Communicating Phonics - The Communication Trust

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Communicating PhonicsSection 4 > Different types of speech, language and communication needs > Children who are non-verbalChildren who are non-verbalGeneral informationChildren may be non-verbal as a consequence of awide range of conditions including cerebral palsy,Down’s syndrome, autism, neurological disorders,trauma or speech disorders. They are likely to havelearning styles that differ from other children.It’s important to differentiate between non-verbal children,whose condition is primarily a motor disorder, and childrenwith high levels of cognitive disorder and delay and pre-verbalchildren with a profound and multiple learning disability.Helping to access the phonics screening checkNon-verbal children will struggle with the check and will not be ableto verbally show whether they’re able to blend sounds, appropriatelyalthough they may be learning to read.It’s likely that at the age the check is administered any AAC in use bythe child will be very heavily symbol based, usually with whole wordspresented simultaneously. This will not give the child any means todemonstrate the phonic knowledge he or she may have.All non-verbal children should be exposed to phonics as theability to indicate first sound can be highly supportive of theirfuture use of alternative and augmentative communication(AAC). When non-verbal children are using word prediction thefirst two letters of words become important.However, phonics should not be the only way reading is taughtto non-verbal children as they will often rely heavily on visualrecognition of whole words.50
Communicating PhonicsSection 4 > Different types of speech, language and communication needs > Children who are non-verbalPossible issuesThe environment may not be helpfulThe child may tire easilyThe child may find responding difficultThere may be difficulties with:• Listening and attention• Verbal comprehension• Working memory affecting retention and processingof phonics• The lack of external and internal voice can contributeto an apparent memory and retention issue• Processing visual and auditory input at the sametime due to their immature nervous system or othersensory issues• Motor skills affecting motor planning and responseWays to helpThe check should be undertaken ina room low in auditory and visualdistraction by a teacher familiar withthe child’s mode of response. The childshould be seated in a position givingappropriate supportIf fatigue is known to be a problemor is evident during checking, thecheck should be broken into sections,administered on different occasionsThe child must be given extended time(up to 400%), if necessary, to respondAny AAC system used by the child mustbe available to the child during the checkEnsure that the teacher is aware of thefollowing that will assist in the check• Attention and joint attention (visualand auditory)• Eye pointing skills• Other pointing/access skills and howposture/supported seating can assistYou should also consider the followingwhich may support children who arenon-verbal to develop literacy:• Identify and use a child’s preferred learning‘style’• Auditory and visual perceptual skills• Which familiar structures that scaffold newlearning will support an individual mosteffectively• How much repetition and context isrequired for verbal comprehensionTeachers regularly working with a non-verbalchild should be aware of these abilitiesand preferences. On-going assessment isrequired to match input correctly to pace oflearning.51
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Communicating Phonics - The Communication Trust

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