What do children and young people think about speech ... - Afasic

We asked... Do you think youngpeople need to be taughtcommunication skills, or dothese skills just develop anyway?Most young people felt they did need to betaught these skills. One of the groups feltthey just needed opportunities to practise theskills they had, rather than being taught themdirectly.“I think it’s really important that youngpeople are not only taught to speak inpublic well but also to think on their feetand hold good conversations with all kindsof people.”“I think it would be really useful ‘cos youwould use it in every day life. You use it allthe time; it’s not like a waste of time.”“I think we just need more chance topractise…”For the young people who felt the skills shouldbe taught more directly, we wanted to seewhether they felt school was a good place forthis to happen, so we asked two questions:We asked… Who should teachthese skills?The importance of family was clear:“I think the most important people in aperson’s development are their parentsand close family. When a child has asupportive family who they can talk to,they already have a huge head start.”Though the young people realised that noteveryone had these opportunities:“...but the sad truth is that some childrenjust don’t.”“When you have a teacher whomakes you feel valued, whoalways listens and encouragesyou, it’s incredible.”8 Children and Young People’s Consultation 2009