Articles by Sophie Mustoe-Playfair

October 3, 2023

Issue 23, Page 18-19: Ask a Therapist: Intervention tips

QUESTION: “My speech and language intervention isn’t going as well as I expected. What should I try?” ANSWER: With the best of intentions, we often can’t...

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October 2, 2023

Issue 22, Page 3: Ask a Therapist: What are ‘soft skills’ really?

QUESTION: What are ‘soft skills’ really? ANSWER: Soft skills have been an increasing concern in schools since at least 2019. However, since the pandemic began to...

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October 2, 2023

Issue 21, Page 3: Ask a Therapist: 5 Good Habits for Becoming an SLCN friendly NQT

QUESTION: I’m a Newly Qualified Teacher. How can I make sure that my classroom and teaching is accessible for my pupils who have SLCN? ANSWER: It’s...

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October 2, 2023

Issue 20, Page 18-19: Ask a therapist: Managing your SLCN caseload

QUESTION: “Lots of children in my school need support with their speech and language skills – How can I manage my caseload?” ANSWER: Managing a large...

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October 2, 2023

Issue 19, Page 19: Ask a Therapist: Becoming a Communication Friendly School

QUESTION: What does it mean to be a ‘Communication Friendly Setting’ and how can I achieve this in my school?] ANSWER: A communication friendly school has...

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March 3, 2022

Supporting Generalisation of Skills

In this final blog of our three-part series in which we have been considering key barriers to effective interventions for children who have Autism Spectrum...

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November 4, 2021

Supporting Generalisation: Speech and Language in the Classroom and Beyond

As a speech and language therapist, one of the questions I am asked most often is how we can support children to generalise the skills...

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November 5, 2020

Introducing Universal Communication Aids Into Your Classroom

It can be difficult to implement communication aids in the classroom for a number of reasons. Staff can be worried about the impact of singling...

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October 3, 2020

The Link Special Edition, Page 8: 5 Tips to Boost Literacy

Early speech and language skills are the most significant predictor of a child’s later literacy skills. Our spoken language skills are fundamental underpinnings of literacy...

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October 1, 2020

Developmental Language Disorder in 2020

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a diagnostic term which was first launched in 2017 to describe severe and long-term language difficulties which are not related...

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