Information and sources of advice for parents and families
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The resources here will help you reach the outcome: "I know what general information to give parents and families about their primary aged child's speech, language and communication and where they can find out more"
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Balanced System for Schools and Settings
The Balanced System Scheme for Schools and Settings is a whole system approach to improving outcomes for children across the range of speech, language and communication needs for any setting that supports children. The framework enables a setting to understand existing need and provision for speech, language and communication and develop provision to address the gaps. The framework supports a setting to demonstrate impact of the support for speech, language and communication.
Cost: £
Switch off and talk
This webpage and leaflet provides families with information about why switching off electronic devices and talking more is important for children's communication development.
Cost: Free
Parent information, advice and resources - Worcestershire
The Worcestershire Speech and Language Therapy service website provides a comprehensive range of resources, advice and You Tube videos to help parents to support their child / young person at home.
Visit the website to find:
- Information about speech, language and communication
- Free resources you can download and use at home
- Links to our You Tube channel where you will find demonstrations of activities you can do at home
- Further information about the local team, where we work and what services we provide
Cost: Free
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
Enquiry Line
The Speech and Language UK Enquiry Service gives parents a chance to discuss questions or concerns about their child’s speech, language and communication development with one of Speech and Language UK’s speech and language therapists. The therapists can give helpful information about children’s talking and communication development as well as tips on improving these skills. They can also offer advice on ages and stages and what can be done to help the child get the right support.
Cost: Free
Progress Checker
Speech and Language UK's progress checker provides parents with short questions they can answer to see how their child is getting on with their speech, language and communication development.
Cost: Free
Using visual support
Parents play a key role in supporting their child's language and communication skills in everyday life. Children learn about the world through their experiences and interests particularly within their play. Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust provide information and opportunities for families learn more about developing their child's speech and language - this video introduces how to use visual support to help communication.
Cost: Free
Afasic Parent Helpline
If a parent is worried about their child / young person's speech, language and communication, share this Afasic helpline information so that they can speak to someone who can help by telephone or email.
Cost: Free
Talk together in daily routines
This leaflet provides information for you to use and to share with parents and carers about how to use everyday activities and routines to talk about what children can see and what is happening. Children learn from experiences and activities that happen over and over again. This gives adults a chance to use the same words and sentences many times. Linking these to daily routines will help children to make links between the words, sentences and what they mean.
Cost: Free
Speech and Language UK Ages and Stages
This is a guide to the typical stages of speech and language development in children. Children develop language at different rates. However, understanding what is typical can help you identify speech and language problems early. This page also provides information about how to support children's development.
Cost: Free
I CAN How to support your child
This information for families provides ideas for them to support their child and 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 parents and carers can do to support communication and language helps provide them with a great start.
Cost: Free
Share books
Sharing books is a great way to help a child's talking. Making books part of your daily routine really helps to develop attention, communication and language skills. Use and share this Nottinghamshire Language for Life information leaflet about book sharing as well as many other top tips leaflets to help families you work with understand how to support speech, language and communication.
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
WellComm Toolkit
The WellComm Assessment is for use with any child aged 6-11 years and enables practitioners to evaluate children's language skills, draw up a detailed profile and identify children at risk of having difficulty in developing language skills. It identifies those children who need setting-based monitoring and support and those who need referral to specialist support services. The screen is completed through observation and by asking children to carry out a variety of tasks ensuring that results obtained and conclusions drawn are more accurate than using one approach alone.
The WellComm Big Book of Ideas has been designed for use following a WellComm assessment of any child. It includes general strategies as well as very specific activities to develop and improve children's speech and language skills and can be implemented by any practitioner or parent. The activities are used to develop the particular skills highlighted for support in the assessment - this means that the activities delivered are specific and appropriate to the individual child language development stage and can be used in the school or at home.
Training videos are included in the toolkit.
Afasic My Child Isn't Talking and I'm Worried
Children develop and learn to talk at different rates – some more slowly or quickly than others. However, there are key milestones parents can look out for and it can help them to know how talking develops, what happens and when. Here Afasic provides information for you to share with parents on: identifying who can help; first steps to getting help and support; gathering information and keeping a record and questions to ask professionals.
Cost: Free
Signs and Symbols
Widgit provides symbols that can be used to support communication making information, documents and resources to be more accessible and inclusive. The symbols can be used for a variety of purposes such as creating communication books to share information; visual timetables to support understanding of structure and routine; task boards to support independent learning; pictures to develop vocabulary and to support children learning English as an additional language.
This website has information to support your understanding of how to use symbols including training resources, events and links to a network of organisations around the UK who offer advice and support.
There is also information for parents and carers to help them understand how they can use symbols to support their child.
Cost: £
Speech Link Parent Portal
The Speech Link Parent Portal offers advice, information and activities for you to share with families so that they know how to develop their 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
