Speech and Language Therapy Archives - Resource Library - Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust

What is pre-teaching vocabulary? Pre-teaching vocabulary is a language intervention to develop your child’s ability to understand and use vocabulary in their environment and to engage with curriculum work. What are vocabulary difficulties? Children with vocabulary difficulties find it hard to...

What is the communication support framework? The communication support framework is a framework developed by the speech and language therapy service in Sheffield Children’s Hospital. It is based on the Communication At The Heart of the School framework (CATHS). The communication support...

What is the narrative intervention programme? The narrative intervention programme (NIP), is a small group language intervention designed by the speech and language therapy service in Sheffield to develop your child’s ability to sequence their ideas to retell a story, or something that has...

What is the vocabulary improvement programme? The vocabulary improvement programme (VIP), is a small group language intervention designed by the speech and language therapy service in Sheffield to develop your child’s ability to learn new words or vocabulary. What are vocabulary difficulties?...

Communication is complex and involves lots of different skills. On this page, we are thinking about children who are starting to develop their communication skills. A child might not be talking, but they might be doing lots of other things to communicate. It is important for us to recognise, respond...

How can I use singing to support communication? Lots of children love singing and listening to singing. We can bring that into our every day play and routines. This can support their communication development. Singing and visual support By adding some kind of visual support, we can help children to...

What is the language enrichment activity programme? The language enrichment activity programme (LEAP), is a small group language intervention designed by the speech and language therapy service in Sheffield to develop your child’s ability to understand and use up to 4 key words or...

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What is imitation? Imitation is copying other people. It can include copying their: Actions, using objects, for example, shaking a maraca, rolling a ball Gestures and body movements, for example, clapping, waving Sounds and words Children use imitation right from being a tiny baby, throughout early...

What are fun words? We all use short fun words that are great for getting a child’s attention. They are easy to say while you are playing together. You can even create extra opportunities to use the words lots and lots. Fun words usually have a nice sing-song melody. This is particularly good for...

Some children use phrases that seem out of context, but they might be using it to show a link between something. If we can do ‘the detective work’, and find out where a phrase has come from, it can help us understand what a child means. Gestalt are connected to emotion or an experience...

Here are some strategies that we can use for all gestalt language processors (GLPs). You can use for them for GLP children at any stage. Affirm what your child is saying, even if you do not understand Some children might use a string of language that we cannot understand, but that seems to mean...

What is gestalt language processing? There are 2 ways that children can learn language. These are analytic language processing (ALP) and gestalt language processing (GLP). Some children use a mix of both types of language learning. We call the chunks of language that children learn “gestalts”,...

There are 6 stages of gestalt language development. This webpage looks at stage 1 and 2. Stage 1 At stage 1, children use scripts that they have copied from other people or places. These are often linked to times when they were feeling big emotions like excitement or frustration. They might echo...

There are 6 stages of gestalt language development. This webpage looks at stage 3 and 4. Stage 3 Children at stage 3 are starting to pull out single words from longer gestalts. They also start to make new 2 word combinations. This can sound like they are going backwards, because at stage 1 they...

How can we help children to learn more gestalts? We can support children who are gestalt language processors (GLPs) by modelling phrases. We can do this during play and everyday activities together. To increase the number of scripts a child knows, adults should: Model phrases that are functional....

The Zones of Regulation framework and curriculum was developed by Leah Kuypers. It is a structured approach used in many schools and settings to help children to develop their vocabulary and awareness of emotions and to build skills in emotional regulation. Some settings in Sheffield use a...

What is pouching? Sometimes when eating, children can hold food in their mouth or pouch it in or around their cheeks. Children can hold food in their mouth for a few minutes or sometimes even longer, before trying to eat it. Holding food in the mouth for longer can increase the risk of choking....

What can I do when someone wants to tackle their restricted diet? When children get older, they can become more socially motivated to challenge the way they eat. This is often when they start to feel that their restricted diet is getting in the way of doing things they want to do, like going...

What is overfilling? When some children eat, they may put too much food in their mouth. This can include putting another mouthful or bite in before they have finished the last one. It can include putting the whole of a food in their mouth, like a whole cake bar. This can increase their risk...

What is food aversion or restricted diet? People with food aversion or restricted diet can find eating challenging or unenjoyable. They may not have chewing and swallowing problems, but sometimes we can see many types of eating difficulties in the same person. What does it look like? They may: avoid...

Please read all the information below before you reduce the thickener in your child’s drinks at home. Thickening drinks is a common strategy for supporting children who have feeding problems. Many children can tolerate having less thickener in their drinks over time, when it is safe to do so. Your...

What does positive mealtimes mean? It is important for mealtimes and snack times to be a positive experience for everyone. Your child will start to learn that food times are not stressful times if they remain predictably positive. It can be helpful to think about your child as a whole: What sort of...

What is messy food play? Messy food play is a way of supporting children to explore different smells or tastes through play. The focus is on exploring food in a positive way, offering your child some control around food and having opportunities to explore food without pressure. It is important to...