Communication and interaction

Communication and interaction mean...Children and young people with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others.

This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time.
They may have difficulty with one, some, or all of the different aspects of speech, language, or social communication at different times of their lives.

Children and young people with autism are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction.
They may also experience difficulties with language, communication, and imagination, which can impact how they relate to others.

Support from Communication & Interaction Specialist Teachers

Communication & Interaction Specialist Teachers run regular advice sessions and these are open for all schools/settings to book onto.

Following access to support at the advice stage, the next step would be the SENCo Support Network where peer support can be offered. The format of these takes the place of network meetings to facilitate peer-to-peer support through a ‘solutions-focused’ approach.

The aim of this is to encourage SENCo’s to discuss specific cases to obtain ideas from colleagues and other professionals in the room in order to move things forward for the child or young person. These meetings are facilitated by a Specialist Teacher.

Following discussions at the SENCo Support Network one of the following outcomes may be decided:
1. The school/setting has been given a range of strategies and ideas to implement and trial and will feedback on outcomes at a future meeting.
2. The school/setting requires answers to specific questions which could not be provided by the professionals in the room. This advice will be given via follow-up telephone support.
3. The school/setting requires a longer, more in-depth discussion of the specific case. These will be offered via a face-to-face advice session with the relevant Specialist Teacher.
4. The school/setting requires a visit from a Specialist Teacher in order to give more personalised advice and guidance for an individual child or young person. The referral form for this is appended to this document.

Benefits of SEND Support Networks include:

• Engagement and collaboration with schools/settings, Specialist Teachers, and other colleagues from the Integrated SEND Service, allowing for informal support networks to be formed.
• SENCos being supported within their role.
• Empowerment for schools/settings to reach suitable solutions for individual pupils and to implement these within their own setting.
• Allowing for the sharing of ideas and good practice across a number of schools/settings.
• Support and engagement for local authority initiatives, such as Ordinarily Available Provision, ensuring all schools/settings are aware of updates in policy and practice and are able to implement these.
• Support for the tiered approach model and provide access to Specialist Teacher support at the earliest stages prior to the need for a formal referral process.

If a setting wishes to make a request for support of the communication and interaction specialists in relation to a child or young person with needs in this area, the following criteria will normally be met:
1. The child or young person’s difficulties have documented evidence that shows the ‘assess, plan, do, review’ (ADPR) cycle.
2. Difficulties occur in relation to the characteristics associated with autism.
3. Difficulties occur in relation to the characteristics associated with language and communication needs.

A formal identification of autism and/or developmental language disorder is not required to access core services.