www.hello.org.uk

Checklist 1. Do they have a limited vocabulary? Do they...a. Uselesswordsthanotherchildrentheirage

b. Over-usegeneralwords–‘thingy’,‘that’,‘put’,‘get’

c. Usethewrongwordsforthings-‘shark’insteadof‘whale’,ormadeupwordslike‘cuttergrasser’

d. Uselotsoffillersorhesitatesalot–‘um’,‘er’,‘y’know...like’

2. What are their sentences like? Do they...a. Missoutthesmallwordsinsentencesthatcarryless

meaning–‘a’,‘the’,‘is/was’,‘and’

b. Missofftheendingsofwords–‘ing’,‘ed’,‘s’

c. Soundmuddledordisorganisedwhentalkinginlongersentences

d. Recounteventsinawaythatmakesthemdifficulttofollow

3. Is their speech unclear? Do they...a. Missoutsoundsfromwords,missendsoffwordsorneveruse

somespeechsounds

b. Substituteonesoundforanother–‘atupoftoffee’(acupofcoffee),‘lellow’(yellow)

4. Do they have a stammer or stutter? Do they...a. Lengthenorrepeatsomesoundsorwords,orgetstuckbecause

nosoundcomesout

b. Trytohidetheirdifficultiesbyavoidingspeakingincertainsituations,orchangewhattheyweregoingtosaymidsentencetoavoidawordtheyfinddifficult

5. Do they have literacy difficulties? Do they...a. Struggletorecogniseinitialsoundsorsoundoutwords

b. Strugglewithorganisingtextinwrittenwork,withwordsmissedoff,poorgrammarorpoorwrittentexts

6. Do they have behaviour difficulties? Do they...a. Havelowself-esteem,seemwithdrawn,donotinitiatespeaking

inclass,orbecomefrustrated

7. Do they have social interaction difficulties? Do...a. Otherchildrenfinditdifficulttounderstandthemorpossibly

teasethemabouttheirspeech

Talking difficulties – what you might see and hear R A G

1. Do they find it difficult to listen or understand? Do they...

a. Fidgetornotengagewithtasks

b. Struggletofollowlongorcomplexsentences

c. Watchotherchildrensotheycanworkoutwhattodooraretheylasttofollowinstructions

d. Concentrateonnon-verbaltasksformuchlongerthanverbalones

2. Can they understand questions? Do they...

a. Answerwithanirrelevantcomment

b. Repeatpartofthequestion

c. Answeraslightlydifferentrelatedquestion

d. Notrespond

3. Does new or less visited vocabulary take a long time to stick?

4. Do they struggle to distinguish the difference between speech sounds? Do they...

a. Struggletobreakupwordsinordertoreadorspell

b. Strugggletocountoutsyllablesinwords

c. Struggletomatchsoundsandletters

5. Do they have literacy difficulties? Do they...

a. Havedifficultiycomprehendingtextandmakinginferences

6. Do they have behaviour difficulties? Do they...

a. Showwithdrawnordisruptivebehaviour

7. Do they have social interaction difficulties? Do they...

a. Havedifficultiesmakingfriendsorjoininginwithgroupactivities

Listening difficulties – what you might see and hear

1. Do they find it hard to understand the rules of conversation? Do they...

a. Avoideyecontactorstareatpeoplewhentalking

b. Struggletotaketurns,interrupttoomuch,takeoverconversationsorstruggletogetinvolved

c. Misunderstandfeelingsandfacialexpressionsofothers

2. Do they struggle to talk and listen with other children? Do they...

a. Havedifficultiesjoininginwithgroupconversations,gamesandactivities

b. Failtonoticewhatothersaredoingorfailtopickupcluesabouthowtheyarefeeling

c. Takeover,getthingswrong,ordisruptgames

d. Havesituationswhenotherchildrendonotwanttoplayorpartnerwiththem

3. Do they take things literally? Do they...a. Struggletounderstandjokes,idioms,

sarcasmormetaphors

Difficulties taking part – what you might see and hear

Usethisifthereisachildinyourcareyouthinkmayhavespeech,languageandcommunicationneeds.Readeachstatementandthentickthe‘R’(red)columnifthechildstronglymatchesthestatement,‘A’(amber)columniftheyoccasionallymatchthestatementand‘G’(green)iftheydonotmatchthestatement.

Oncompletingthechecklist,ifyou’restillconcernedaboutthechild,referbacktotheUniversally Speakingbooklettocheckwhattheyshouldbedoingandtalktotheirparentsaboutyourconcerns.Mainlyredandamberstatementsareacauseforconcern.Ifmainlyamberandgreen,youmightwanttomonitortheirprogressandrevisitthechecklistatalaterdate.Ifmoreformalassessmentisrequired,afullrangeofassessmentscanbefoundonPearsonAssessment’swebsitewww.psychcorp.co.uk

Visitwww.talkingpoint.org.ukformoreinformationorusethemoredetailedchecklistinthepublication Don’t Get Me Wrongavailableatwww.hello.org.uk/resources

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