At Speech & Language Link, we are committed to helping schools get the very best from their pupils with SLCN. Led by a team of experienced TAs, and supported by our experienced speech and language therapists, our Help Desk is available to assist subscribing schools with any questions and to help you keep your SLCN support on track. Here are the most frequently asked questions our therapists receive, with responses from Yin Collighan, one of our specialist speech and language therapists.
We have both Speech Link and Language Link and following the assessments a pupil has been recommended interventions in both packages. Should we work on speech sounds or language first?
Good question! Language should be the priority, as enhancing language skills supports speech sound development. For example, if a child has limited vocabulary (a language need) and cannot make some age appropriate speech sounds (speech sound needs), teaching words helps expand vocabulary, exposes the child to sounds in various contexts, and supports their development. If a child struggles to communicate due to speech difficulties, it’s vital to support their understanding through pictures, gestures, or visual choices (e.g., “Would you like the duck or truck?” while showing both). Spending time with the child, such as looking at books together, also helps you become familiar with their speech and improves communication. Check out the Speech in the Classroom tab in your Speech Link package for more strategies.
We have Speech Link and a pupil had been recommended a list of speech programmes – which one should we start on?
You have two main choices: The list is in the order of which sounds should come first in typical development. You are welcome to work on the sounds in this order if you wish. However, working on sounds in the order of what could be the easiest for your student to produce might be better for them, as they are more likely to be successful with the sounds that they find easiest. This will help them feel more confident and motivated. Ask them to copy you saying the recommended sounds for all the recommended programmes. Then choose the programme for the sound that they find the easiest to say first.
Some of our pupils have come out with language scores that are lower than expected. Am I doing something wrong?
If you’ve followed the guidance on completing the assessment (check out our How To User Guides in the assessment tab if you haven’t), then no, you’re not doing anything wrong! Sometimes a pupil’s communication difficulties only become apparent when everything else is stripped away, such as during a language assessment. Some pupils are skilled at masking these challenges in daily life. For example, if they don’t understand an instruction, they might copy peers or rely on visual cues like pictures, gestures or facial expressions. They may also follow instructions easily when it’s part of a familiar routine. Because they appear to manage well, these difficulties can go unnoticed, making them harder to identify and support. Rest assured—you’ve done the right thing. The next step is to follow the recommendations and implement any suggested interventions.
We have been given recommendations from your package, but the child also has a speech and language therapist. What advice do I follow?
We always say that if a child is under a speech and language therapist and there are recommendations in our package, go with the therapist’s advice. This is because the therapist will have very specific knowledge about that child and therefore will use this knowledge and their expertise within their advice. Often, our recommendations following an assessment align with the therapist’s advice. It would be worth discussing whether you can use the suggested interventions to meet the therapist’s advice, as this could be an efficient way to meet the child’s needs.
Some of our pupils are making great progress in interventions, but struggle to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom
Lovely to hear about the progress that they are making! Children can find it very tricky however, to transfer their skills over to the classroom, as outside of structured, focused sessions, they may not think to use their newfound skills. We recommend that a handover system is in place between the person who is running the sessions and the teacher, so that everyone knows the skills being worked on. For speech work, generalisation of speech sounds into everyday life comes later in the programmes, but it is worth using strategies to support them in the classroom throughout. Most interventions in our Infant and Junior Language Link packages will come with Teacher Guidance notes which teachers use to support their children from session to session, in class.