Abstract
<p>Speech and language disorders impede young children’s abilities to communicate and are often associated with a number of behavioural problems arising in the preschool classroom. This paper reports a small-scale study that investigated 23 Australian educators’ and 7 Speech Pathologists’ experiences in working with three to five year old children with speech and language disorders. The participants responded to a questionnaire relating to the types of SaLD; social and emotional challenges experienced by children; their role in providing support and issues confronting both professions. The findings highlighted that educators play a valuable role in supporting children’s speech and language disorders through the social context of the preschool classroom. Furthermore inter-professional practice between Speech Pathologists and educators was viewed as highly valuable. Drawing upon these findings, a model of support is presented to improve interventions for holistic development.</p>
Highlights
Speech and Language Disorders (SaLD) are one of the most common learning difficulties affecting preschool aged children
The study is limited by a small sample size which means that the findings cannot be generalised to the wider population of Australia, the findings present a unique insight into intervention and support for children with SaLD
The study illustrated that educators and Speech Pathologists acknowledge the importance of holistic intervention where support is given to both speech and language and the child’s development of social and emotional skills
Summary
Speech and Language Disorders (SaLD) are one of the most common learning difficulties affecting preschool aged children. Speech and language are central to all areas of children’s development and are inter-dependent on various aspects of social, cognitive and emotional behaviours (Sajaniemi, Suhonen, & Kontu, 2010) This means that speech and language competence open doors for children to develop social relationships, gather knowledge, form positive self-concepts and guide the acquisition of literacy skills (McCormack, Harrison, McLeod, & McAllister, 2011). Children with SaLD often find it difficult to follow instructions, communicate their needs and may be less able to self-regulate their emotions (Porter, 2016) Studies reveal that it is for these sorts of reasons, that children with SaLD experience anxiety and frustration at being misunderstood by others and often choose to withdraw from social interactions (McCormack, Mcleod, Harrison, & McAllister, 2010). Without appropriate intervention that is holistically focussed towards SaLD, and social and emotional skill development, the child may be at risk of experiencing ongoing SaLD and engaging in anti-social behaviours into later childhood and adolescence
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