Why should provisions prioritise the development of children's speech and language skills?
Speech, Language and communication (SLC) skills impact on a wide range of outcomes:
- educational attainment
'50% of children with SLC needs go on
to have reading difficulties'
'only one fifth with SLC needs reach
expected levels in both maths and English at
'only 10% get 5 good GCSEs
including English and maths'
'only 50% remain in full-time ed. post 16'
- mental health
'40% of 7-14 year olds referred to child
psychiatric services have an unidentified
language impairment (Cohen et al 1998)'
'without help one third of children with SLC
needs will need treatment for mental health
conditions in adult life' (Clergy et al 2005)
'men with speech difficulties are 8 times
more likely to be unemployed'
'children with normal non-verbal skills but a
poor vocabulary at age 5 are twice as likely
to be unemployed as adults than those with
normally developing language at age 5'
'there is increasing importance being placed
upon communication skills in the job market
based on employer ratings'
- behaviour & criminality
'two thirds of 7-14 year olds with serious
behaviour problems have language
'60% of youth offenders have SLC needs'.
'35% of youth offenders have a basic level of