Things to do that can help my child / young person with their understanding, talking and communication

Hear Glue Ear

A free, award-winning app, designed for children experiencing hearing loss due to glue ear.

The Hear Glue Ear app is a valuable tool to help families manage their child’s glue ear at home. Glue ear is one of the most common childhood conditions in children aged 2-6, and the concern is that some young children with persistent or recurrent glue ear might struggle to develop speech, language, listening, and social communication skills. 

Cost: Free App

Talk together in daily routines

This leaflet provides information about how you can use everyday activities and routines to talk about what your child can see and what is happening. Children learn from experiences and activities that happen over and over again.  This gives you a chance to use the same words and sentences many times.  Linking these to daily routines will help your child to make links between the words you say and what they mean.

Cost: Free

Share books with children

Sharing books is a great way to help your child's talking. Making books part of your daily routine really helps to develop attention, communication and language skills.  Nottinghamshire Language for Life have produced this information leaflet about book sharing as well as many other top tips leaflets to help understand how to support speech, language and communication.

Cost: Free

Switch off and talk

This webpage and leaflet provides you with information about why it is important to think about switching off electronic devices to help with communication development

Speech and Language UK How to support your child

This information about how to support your child forms part of Speech and Language UK's guide to the typical stages of speech and language development.  Children develop language at different rates and understanding what is typical and what you can do to support your child can help you give them the best start on their journey to developing communication and language skills. 

Cost: Free

Universally Speaking 5-11

Universally Speaking is a series of booklets for anyone who works with children and young people. The booklets show where children should be with their communication skills at any given age.  You can use the booklets to find out whether the children you work with are on the right track, what helps them learn to talk and listen and what to do if you have concerns about any of their communication abilities.

Cost: Free

Signalong

Signalong provides training and resources to assist those with communication difficulties and English as an additional language.

Signalong is a key word sign-supported communication system based on British sign language and is used in spoken word order. It uses speech, sign, body language, facial expression and voice tone to reference the link between sign and word.

Cost: Free & £

Leeds Speech and Language Therapy Toolkit

Leeds Community Healthcare's Speech and Language Therapy Toolkit contains advice, activities and general resources to help you with your child's development of speech, language and communication skills.

Cost: Free

Learning more than one language

Many children grow up learning more than one language. This information leaflet from NHS Forth Valley provides you with useful information and top tips about what you can do to help your young child on their way to being bilingual.

Cost: Free

Speech Link Parent Portal

The Speech Link Parent Portal offers you advice, information and activities for developing your children’s understanding, talking and listening.  It includes information about speech, language and communication, how these skills develop, activities and top tips videos.

Cost: Free