Children with speech and language difficulties

This chapter discusses children with speech and language difficulties. Alternatively, they may have a specific language impairment which affects all areas of language development and has a severe effect on their ability to access much of the curriculum. Children may attend specialist language units or schools but, with the move towards an inclusive policy in education, they are increasingly being taught in mainstream schools. The chapter shows how their needs can be met in the Literacy Hour. The literacy hour offers us an opportunity to address some of these children’s difficulties, whichever setting they are in, and may help to avoid the plight of many such children – sitting quietly at the back of the class, described as causing ‘no trouble’ but making minimal progress. Children who have been identified as having autistic spectrum type difficulties have severely disordered communication skills.