Communication and Interaction

Parental Support

Children with difficulties in understanding spoken language and in producing complex sentences are at greater risk of long-term difficulties throughout the curriculum. Language difficulties often go unrecognised as children can try and hide what they do not know. 

For many children, an early focus on broader oral language skills can be a crucial element to preventing reading failure. Many previous reports, including Rose (2006), have highlighted the vital role that oral language skills such as vocabulary and story production play in literacy development. 

A variety of children may benefit from work on social communication skills.  Research studies evaluating the effectiveness of different social communication interventions have typically involved participants with autism spectrum conditions (ASC).

Needs in other areas can lead to and compound communication and interaction needs, for example a hearing loss or difficulties with attachment, and can also be the result of unmet C&I needs, for example learning needs, social and emotional needs. At YES@Areté Learning Trust we aim to look at each child/ young person's unique profile to make sure that support is tailored appropriately.

Phonology

Phonology is the branch of linguistics concerned with the organisation of speech sounds into categories. When learning language, the child has to learn which features to ignore and which to focus on.

Phonological problems can present as difficulties with speech production that are linguistic in origin or due to motor impairment or physical abnormality.  A linguistic problem is identified when a child fails to make a speech distinction between sounds e.g. when a child says ‘tea’ rather than ‘key’, substituting /t/ for /k/.

Phonological errors of this kind are common in early development, but can persist and impact on clarity of speech. Phonological problems in pre-school children, that are not accompanied by other language problems respond well to specialist intervention by a speech and language therapist. 

‘Speech Sound Disorder’ (SSD) is an umbrella term that also includes problems with speech production that have motor or physical origins, or involve misarticulations such as a lisp, where a sound is produced in a distorted way without losing the contrast with other sounds.

It is not always easy to distinguish between phonological disorders and other types of  speech production problem. 

Phonological awareness, is the ability to explicitly categorise and manipulate the sounds of language. Children with phonological difficulties may be unable to identify the three phonemes constituting the word ‘bat’, or to recognise that ‘bat’  and ‘bar’ begin with the same phoneme. Phonological awareness difficulties are common in children with reading difficulties.

 

Word Finding and Semantics

Students with word finding difficulties have difficulties soring and/or retrieving words  from their semantic (vocabulary) system. Word finding difficulties may be frustrating and distressing for students and can impact on day-to-day communication, self-esteem, social skills and academic success

Signs of Word Finding Difficulties

  • Overuse of fillers during speech (e.g. “um”)
  • Repetitions in speech (e.g. “I went, I went, I went to the shop”)
  • Circumlocutions (talking around the word, e.g. [soap] “you wash with it”)
  • Use of vague/non-specific words (e.g. “stuff”, “thing”)
  • Substitutions for words in the same/similar category (e.g. [hammer] “tool”)
  • Delays/hesitations in responding (due to increased time required to find the word)

YES@Areté Learning Trust can offer advice and support semantic development and word retrieval.

Syntax

Children who have difficulties with word order or sentence structure can often be difficult to understand or easily misunderstood as the words in the sentence are jumbled up or don’t flow. Rules of word order and sentence structure are referred to as syntax.

Difficulties with syntax can impact a child’s expressive language skills and can cause:

  • Poor narrative skills.
  • Incorrect word order causing misinterpretation.
  • Omission of words in sentences.
  • Limited number of complex sentences.
  • May speak in short simple sentences.
  • May talk in single words.
  • Difficulties with literacy skills.

 

Developmental Language Disorder

Developmental Language Disorder is the term used to refer to children and young people that have difficulties with expressive and/or receptive language skills that impact on everyday life. Difficulties can include producing or understanding complex sentences, or learning new words. ‘Developmental Language Disorder’ was the agreed term for when a language disorder is not associated with a known condition such as autism spectrum disorder, brain injury, genetic conditions such as Down’s syndrome and sensorineural hearing loss.

Until recently the terms ‘Specific Language Impairment’, ‘language disorder’ and ‘developmental language impairment’ were used.

In 2016 an international group of 57 experts (the CATALISE panel) reached consensus on the criteria used for children’s language difficulties (Bishop et al, 2016b).

 

Autistic Spectrum Conditions

Autistic Spectrum Disorders are neurodevelopmental conditions which require a medical diagnosis. Students with Austic Spectrum Conditions may have other overlapping neurodevelopmental conditions and looking at unique profiles is key. 

The Diagnostic Statistic Manual 5 (DSMV) outlines Autistic Spectrum Disorder as being.

Criteria A

Persistent deficits in social communication and social nteraction across contexts, manifested by all three of the following:

- Deficits in social-emotionl reciprocity i.e. difficulties with a balance of interaction.

Students may be introverted (alone but not lonely) or intrusive and intense.

- Deficits in non-verbal communicative behaviours used for social interaction.

Students have difficulty reading social cues and face and body language.

- Deficits in developing, understanding and maintaining friendships

Students may have problems making friends and keeping friends.

Criteria B

Restricted repetitive patterns of behaviours, interests or activities as manifested by two of the following:

- Stereotyped or repetititive motor movements, use of objects or speech.

This may include to walking, flapping or rocking

-insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines or ritualised patterns of non-verbal behaviour , or excessive resistance to change

This can often be a sign of anxiety

- highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus.

- hyper or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment

Students are often able to suppress agitation or anxiety at home but release their anxiety once they get home.

PDA Society: Short Podcast on Understanding Pathological Demand Avoidance

National Autistic Society

The Autism Research Centre

Centre for Applied Autism Research

Alex Lowry Speaks About Autism

The Autism Umbrella

Teaching secondary school autistic students - National Autistic Society

Supporting Autistic Children and Young People to Access Activities