Developing Speech and Language Skills - Noel's ESL eBook Library

Questions frequently asked by teaching staffWhen do I refer a child with unclear speech?Introduction: Is this the resource I am looking for?If parents and others who know a child well have difficulty with interpreting what thechild is saying, referral is recommended. Further guidance about when to refer isprovided in Chapter 4. Any child who is aged 5 1 /2 or older who has persistent speechdifficulties should be referred.How do I refer a child to speech and language therapy?The SENCo will usually have referral forms. If not, contact the school nurse, or thepaediatric speech and language therapy department in the area in which the school isbased. The permission of the parent or carer is needed before a child is referred tospeech and language therapy.What causes speech impairments?This is still not fully understood.● In some children there is a strong family history of speech and language and readingdifficulties, so for these children there is likely to be a genetic component.● Some children may have suffered from intermittent hearing loss in infancy and earlychildhood, which might influence speech development.● Children with a limited range of sounds in their babbling patterns are sometimes slowto develop speech.● Children with delayed speech development may also have delayed languagedevelopment. In these cases the child’s overall development of speech and languageis slow, so their speech patterns might be aligned with their level of languagedevelopment. These children may need a language programme to help themprogress.● Environmental factors such as lack of stimulation can have an effect in delayingspeech and language development, but the child will not usually have a severespeech impairment unless they have been extremely deprived or there are otherinfluencing factors such as those above.How can I help children when English is an additional language (EAL)?Children are sometimes slower to develop language if reared with one or morelanguages in their environment, but usually they catch up. If they enter school withlimited English most of them will pick up the language and be proficient within a yearor so. If a child is hard to understand in English, they will need an assessment in7