Speech and language difficulties

3:85. Although most speech and language difficulties will have been identified before a child reaches school, some children will still have significant speech and language difficulties which impair their ability to participate in the classroom by the time they start school.  This may in turn have serious consequences for the child's academic attainment and also give rise to emotional and behavioural difficulties.  The early identification of such speech and language difficulties and prompt remedial action are therefore essential.

The child's learning difficulty/disability

3:86. The LEA should seek clear recorded evidence of both the child's academic attainment and the nature of his or her communication difficulty, asking, for example, whether:

i. there is a significant discrepancy between the child's attainment, as measured by National Curriculum assessments and tests, and teachers' own recorded assessments of a child's classroom work, including any portfolio of the child's work, and the attainment of the majority of children of his or her age

ii. there is a significant discrepancy between the expectations of the child as assessed by the child's teachers, parents and external specialists who have closely observed the child, supported, as appropriate, by the results of standardised tests of cognitive ability, and the child's attainment as measured by National Curriculum assessments and tests

iii. the child's expressive and/or receptive language development is significantly below that of the majority of children of his or her age as measured by a standardised language assessment test, or there is a major discrepancy between the child's expressive and receptive levels of functioning

iv. there is clear substantiated evidence, based on specific examples, that the child's communication difficulties impede the development of purposeful relationships with adults and/or fellow pupils and/or give rise to other emotional and behavioural difficulties

v. there is any evidence of a hearing impairment which may coexist with, or cause, the speech and language difficulty.

The child's special educational provision

3:87. In the light of evidence about the child's academic attainment and communication difficulties, the LEA should consider the action taken by the school and, in particular, should ask whether:

i. the school has, with the parents' consent, sought the advice of the school doctor and/or the child's general practitioner, as appropriate, and of a speech and language therapist and other external specialists, for example a language development advisory teacher, and has, together with the child's parents and involving all teachers concerned with the child, implemented, monitored and evaluated individual education plans for the child to support full access to and involvement in, the school and social life