Communication and Interaction Difficulties - understanding primary needs
Communication and Interaction includes all children who have difficulty in communicating with others, either because they have difficulty saying what they want, understanding what is being said to them, or they do not understand the social rules of communication. This includes children with speech, language and communication needs and children with an autistic spectrum condition.
Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)
The profile for every child with speech, language and communication needs is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all the various aspects of speech, language, or social communication at different times in their lives.
Some children may be identified as having a Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Having DLD means that a child or young person has severe, persistent difficulties understanding or using spoken language. DLD was previously known as Specific Language Impairment (SLI). DLD is diagnosed by a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) only and is used for children over the age of 5 years. DLD is only identified when a child continues to have severe Language and Communication Needs (LCN) following targeted intervention. There is no known cause of DLD which can make it hard to explain. DLD is not caused by other conditions such as ASC, hearing loss, emotional difficulties, or limited exposure to language.
Help for families - Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives
Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Having an Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) means that the person has a different way of understanding other people and the world around them. Children with Autism are likely to have difficulties with social interaction. They may also experience difficulties with language, communication, and imagination, which can impact on how they relate to others.
The Autistic Society defines Autism as ‘A lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world’.
Children with Autism may experience:
- Difficulties interpreting both verbal and non-verbal language like gestures or tone of voice.
- Difficulties 'reading' other people - recognising or understanding others' feelings and intentions - and expressing their own emotions. This can make it very hard to navigate the social world.
- Extreme anxiety, meltdowns, or shutdowns. A meltdown happens when someone becomes completely overwhelmed by their current situation and temporarily loses behavioural control. A shutdown appears less intense to the outside world but can be equally debilitating. Shutdowns are also a response to being overwhelmed, but may appear more passive e.g., a child goes quiet or ‘switches off.’
- Over- or under-sensitivity to sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light, colours, temperatures, or pain. They may find certain background sounds which other children can ignore or block out, unbearably loud or distracting. This can cause anxiety or even physical pain.
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Highly focused interests or hobbies from an early age. These can change over time or be lifelong. They can become experts in their special interests and often like to share their knowledge. The need for motivators, fiddle toys and low distraction (colourful classrooms and displays can be a challenge).