Speech, language and communication needs describes difficulties with:

• producing speech sounds accurately
• stammering
• voice problems, such as hoarseness and loss of voice
• understanding language (i.e., making sense of what people say)
• using language including words and sentences
• interacting with others (e.g., difficulties understanding and using the non-verbal rules of good communication, using language in different ways to question, clarify or describe things, or taking into account other people’s perspectives)

Everyone with speech, language and communication needs is different and may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or communication at different times of their lives. Find out more about the common features of speech, language and communication needs.
Some difficulties are short-term but others will be more permanent and remain throughout childhood and adult life.

• Over 10% of children/young people have some form of speech, language and communication needs that persists and impacts on social, emotional, mental health as well as educational functioning.
  • 2.34% of these children/young people have a language disorder that is in addition to a biomedical condition such as autism, hearing loss, cleft palate, learning disability, neurodegenerative conditions and genetic conditions – for example, cerebral palsy or Down’s syndrome.
  • 7.58% of these children/young people have language difficulties are not associated with another condition. This is known as Developmental Language Disorder.
• In addition, in areas of high social deprivation in the United Kingdom between approximately 56% of children start school with below age-related language skills.

It is important to understand that Speech, Language and Communication Needs is known to be a significant risk factor for poor life chances and outcomes which is why it is vital that language and communication are understood as EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY. This video provides details of the impact language disorder, including DLD, can have on a child/young person and adult:  SLCN and life chances

Difficulties may include:
Speech:

• sounds used to build up words
• saying sounds accurately and in the right places
• speaking fluently, without hesitating, prolonging or repeating words or sounds
• speaking with expression and a clear voice, using pitch, volume and intonation to support meaning

Language:

• understanding words (vocabulary) and their meaning
• knowing how words go together to form phrases and sentences
• understanding and using grammar
• joining sentences together
• using higher level skills such as reasoning, inference

Expressive language:

Having words to describe objects, actions and attributes, using these words to build up sentences, using these sentences to build up conversations and narratives, following the rules of grammar, so that things make sense

Receptive language:

Processing and making sense of what people say, understanding words being spoken, understanding the rules of grammar used

Communication:

• the way in which language is used to interact with others
• using language in different ways; to question, clarify, describe and debate
• using non-verbal rules of communication: listening, looking, knowing how to take verbal turns and how to change language use to suit the situation
• the ability to take into account other people’s perspectives, intentions and wider context

View and/or download the full Speech, Language and Communication Needs Toolkit