HOW I GROW UP AND DEVELOP

WHAT I NEED

FROM PEOPLE WHO LOOK AFTER ME

MY WIDER WORLD

SUPPORT

 

THE HEALTH VISITING PATHWAY

13 - 15 MONTHS

NHS EDUCATION FOR SCOTLAND

SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

GIVING CHILDREN THE BEST POSSIBLE START IN LIFE

SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT KEY

LOOK OUT FOR

  • Shows very little intention or motivation to communicate
  • Lack of interest in social play and interaction with family members
  • Lack of eye contact
  • Child does not respond to language (and a hearing test has confirmed normal hearing)
  • Little or no babbling/experimentation with sounds
  • Doesn’t use gestures like waving “bye bye” or shaking head for “no”
  • Doesn’t respond to her/his name
  • Doesn’t communicate in some way when s/he needs help with something
  • Doesn't understand and respond to words like "no" and "up"
  • No attempts at words by 15 months
  • Doesn’t point to things of interest
  • Parental concern

PROMOTING INTERACTION

  • Proximity: Children will communicate more when they are face to face with an adult
  • Following a child’s interests encourages them to communicate about what is important to them.
  • Waiting: Allow pauses and waiting expectantly for child to communicate.
  • Pace: Using a slow rate of speech which allows time for children to initiate communication.
  • Taking turns when playing games such as peek-a-boo will help child learn about turn taking in conversations.
  • Be careful with questions - Asking too many questions or questions to ‘test’ a child can affect the interaction e.g. ‘what colour is the bus?’

PROMOTING LANGUAGE

  • Repetition is very important to the acquisition of language. Infants and young children need to hear words over and over again before they will attempt to use them.
  • Responsiveness: recognising and responding positively to a child’s attempts at communication is vital.
  • Repeating words back to show you have understood and so the child hears good examples
  • Context Sensitivity: Pointing and labelling objects that a child shows an interest in and responding to a child’s initiations
  • Gestures - Using actions and gestures will build shared attention and understanding.
  • Interpret messages – Provide labels for things the child shows an interest in. Put into words what the child is trying to tell you. This will build vocabulary development
  • Commenting: Talking to baby as often as possible.  Linking language to what child sees and what they are doing. Use short, simple sentences.
  • Labelling – Name a variety of vocabulary. Emphasise and stress words.

OPPORTUNITIES

  • Offering choices - e.g. milk or juice. This helps a child understand and label new vocabulary and provides opportunities to practice words
  • Reading provides opportunity for interaction, communication and sound play.
  • Singing rhymes and songs: wait at times to see if the child will fill in the action.
  • Play provides many opportunities for communication development. (see Play at home book).

ENVIRONMENT

  • Attempts to control/minimise distractions/background noise - it can be helpful to have a quiet time each day for communication.
  • Avoid excessive use of dummies.

Health Visitors and Family Nurses play a key role in prevention and early identification of Speech, Language and Communication Needs. Below are some suggested ways of supporting families and signposting them to relevant support services.

  • Consider any support a parent with Communication Support Needs may require. Parents with CSN may be less able to access additional supports and information that could assist with their child's development. Ensure you are aware of parents communication preferences and can respond appropriately to these.
  • Ensure all information is ‘communication accessible.’
  • Demonstrate and discuss positive interaction skills.
  • Parents with mental health issues, including postnatal depression and postnatal post traumatic stress, may need more support and encouragement to interact sensitively with their children – but trying this even a little can be a great help to them.  Be aware that postnatal mental health issues can affect both mothers and fathers.
  • Where there are capacity issues for parents, consider other family members who might be able to help – grandparents, older siblings – and give them key messages
  • Signposting: Attending local bookbug sessions, infant massage, toddler groups or other community resources can support the attachment and communication process.
  • Parents have access to developmental guidelines relating to early communication skills through the Red book, Ready Steady Baby and Ready Steady Toddler.
  • Play at home Toddler book contains many ideas to support language and communication development- see first words and play at home to see which activities are directly linked to communication.
  • Play, Talk, Read website contains many ideas and examples of positive interaction.
  • Use of evidence based tools to profile the child’s speech, language and communication abilities and needs.
  • Using the elicit-provide-elicit model of sharing information and checking understanding.
    • Elicit - what the parent/carer knows already
    • Provide - fill in any gaps or misconceptions
    • Elicit - Explore what fits with family life
  • Using open-ended questions, active listening, reflecting back and summarising. (For more information on these techniques see NES Motivational Interviewing resource).
  • Using a collaborative communication style - working in partnership with families,  empowering them to solve issues and make decisions

NHS Education for Scotland

102 Westport

Edinburgh

EH3 9DN

www.nes.scot.nhs.uk

OTHER LINKS

  • NES website
  • The Portal

©  NHS Education for Scotland 2018. You can copy or reproduce the information in this document for use within NHSScotland and for non-commercial educational purposes.  Use of this document for commercial purposes is permitted only with the written permission of NES.

HOW I GROW UP AND DEVELOP

WHAT I NEED

FROM PEOPLE WHO LOOK AFTER ME

MY WIDER WORLD

SUPPORT

 

 

Expand the subject for further information

  • HOW I GROW UP AND DEVELOP

    • SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION KEY

    LOOK OUT FOR

    • Shows very little intention or motivation to communicate
    • Lack of interest in social play and interaction with family members
    • Lack of eye contact
    • Child does not respond to language (and a hearing test has confirmed normal hearing)
    • Little or no babbling/experimentation with sounds
    • Doesn’t use gestures like waving “bye bye” or shaking head for “no”
    • Doesn’t respond to her/his name
    • Doesn’t communicate in some way when s/he needs help with something
    • Doesn't understand and respond to words like "no" and "up"
    • No attempts at words by 15 months
    • Doesn’t point to things of interest
    • Parental concern

     

  • WHAT I NEED

    PROMOTING INTERACTION

    • Proximity: Children will communicate more when they are face to face with an adult
    • Following a child’s interests encourages them to communicate about what is important to them.
    • Waiting: Allow pauses and waiting expectantly for child to communicate.
    • Pace: Using a slow rate of speech which allows time for children to initiate communication.
    • Taking turns when playing games such as peek-a-boo will help child learn about turn taking in conversations.
    • Be careful with questions - Asking too many questions or questions to ‘test’ a child can affect the interaction eg ‘what colour is the bus?’

    PROMOTING LANGUAGE

    • Repetition is very important to the acquisition of language. Infants and young children need to hear words over and over again before they will attempt to use them.
    • Responsiveness: recognising and responding positively to a child’s attempts at communication is vital.
    • Repeating words back to show you have understood and so the child hears good examples
    • Context Sensitivity: Pointing and labelling objects that a child shows an interest in and responding to a child’s initiations
    • Gestures - Using actions and gestures will build shared attention and understanding.
    • Interpret messages – Provide labels for things the child shows an interest in. Put into words what the child is trying to tell you. This will build vocabulary development
    • Commenting: Talking to baby as often as possible.  Linking language to what child sees and what they are doing. Use short, simple sentences.
    • Labelling – Name a variety of vocabulary. Emphasise and stress words.

    OPPORTUNITIES

    • Offering choices - eg milk or juice. This helps a child understand and label new vocabulary and provides opportunities to practice words
    • Reading provides opportunity for interaction, communication and sound play.
    • Singing rhymes and songs: wait at times to see if the child will fill in the action.
    • Play provides many opportunities for communication development. (see Play at home book).

    ENVIRONMENT

    • Attempts to control/minimise distractions/background noise -it can be helpful to have a quiet time each day for communication.
    • Avoid excessive use of dummies.

     

  • MY WIDER WORLD

  • SUPPORT

    Health Visitors and Family Nurses play a key role in prevention and early identification of Speech, Language and Communication Needs. Below are some suggested ways of supporting families and signposting them to relevant support services.

    • Consider any support a parent with Communication Support Needs may require. Parents with CSN may be less able to access additional supports and information that could assist with their child's development. Ensure you are aware of parents communication preferences and can respond appropriately to these.
    • Ensure all information is ‘communication accessible.’
    • Demonstrate and discuss positive interaction skills.
    • Parents with mental health issues, including postnatal depression and postnatal post traumatic stress, may need more support and encouragement to interact sensitively with their children – but trying this even a little can be a great help to them.  Be aware that postnatal mental health issues can affect both mothers and fathers.
    • Where there are capacity issues for parents, consider other family members who might be able to help – grandparents, older siblings – and give them key messages
    • Signposting: Attending local bookbug sessions, infant massage, toddler groups or other community resources can support the attachment and communication process.
    • Parents have access to developmental guidelines relating to early communication skills through the Red book, Ready Steady Baby and Ready Steady Toddler.
    • Play at home Toddler book contains many ideas to support language and communication development- see first words and play at home to see which activities are directly linked to communication.
    • Play, Talk, Read website contains many ideas and examples of positive interaction.
    • Use of evidence based tools to profile the child’s speech, language and communication abilities and needs.
    • Using the elicit-provide-elicit model of sharing information and checking understanding.
      • Elicit - what the parent/carer knows already
      • Provide - fill in any gaps or misconceptions
      • Elicit - Explore what fits with family life
    • Using open-ended questions, active listening, reflecting back and summarising. (For more information on these techniques see NES Motivational Interviewing resource).
    • Using a collaborative communication style - working in partnership with families,  empowering them to solve issues and make decisions