SP in Schools project 2017 Low Res V2

The positive impact of providing best practice support to students with SLCN

Opportunities for specialist intervention where difficulties are severe and complex For students with significant and often specific SLCN there is a growing body of evidence to show the benefit of focused, specialist intervention. Students with significant SLCN continue to need to be taught language skills explicitly, but this needs to be planned within the context of a school environment, which can be challenging. The involvement of you as the speech pathologist is crucial – either through direct intervention or by training others. Groups run by trained teaching assistants, focusing on developing narrative or Tier 2 vocabulary 8 and planned into a mainstream timetable schedule, showed improved language skills. Likewise, specialised and differentiated speech and language therapy programs, such as support for the use of aided AAC systems within the learning environment or visual support for learning grammar, integrated into the curriculum can support young people to achieve a full range of academic and social outcomes.

surprisingly, because of their difficulties in all of these areas, students with SLCN and their families can find this a particularly stressful time. Involving young people Listening to the voices of students has been shown to have an impact on policy and practice, on learning, confidence – and also on communication skills. Students value a focus on communication in school and are very able to say what adults can do to support this. Students with SLCN can reflect on their language strengths and difficulties and develop good insight and awareness of the outcomes they want. Involving young people in assessment or activities shows that they very often have different perspectives and priorities than adults, which can be valuable in planning support. While some young people may feel support is unnecessary, others give insight into what is most helpful, such as collaborative goal setting, explicit teaching of vocabulary and visual support or use of colour coding. Without this involvement, there is a risk of getting the focus of an intervention wrong. With it, there is evidence that it can contribute to improved engagement and behaviour.

8 Tier 2 vocabulary: high frequency words used in a variety of content domains that usually require explicit instruction. Some examples include: complex, reasoned, contrast, hypothesise etc.

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Speech Pathology Australia: Speech Pathology in Schools Project