Speech, language and communication skills are important in helping a child to connect with others and learn about the world around them. 

At Support 2 Talk the focus is on supporting children to communicate to the best of their ability.

Find out more about us

It's more common than you think 

One in every ten children has a speech, language or communication difficulty.  On average 2 children out of every class of 30 will have a speech and language impairment as their primary area of need.  It's the most common childhood disability, but it's also often described as the most 'invisible' one.  Young children with speech and language difficulties are at increased risk of having problems with literacy and learning.  It can also impact on social relationships and self esteem.


Identifying speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) can be challenging, but getting the right level of support as early as possible can make a difference.  Knowing what to expect at different stages of your child's development can help parents and carers in deciding whether they should seek further advice from a speech and language therapist.




Click here for the Ages and Stages Guide on Speech and Language UK's website

Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 

Social Communication and Interaction 

We communicate socially for many different purposes such as finding out things, giving directions, sharing ideas or empathising with others.  
Social communication and interaction involves being able to share attention with others, take turns, understand and use gesture and facial expression as well as being able to understand and anticipate the intentions of others.  Developing these skills enables a child to understand other people and the world around them.  These skills develop from birth.
 Click here to watch a young baby at the early stages of developing social communication as the baby and parent share attention and take turns.
Some children need help to develop these skills.
We can advise on strategies to support the development of social communication.

Understanding what others say 
(Receptive Language) 

Being able to make sense of what others are saying is fundamental for the development of spoken language.  In a typical pattern of development a child will learn to understand words before they can use them.  For some children developing understanding of spoken language can take longer than others.
We can advise on ways to support the development understanding.

Using words and sentences 
(Expressive Language)

Sayingwords and putting words together to make sentences enables us to communicate our thoughts and ideas with others.  Some children find it difficult to find the right words and may struggle to put words together correctly in order to make their needs known to others.

We can advise on ways to support the development of expressive language.

Saying the right sounds in words 
(Speech Sounds)

A young child's ability to make speech sounds develops gradually over a number of years.  Some error patterns in speech sounds are not unusual during the early years of speech development.  However for some children the error patterns are more disordered or may persist beyond the early years of development.

We can advise on how to support the development of speech sounds.

HCPC registered

The speech and language therapists at Support 2 Talk are registered with The Health and Care Professions Council.  This is the statutory body regulating health care professions in the UK. 

Find out about HCPC here.

Member of RCSLT

The speech and language therapists at Support 2 Talk are members of The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.  This is the professional body for speech and language therapists in the UK.

Find out about RCSLT here

Member of ASLTIP

The speech and language therapists at Support 2 Talk are members of the Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice.

Find out about ASLTIP here.
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