Communicating Phonics - The Communication Trust

Communicating PhonicsSection 4 > Different types ofspeech, language and communication needs > Children with pragmatic language impairmentCase StudyKaleem has pragmatic language difficulties and doesnot stop talking. He has lots to say about many differentsubjects. He struggles to have proper conversations withpeople; he can’t wait for them to finish what they’resaying and often interrupts. Kaleem really finds it hard tostay on the same topic as everyone else and goes off on atangent a lot.Kaleem is excellent at reading; he can read anythingthat’s put in front of him. The staff noticed, though, thatalthough he was able to pass all the items on the phonicsscreening check, he never seemed to understand whatwas going on in his reading books.What helps KaleemHis teacher has started to ask him comprehensionquestions after every page to encourage him to thinkabout what he has read. The staff are now workingwith Kaleem on understanding information that needsto be inferred, because unless it’s really obvious, he justdoesn’t understand it. They have also introduced somecomprehension monitoring work with him; this hashelped him to start to be aware about when he hasn’tunderstood what he has read.64