SLCN

Speech Delay vs. Speech Disorder

Speech, communication and language difficulties can present as both a delay or a disorder. 

Speech delay

• A delay is a temporary or short-term form of SLCN, where a child is developing skills in the right order but is behind the average in achieving each milestone. 

• Delays can occur in any area, such as the development of:

  •  speech sounds

  • vocabulary

  • attention and listening

  • non-verbal/pragmatic skills (such as taking turns in conversations and following other unwritten social communication rules).

More than half of language delays in children under three are resolved by giving the child support as soon as possible. This then allows them to catch up with their age group. However, if children don’t receive any support, it can lead to more complex, long-term difficulties.

Speech disorder

• A disorder is likely to require long-term support – we use this term to describe a child who is developing in an unusual or atypical way in one or more areas. 

• For example, a child might:

  •  have problems understanding language and following what is going on (receptive developmental language disorder), 

  • have problems remembering words and forming sentences (expressive developmental language disorder), 

  • get stuck on a certain sound or part of a word (stammer), 

  • struggle coordinating their muscles to produce sounds (verbal dyspraxia), 

  • or have communication anxiety in certain situations that prevents them from speaking (selective mutism). 

Speech, language and communication are essential for:

• Expressing needs, wishes, and ideas. 

  • We need speech, language, and communication to tell others:

    •  what we need

    • what we want

    • what we think about a certain topic. 

• Social interaction. 

  • To interact with others and make friends, we need to be able to:

    • communicate and understand social rules

    • those with SLCN are more likely to be isolated or bullied 

• Emotional development. 

  • We use language to: 

    • understand

    • recognise

    • label

    • explain our own and others’ emotions. 

  • Those with better communication skills are more likely to:

    •  be empathic

    • have higher self-esteem

    • and be resilient 

• Learning. 

  • Spoken language is the main method of teaching in many places. 

  • Children with poor language skills find it more difficult to understand:

    • new words and concepts

    • instructions

    • feedback, 

  • leading to lower academic achievement.

• Literacy skills.

  • Early reading is often taught using a phonic approach, which begins with hearing, recognising, and reproducing individual sounds, then learning to segment and blend them  in words. 

  • These phonic skills form the basis of reading and spelling – with children learning the graphemes (written form of the sound) alongside the phonemes (the sound itself). 

  • Poor awareness of speech sounds makes this process more difficult.

• Behaviour. 

  • Language helps us learn and follow rules, and exercise self-control (being calm/rational). 

  • Those who struggle to understand or express language may become frustrated and display challenging behaviour

• Mental health. 

  • Poor communication skills are a mental health risk factor: children with SLCN are five times more likely to develop mental health problems than those without (NHS Digital 2018).

• Future employment. 

  • Jobs today often require strong communication and literacy skills. 

  • Those lacking these skills have fewer job options and earn on average 11% less.

  • Children with poor language skills at age five are also twice as likely to be unemployed in adulthood (Early Intervention Foundation, 2017).