Prevalence: |
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 age 11' '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) - employment '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 impairment' '60% of youth offenders have SLC needs'. '35% of youth offenders have a basic level of SLC skills' |