Speech, language and communication needs

Also called SLCN, Communication and interaction needs

SLCN is the umbrella schools and services put over every kind of communication difficulty; useful for funding, useless for knowing what to do until you look underneath.

What it is

Speech, language and communication needs is the umbrella term used in English education and health for any child whose speech, language or communication is affecting their learning or life. It's one of the four broad areas of need in the SEND Code of Practice, under "communication and interaction", and it's the single most common recorded need in primary schools.

It's a category, not a diagnosis. Under it sit speech sound disorder, DLD, stammering, the communication differences of autism, language difficulties that go with a learning disability or hearing loss, and children who've simply had too little language around them.

Who it can help

Parents and teachers who've seen SLCN on a form and need to know what it commits anybody to. Any child recorded with it, from nursery to college. And services, because the category is how needs get counted and funded.

Where it doesn't help is in telling you what to do. Two children with SLCN can need opposite things: one needs help pronouncing sounds, the other needs sentences cut in half. The word on the form is where the conversation starts, not where it ends.

How it works

Speech is the sounds; language is the words, meaning and grammar; communication is using both with other people. A need can sit in any of the three, and in understanding or in expression. A school identifying SLCN should be able to say which, and what evidence they have.

Support follows the graduated approach: assess, plan, do, review, at SEN support first, with speech and language therapy advising or delivering. Where needs are significant and persistent, an EHCP can specify therapy in enforceable terms, which is covered under communication provision in an EHCP.

The scale matters for perspective. Speech and Language UK's estimate is that around 1.9 million children in the UK are behind with talking and understanding words, and many will never be seen by a therapist. Communication-friendly whole-class teaching does more than any caseload can.

Getting started

Ask the school three questions: what exactly is the need (speech, language or communication, understanding or expression), what is being done differently as a result, and when will it be reviewed. Ask to see it written down.

Ask whether a speech and language therapist has been involved, and if not, ask for a referral. Most areas take referrals from parents as well as schools.

Read communication in the classroom and share it with the class teacher. The adaptations there help every child in the room, which is the argument that wins.

Where to get help

Speech and Language UK has a helpline and a progress checker for ages 0 to 11. Afasic supports families. IPSEA gives free legal advice on SEN support and EHCPs, and Special Needs Jungle explains the system in parent language. The RCSLT explains what therapists do in schools.