SP in Schools project 2017 Low Res V2

Prevalence of speech, language and communication needs

• Students with communication problems are at greater risk of bullying 4 and report less school enjoyment than their peers. • Young people with communication needs are overrepresented in juvenile justice 5 settings. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders • Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (Williams & Jacobs, 2009), rates of otitis media are high, the disease manifests early in life, and it may continue to occur in adolescence and beyond. Australian data indicates that Indigenous Australian children experience otitis media for a cumulative total of 32 months between the ages of 2

and 20 years compared to non-indigenous children who experience 3 months of otitis media within the same period. • Indigenous children in 2015 were nearly four times more likely to be developmentally vulnerable than non-indigenous children in the language and cognitive skills domain (AEDC, 2015). times more likely to be developmentally vulnerable than non-Indigenous children on the communication skills and general knowledge domain (19.3 and 7.9 per cent respectively) (AEDC, 2015). • Indigenous children in 2015 were 2.4

4 A general pattern seen in the literature is that children with SLCN are reported to be particularly vulnerable to bullying ( McLaughlin et al., 2012). Given the negative links between bullying and children’s mental health (Gini and Pozzoli, 2009), there is clearly a particular need to establish mechanisms for children with SLCN to voice their perspectives and concerns. 5 In a 2011 study in Victoria (Snow & Powell, 2014), approximately 50 per cent of young offenders were found to have an oral language impairment. Those with more severe types of offences performed more poorly on language assessments. References Beitchman, J. H., Wilson, B., Brownlie, E. B., Walters, H., Inglis, A., Lancee, W. (1996) Long-term consistency in speech/language profiles: 11. Behavioral, emotional and social outcomes. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 35 (6), 815-825. Bryan K, & Roach J. (2001) Assessment of speech and language in mental health. In: J. France & S.Kramer (eds). Communication and mental illness. Jessica Kingsley Publishers: London. pp 110- 122. Conti-Ramsden, G., Durkin, K., Simkin, Z. & Knoz, E., (2009). Specific language impairment and school outcomes. 1. Identifying and explaining variability at the end of compulsory education. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders , 44, 15–35. Fujiki, M., Brinton, B., and Clarke, D. (2002) Emotional regulation in children with specific language impairment. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. (33) 102-111. Gini, G. and Pozzoli, T. (2009). Association between bullying and psychosomatic problems: a meta- analysis. American Academy of Pediatrics. 123 (3). Law, J., Rush, R., Schoon, I., & and Parsons, S. (2009). Modeling developmental language difficulties from school entry into adulthood: literacy, mental health and employment outcomes. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research , 52, 1401–-1416.

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Speech Pathology Australia: Speech Pathology in Schools Project