Identifying Speech and Language Difficulties

Week 1 Term 1 of the school year is a great time for educators to sit back and start to observe the children in their care.  Who are the good communicators in the group?  These will be the children who are able to listen, understand and follow oral and written directions without difficulty.  They will interact successfully, not only with their peers but also with their teachers.  Although all of the good communicators will vary greatly in terms of their personalities, they will all have one thing in common....the ability to form and maintain relationships and access the academic curriculum / the language of  learning.  

The children who struggle with aspects of their communication skills will be more difficult for teachers to identify as many of these children may choose to limit their verbal communication with others.  These children may not be the ones to raise their hands and answer a question in class.  Watch out for the following red flags to help to identify children with speech, language and communication difficulties:

*  Children who are more difficult to understand than their peers (possible speech sound disorders)
*  Children whose speech is dysfluent e.g. "I I I I want a drink please" "M M M May I go to the toilet?"
*  Children who struggle to understand and follow directions
*  Children who respond to questions and comments inappropriately or on tangents
*  Children with difficulty in formulating oral and written sentences

*  Children who appear to be
slow to recall/find words to coherently express themselves e.g. "The ....um....um....thingy.....was over there"
*  Children who have difficulty in Show and Tell and Story Telling tasks

Speech and Language Disorders are highly correlated with Learning Difficulties so it is highly likely that these same children will struggle to acquire early reading and spelling skills if we do not identify them early and support the families of these children to seek intervention.  

Let me know if you have any questions about identifying speech and language difficulties or check out a simple screening tool to help you get started with young children 0-6 years.

Until next time!!

Karen Trengove - Speech Pathologist
www.learn2communicate.com.au