has shown that to achieve a communication friendly environment we must think about 3 key areas:

• The physical environment and the context within which learning takes place (including how we can use visual supports).
• The ways in which children are engaged and the way we talk as adults.
• The opportunities which are created to support language development within the classroom. 

This video will help you to develop your understanding of each of these 3 key areas

You can use the markers in the video to skip forwards or back to any chapters you need to revisit or want more information on.

Throughout this video we will use the terms child or children to refer to children and young people. 

At the basic level we might think about the physical environment in terms of noise, lighting and the actual space we have, where children sit for example.

What role do these factors play in your classroom? Think about how the children arrive in the morning, do bright lights and lots of chatter over-stimulate the children. Are they sleepy in the afternoon when the sun has been shining through the windows all morning? How do they transition from one activity to the next and how do you manage this?

Think about these environmental aspects from the child’s perspective. Are you aware that the radiator at the back of the classroom clinks all day? Did you know that the light in the middle of the room flickers or that certain tables have a draught from the door? 

The effects of persistent noise exposure on children include - deficits in sustained attention, poorer auditory discrimination, poorer memory for tasks and poorer reading ability and school performance.

Do children in your school have access to calmer, quieter spaces throughout the day, that are perhaps less visually distracting as well?

This could be a tent, cushions & blankets or a break out spaces in corridor.

You might need to get creative where space is a premium or think about how spaces can be used for more than one function. 

We are all energised by sunlight and children learn more effectively in spaces with natural light but be mindful of the temperature of a room that utilises lots of sunlight.

Light neutral colours create a calming effect. Deep, warm colours create cosy intimate spaces whilst bold colours can be over stimulating and affect concentration.

A well laid out room that has clearly defined spaces creates opportunities for conversation with adults and peers and can reinforce understanding and use of related vocabulary.

Here we can see areas for maths, writing, construction and reading.

Book areas should contain picture books, first language texts, children’s interest books and fact books – which can also be included in related displays. 

Relevant resources should be easily accessible to the children.

Labelling with words & symbols or pictures makes resources more accessible to a wider range of children, including those learning English as an additional language.

Children can be more independent if they know where to find what they need and where to store things at the end of the activity.

Displays should be visually appealing but they should also reflect and support children’s learning. 

Think about displays in your setting – are they child friendly, are they interactive, do they promote discussion and offer multi-sensory learning? 

We will now look in more detail at the role of visual strategies as part of the communication environment, but please do be mindful of how visually distracting your environment is or could become. 

Words are fleeting and in order for the child to process that information they must use several skills including paying attention, listening, processing, remembering, analysing and acting upon the information. We can use visual strategies and supports to supplement spoken language.

They can help make the spoken information more static and consistent which can help the children to process and respond more effectively. 

Visuals can include objects, symbols, pictures and drawings, photographs, natural gestures, signs, and not forgetting words. 

Most classrooms have a visual timetable on display. Depending on the age or level of need in your class, this may be displayed for the whole day, just a morning or an afternoon.

A symbol package like Widgit can help you easily make visual resources using consistent symbols, which can be of huge benefit to children with Speech, language and communication needs, as they move around the school and transition between year groups.

Some children may use more personalised resources such as a now & next board or a timeline.

It is important to understand the symbolic level of children who you support. Some children might need an object to depict activities, such as a book for literacy or cutlery for lunchtime, others may need a photograph of the real thing for example the school library or dining hall. Most children can access symbols and for older children (such as those at secondary level) the words may be sufficient. 

For some children visuals play a vital role in supporting their ability to express their wants and needs.

Personalised resources such as choice boards, communication boards & books might be used by some children.

For more information on using communication systems please see the video Introduction to AAC on our website. 

There are many visual resources you can use to support all aspects of learning.

Mind Maps are an excellent way of tapping into visual memory skills to support retention and recall of information, especially in the secondary years. For more information on how to use Mind Maps please search for Tony Buzan on the internet.

There are various frameworks you can use to provide a visual representation of instructions. Here is a task plan that you can prepare in advance, or ideally with the child before they start an activity. Task plans can support understanding and promote independent working.

As with any new strategy, you will need to spend time teaching the child how to use it. 

Each school will have its own variation of visuals to support vocabulary. The important thing to remember is that we teach children about the meaning of the word (i.e. category, description, function etc) but also about the phonological aspect of the word i.e. sounds and syllables.

Narrative frameworks such as these can be used to develop spoken and written language.
You might use them conversationally, for example ‘First tell me where you went at the weekend’ ‘Now tell me who you went with’.

They might be used to re-tell a familiar story or event or to plan a new story.

For more information about how you can support a child’s vocabulary and narrative development. 

Having looked in detail at the physical environment and the role of visual strategies in creating a communication friendly environment, we will now think about the role of the adult in the environment.

It is really important to have an awareness of the attention levels of the children and embed supportive strategies such as planning in rest breaks, using timers, giving specific praise and accommodating any individual requirements, which might include needing to move or fidget.

Simple strategies such as saying the child’s name, getting down to their level and checking that the child has understood you are good universal practices. We have already considered the impact of noise and will look at the adult’s use of language in a moment. 

If a child is making grammatical errors or using incorrect pronunciation, interpret what you think they are saying and model the correct language. For example, if they say “Bobby climb top of tree”, you model back, “Bobby has climbed to the top of the tree!”  if they say “wainbow” you could say “yes what a lovely rainbow”

Do not draw direct attention to their error, or ask them to copy you, but they might do this naturally anyway.

Repeat and expand is a really useful strategy as it gives children the model they need for the next stage in their language journey. For example, if a child says ‘train' you can add a word so that it becomes 'big train' or 'fast train' or 'drive the train’.

For children who are moving on to saying sentences you can add another clause or phrase to expand this, for example, 'big train' becomes 'yes, you're driving a big train’.

Speech and Language Therapists sometimes refer to this as ‘match +1’.

Questions are an important part of communication and learning but we need to ensure we are providing good language models, and this happens when we comment rather than question. Speech and Language Therapists often recommend the 1 in 5 rule. This means for every five things you say, only one should be a question, and the others should be comments.

Think about the questions that you are asking; often these are testing questions rather than genuine need-to-know questions. Instead of asking “what is it?”, you could name the object.

Instead of asking “what are you doing?”, “you could name the action”. By commenting, rather than asking a question, you are providing language for the child to learn from.

Allowing extra time may seem an impossible task in a busy classroom, but it is a well evidenced, simple and effective strategy everyone can use. Even 10 seconds reduces pressure on the child and allows them to formulate a longer and more accurate response.

Given this time children will ask more, better quality questions and say “I don’t know” less. More children will volunteer answers,  less able children are more likely to contribute and turn taking is encouraged in the classroom. 

Finally let’s think about what opportunities we create for children to communicate.

Let’s start by ensuring that all means of communication are accepted and praised, including Non Verbal Communication or communicating through an alternative system.

The school day provides many opportunities for communication and your school probably already includes small group or partner work throughout the day. These opportunities encourage children to become actively involved in their learning by giving time to formulate their ideas, build their confidence in sharing their ideas and develop their speaking and listening skills.

You may offer interactive book reading, which is a great opportunity to model, recast and expand children’s language. It allows open ended questions to be used and to expose children to language that is perhaps slightly more advanced than their current language level.  

There is a wealth of research showing that interactive or shared book reading has a strong, positive impact on children’s language development.

Creating an environment where children feel safe and supported to speak out is essential.

Children should feel safe to say they don’t understand or to ask for repetition. They should know it is ok to ask questions.

It is important to empower children by teaching them ways in which they can use their ‘voice’ and take responsibility for their own learning. If a child feels able to express themselves this can positively impact on self-esteem, engagement with learning and behaviour.

Plan time for adults to engage in structured conversations with the children and think beyond the classroom – perhaps on the gate as children arrive in the morning, during breaktimes or in the dining hall.

For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

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