Social Communication
Young People with Social Communication needs may have difficulties with:
- Social communication: for example, difficulties using and understanding verbal and non verbal language, such as gestures, facial expressions and tone of voice
- Social interaction: for example, difficulties in recognising and understanding other people people’s feelings and their own feelings
- Social imagination: for example, difficulties with predicting other people people’s intentions and behaviour and imagining situations outside their own routine
- Sensory differences: including some sensory oversensitivity (hypersensitivity) or under sensitivity (hyposensitivity) for example to sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light or colours
These needs are commonly associated with Autism but may also arise from developmental delay and/or environmental factors such as early childhood trauma.
Solihull Council has been working in partnership with the Autism Education Trust (AET) who have produced effective support, intervention and training materials which can be used for staff development and supporting young people.
Speech, language and communication
Communication is the foundation of all life skill. The development of a child child’s communication ability has an impact on their learning, school performance and employment prospects as well as on their emotional wellbeing and behaviour.
‘The term speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) encompasses a wide range of difficulties related to all aspects of communication in children and young people. These can include difficulties with fluency, forming sounds and words, formulating sentences, understanding what others say and using language socially.’ (Bercow Report 2008)
If a child or young person person’s rate of progress is slower than others, this does not necessarily mean that they have SEN. Individuals learn and progress at different rates and times. If progress is much slower than other people, appears to be slower than previously or appears to cease, then this should be immediately investigated and supported through an ‘assess, plan, do, review review’ process.