We have started a series of posts looking at high level language skills. As children get older, language and its demands become more sophisticated. It is often around Junior school age that these more subtle language difficulties can become apparent. You can read Helen’s post about understanding and supporting words with multiple meanings here. Today, […]
Helen and I are starting a new series of posts about how to support children with speech and language or special needs. We talk about the types of modifications that can make a real difference for these children and hopefully for the adults as well! You can read about how to support children in school […]
Helen and I have a series of posts about how to use everyday toys to promote and work on language targets. I love finding new toys and thinking about how I can use them in therapy! You can read our other posts about how to use a ball, a box, a train, bubbles and a […]
Helen found this great article on how to make school plays deaf friendly from the NDCS. So we thought we would write about how to make plays and assemblies more accessible for children with speech and language difficulties. Every child should be included; you might juts have to think laterally about a few things! Don’t assume […]
I thought this week I would write about some of the great apps available to support older children with their language development. There are so many apps out there it can be hard to know where to start! Apps designed for pre-schoolers and younger children are advertised and seem much easier to find. Whereas apps […]
It was Helen who told me about Carrie Clark’s podcasts and website – Speech and Language Kids. I have just downloaded all the podcasts and have been listening to them whilst driving between appointments! The podcasts are FANTASTIC!! Go and listen to them. Even as an experienced therapist, Carrie has ideas that I hadn’t tried […]
Last week, Helen started writing about formal assessments and in particular the CELF-4 (Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – 4). You can read that post here. This assessment is one of the most widely used assessments in the UK, particularly when gathering information for Statements (or EHCP’s) or to decide if children meet the criteria […]
We are delighted to have Rachel Sambrooks from Chatterblocks writing for us this week. Rachel talks about her experiences of trying to get help for her daughter who has a Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Unfortunately, Rachel is not alone in her experiences and I have heard many similar ones over the years. We all need […]
So, you have just received a set of targets from your Speech Therapist. The chances are there are words on there you don’t use everyday, although hopefully the therapist has explained them! We often talk about semantics, concepts, irregular tenses etc and how to help your child understand and use them. Prepositions are another target […]
When Speech and Language Therapists assess younger children’s understanding of language, we often refer to ‘Key words’ or ‘Information Carrying Words – ICW’s’. ICW’s is a term originally used by the Derbyshire Language Scheme, 1982, Knowles, W and Masidlover, M. Both of these terms refer to the number of words you need to understand to […]
