Jessica Guerin Look Whos Talking

Look Who’s Talking with Sure Start Children’s Centres: 

Look Who’s Talking with Sure Start Children’s Centres Jessica Guerin Principal Speech andamp; Language Therapist Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust Communication Enrichment Team

Content: 

Content Centrality of communication skills Importance of prevention/early intervention Look Who’s Talking Model of service delivery Impact of the model to date

Communication skillsKey components: 

Communication skills Key components Language Receptive Expressive Speech Pragmatics

The National picture: 

The National picture 10% of UK children have a communication disability Upwards of 50% of pre-school children from disadvantaged areas have delayed speech andamp; language skills (Locke 2002) In Wolverhampton (BESS) 58% of preschoolers have SLC skills difficulties (BESS 2000/2001)

Cost to child: 

Cost to child Centrality of communication skills to: Personal, social andamp; emotional development Educational attainment Every Child Matters Being healthy Educated healthy lifestyle choices Higher risk of rejection andamp; isolation (Botting et al 2000), Clegg et al 1999), Poorer emotional health (Botting 2006) Stronger likelihood of mental health problems (Clegg et al 1999) Staying safe Children and young people are safe from bullying and discrimination, crime, anti-social behaviour

Cost to child: 

Cost to child Enjoying andamp; achieving competence in oral language and the resulting transition to literacy is central to later academic success (Snow et al 2004) without the right help between 50% and 90% of children with persistent language diffs go on to have reading diffs ( Stothard et al 98, ICAN 2006) children with persistent language difficulty achieve lower academically (Aram et al 1984) Making a positive contribution 50% of the UK prison population have literacy difficulties (BSA 1994) 35% of offenders have speaking and listening skills at a basic level

Cost to child: 

Cost to child Achieving economic wellbeing young people with persistent slc diffs who have had limited support: exam pass rate is lower, fewer go on to further or higher education (Haynes 1992, Clegg et al 1999). 50% of young people with slc diffs compared with 75% of those without impairment remained in fulltime educ post 16 andamp; took a restricted range of learning pathways (Snowling et al 2001)

Cost to the nation: 

Cost to the nation Est. 75% of children with persistent communication disability at pre-school age are likely to be in need of special education (Snowling et al 2000) Audit commission 1997 looked at financial cost of not intervening early with a child with SLandamp;C diffs cost of £42,243 for sandamp;l support and ED Psych support between 5 and 15 yrs compared with £153,687 actual interventions and estimated costs of 2 custodial terms in secure units before the age of 16. Cost to society of young people who are NEET is on average £97,000 per young person over their lifetime

How it all began: 

How it all began National Sure Start/Children’s centres targets 90% of preschoolers would have normal levels of SLC skills development (2000) A reduction of 5% points in the number of children requiring specialist speech andamp; language intervention by age 4 (2001) Improve children’s communication, social and emotional development so that by 2008 50% of children reach a good level of development at the end of the Foundation Stage

Initial Action: 

Initial Action Establish baseline data Views of service providers andamp; service users

English only speaking population with SLC difficulties in BESS area: 

English only speaking population with SLC difficulties in BESS area

Identification of children with communication difficulties: 

Identification of children with communication difficulties

Service provider views: 

Service provider views Lack of understanding of implications of SLandamp;C skills Need for training: identification of children who had a delayed profile/at risk Strategies/ideas to promote ecs development Reasons for not referring: Uncertainty around norms of development Watchful waiting Long waiting lists Knowing families wouldn’t access service Inadequate support for children referred

Levels of need: 

Levels of need Very high levels of preschoolers with delayed slandamp;c difficulties Focus had to be on prevention andamp; early intervention Flexible, accessible andamp; non-stigmatising Training Raise levels of awareness and expectations with the communities we worked with

Children with impoverished communication skills need:: 

Children with impoverished communication skills need: Support early – critical period High quality educational provision: tailored at children’s needs Skilled and confident children’s workforce Input focussed on developing: Attention/ listening Turn-taking Vocabulary Receptive andamp; expressive language development

Children Centre’s Outcome measures: 

Children Centre’s Outcome measures Number of children supported Number of practitioners trained Number of parents received training Improved levels of communication skills at end of Foundation stage Reduction in number of children commencing school with undetected communication problems Wolverhampton children reaching national averages

What influenced the model: 

What influenced the model High levels of need – universality of provision Needs of service providers Levels of provision for pre-school children in Wolverhampton ECM outcomes

Look Who’s Talking Model: 

Look Who’s Talking Model

Look Who’s Talking Model: 

Look Who’s Talking Model

Principles: 

Principles Involves significant others Parents/carers Early years providers/practitioners Focus on developing early communication skills and parent-child bonding/interaction Non-stigmatising Accessible

Communication Enrichment Team: 

Communication Enrichment Team Speech andamp; Language Development Officers Deliver model in their CC localities NNEB/BTEC trained SLT support assistant trained Significant ‘on the job’ training Principal Speech andamp; Language Therapist Training andamp; on-going support of SLDOs Training of service providers across all Children’s Centre localities Co-ordination andamp; ongoing development of LWT model across Children Centre Localities

Parent –baby/child groups: 

Parent –baby/child groups Enhance bonding/interaction Increase parental understanding of their baby’s/child’s development Increase parental self-esteem Maximise baby’s/child’s full potential (early communication skills) Social network for parents

Look Who’s Talking Baby Group: 

Look Who’s Talking Baby Group 3-12 month olds Core building blocks Modelling by staff Nursery rhymes Creative section Loan-toy scheme

Talk to Your Bump/Baby: 

Talk to Your Bump/Baby Ante-natal/post-natal group How to communicate with your baby through touch and sound from 0-12 months Importance of communication andamp; how it develops Nursery rhymes Tv, bottles, dummies First book creation Baby sign language taster

Baby & Toddler Signing: 

Baby andamp; Toddler Signing Parents/carers with babies/toddlers 7-30 months old History andamp; benefits of baby andamp; toddler signing Teach key set of signs each week Sign and rhyme session Recap previous week’s signs

Little Learners: 

Little Learners Parent andamp; toddler group (2½ - 3½ years) Vocabulary topic based Attention/listening andamp; turn-taking skills Confidence andamp; social skills Feelie-box activities Fishing game Lotto-board activities Songs andamp; rhymes

Baby Bop : 

Baby Bop Musical interaction group (3-12 month olds) Close physical interaction on laps, on cushions, in arms peek-a-boo games, songs andamp; rhymes, movement songs

Mini Movers: 

Mini Movers Musical interaction group (2-5 years) Listening, turn-taking skills, enjoyment of music Musical instruments

You Make The difference: 

You Make The difference Parents/carers with children 0-5 years Canadian approach to enhancing parent –child interaction skills to develop learning Focus is on communication skills development

Early communication skills groups for nurseries: 

Early communication skills groups for nurseries Nurseries/playgroups 4 stages Supported by educ. staff member Focus on vocabulary development, turn-taking, attention andamp; listening, social skills

Training of service providers: 

Training of service providers All EYPs working with 0-5 year group 2½ day course Identification of SLC skills diffs Promotion of early communication skills Signing for everyday environments Private day nurseries Baby andamp; toddler signing

Evaluation to Date: 

Evaluation to Date Qualitative measures Parental questionnaires Staff questionnaires Evaluation of training Quantative measures

Impact of model: 

Impact of model Increase in awareness -andgt; referrals Reduction in the number of children with SLC difficulties Direct work with children Direct work with parents Direct work with EYP

English only speaking population with SLC skills diffs: 

English only speaking population with SLC skills diffs

Slide35: 

Identification of children with communication difficulties

Training: 

Training

Evaluation of training : 

Evaluation of training

Reaching the hard to reach: 

Reaching the hard to reach Non-stigmatising Increase expectations/aspirations Increase understanding of child development Increase parental self-esteem Accessibility andamp; variability Trust Community working

What we have learned: 

What we have learned Parents want the best Don’t always know what is the best or how to access it Education Word of mouth We can impact on life chances of children if we intervene early enough

References: 

References Snowling MJ et al (2001) Educational attainments of school leavers with a pre-school history of speech- language impairments IJLCD vol 36 Bynner J and Parsons S (1997) It doesn’t get any better: the impact of poor Basic skills on the lives of 37 year olds Basic Skills Agency Locke A, Ginsborg J and Peers I (2002) development and Disadvantage: implications for early years IJCLD vol 27 no.1 Clegg J, Holis c and Rutter M (1999) Life sentence: what happens to children with developmental language disorders in later life? RCSLT Bulletin November

Slide41: 

Haynes C 1992 A longitudinal study of language impaired children from a residential school in P Fletcher and D Hall eds Specific speech and language disorders in children Whurr Publishers London 1992 Davies K et al (2004) An evaluation of the literacy demands of general offending Behaviour programmes Home office findings 233 Stothard SE et al (1998) Language impaired pre-schoolers: a follow up into adolescence JSLHR 41 BSA in prisons (1994) Assessing the needs (London BSA) Young AR et al (2002) Young adult academic outcomes in a longitudinal sample of early identified language impaired and control children Journal of child psychology and psychiatry Vol 43