How Language and Communication Needs can impact on Social Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

Objectives

• To help develop an understanding of the impact of Speech Language and Communication Needs on Social Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties in Primary School Children

• To suggest some practical ideas that could be used to help these children in the classroom.

“the ability to understand, manage and express the social and emotional aspects of ones’ life in ways that enable the successful management of life tasks such as learning, forming relationships, solving everyday problems and adapting to the complex demand of growth and development.” Elias et al (1972)

What is Social Emotional and Behavioural Development?

What does typical emotional development look like by the time they get to school?

From birth Babies are sociable

3m React positively to positive emotions and vice versa

12m Show primary universal emotions; sad; angry;

afraid; happy; surprised; disgusted

18m Begin to pretend. Tend to mimic primary emotions

2yrs Use words for emotions such as happy; sad; angry and frightened also crying and hurting

2-5yrs More words emotions; surprise; excitement; boredom and loneliness

3-4 Children understand that situations elicit emotions

4-5 Can recognise external causes of emotions in others

By school age

Demonstrate a culturally appropriate range of emotional display, can hide disappointment etc.

Understanding/ComprehensionLanguage processingPlanning and organising

Listening, attention

Output

Expressive skillsInputReceptive skills

Sounds, words, sentences, narrative

Language in a social context - communication

Language Processing

The Components of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)

Speech

Semantics

Grammar

Pragmatics

Prevalence

•Aggressive behavioural difficulties are reported in young children with SLCN (Carson et al, 1998)

•There is a higher incidence of behavioural and psychiatric problems in children with SLCN (approx 50 %) compared to non-impaired children (approx 12%) (Goodyer, 2000)

•Poor interaction and increased withdrawal leads to poor self esteem (Jerome et al, 2002)

•Children with SLCN are at risk of being bullied at school (Conti-Ramsden and Botting, 2004)

Communication breakdownexercise

• How did you feel giving the message to your partner?

• How did you feel receiving the message from your partner?

The impact of SLCN on socialisation and behaviour

Difficulties constructing sentences to convey meaning

Unable to explain things, re tell events, negotiate

Reduced access to lessons, difficulties forming and sustaining friendships, getting into trouble

The impact of SLCN on social andemotional behaviour

Behaviour ? ExplanationSmiles when told off and/or laughs when someone is hurt

Difficulties understanding and interpreting emotions, social rules

Poor listener Comprehension difficulties

Hits, bites, kicks other children in the playground/classroom

Unable to communicate message effectively e.g. will you play with me?Unable to follow and join in conversations

Avoids starting work, runs away or refusal to start a new task

Reduced understanding of task, outside of their comprehension levels. Difficulties with transition, unable to predict what will happen next.

Behaviour ? ExplanationTantrums, screams, shouts, throws objects across the room

Unable to communicate message effectively e.g. sentence construction, finding the words they needReduced understanding of task, too complex? Is the task written? Does it involve reading for meaning?

Defiance Reduced understanding, feeling like the situation is out of their control, anxiety

Irritating other children Unable to gain peers attention through verbal communication

Behaviour ? ExplanationAppears aloof and avoids contributing to class discussions

Difficulties putting a sentence together to convey meaningDifficulties understanding questions Difficulties using language to problem solve, predict, negotiate

Often seen playing alone in the playground

Difficulties using language to initiate and sustain an interaction Difficulties understanding rules of games

Don’t appear to make choices, express likes and dislikes

Difficulties requesting and refusing things, not enough time for processing

The terms SLCN and SEBD overlap and often these ‘labels’ are describing the same children

What can we do?

• We need to understand the Why? ,what is the root of the problem?

• Prevention is better than cure

• Teach missing skills

• Develop positive interactions and raise self esteem

• Work in collaboration with the child’s ‘network’.

Strategies for dealing with challenging behaviours

•Practice language and skills that may help them to manage themselves

•How to ask for things

•Turn taking

•Language of emotions

•Narrative

•Monitoring their behaviour/how am I doing?

Strategies for dealing with challenging behaviours

• Slow down and give them time to think

• Keep your instructions simple or break them down into understandable chunks

• Give the child time to process what you have said

• Go to an area where they can have time out so they can deescalate behaviour in their own time

• Support their answers and thinking with verbal forced choice

• Support their answers and thinking with pictures/symbols/signs

What can you do?

• Be consistent

•Think about what you want to achieve/ what behaviours you want to change.

•Tackle one thing at a time

•Keep your language simple/ have a mantra

•Give yourself time away from the child if things are getting difficult

•Don’t be afraid to ask for help

•Be kind to yourself

Strategies for dealing with challenging behaviours The Classroom

•Visual timetables

•Cue/prompt cards

•Labelling and pictures so they know where to find things

•Timers for tasks

•Pictures and names of staff who they might come into contact with

•Differentiated tasks

•Smooth transitions

Strategies for dealing with challenging behaviours

Strategies for dealing with challenging behaviours

•Simplify rules: make them meaningful and visual

•Make rewards and consequences clear: make them visual use sign/symbol and pictures and make them achievable

•Reinforce good behaviour by reminding them about the things they have achieved e.g. stickers, stars, prizes, certificates

•Give them alternative methods for expressing themselves

•Give them a second chance

Strategies for dealing with challenging behaviours

Strategies for dealing with challenging behaviours

What can the school do?

•Look at underlying reasons for behaviour

•Give curriculum time to teaching play and social skills

•Give priority and value to learning behaviour skills

•Share behaviour plans to keep a consistent approach

•Have an ethos where staff are aware of the stresses of managing challenging behaviour and can step in to help

•Help with monitoring, observing and recording behaviour

Strategies for dealing with challenging behaviours

Be positive

You can make a difference!