How I CAN Helps Children

 
Being able to speak, use language and communicate with others is one of the basic necessities for happiness and success. 

I CAN works to help children from birth through the early years, primary and secondary school to further education, working both directly with children and families, and indirectly by training and supporting early years staff, teachers, speech and language therapists and many other professionals that work with children.

Here are some of the ways that I CAN works to help children develop these essential skills:

Early Years

I CAN’s Early Talk is a unique, evidence-based programme designed to aid the communication development of all pre-school children through integrated therapy and educational approaches.

Chatter Matters: Making life easier for you and better for your child  is a DVD resource developed by I CAN and Openreach to encourage parents, siblings and grandparents to make the most of feeding, bathing and changing times with children before they start school.   

Ready Steady Talk is an activity book of great games to help 2 and 3 year olds get ready for pre-school.

School-age Children

I CAN’s two schools, Dawn House School and Meath School, provide a balance of support and challenge for pupils aged between 4 – 19 who have severe and complex speech, language and communication needs, allowing full access to the curriculum.

I CAN’s Communication Skills Centres provide independent assessment of children communication skills and their impact on learning. Through outreach and consultancy, they aim to support local authorities, Primary Care Trusts, local education authorities and families to understand the needs of each child to ensure that they get the support they need.    

Primary Talk is a staff development and a school transformation package. It accredits schools for developing communication rich environments in order to support all children including those with speech, language and communication needs.

Enabling Others

I CAN has a comprehensive workforce development programme to meet the needs of practitioners who work with children and young people. We use the experience of our staff, many of whom work in direct service delivery, and our associates who are experts in the field. Our training relates to the National Qualifications Framework and supports the Children's Workforce Strategy and links to the delivery of the Primary National Strategy.

I CAN’s Consultancy and Outreach services provide independent assessment, audit, advice and guidance to organisations in the statutory, voluntary and commercial sectors aiming to help develop the communication skills of all children and ensure those that find communication hard have the help they need.     

Campaigning for the rights of children

Make Chatter Matter  is I CAN's 3 year campaign, to ensure that children's communication skills are at the core of children's policy development. We want public support and government backing for:

• Informed Parents: A commitment to all families that they automatically receive information on communication development.
  
• Skilled Staff: A commitment that the entire children's workforce will have the necessary skills to support typical communication development, to identify potential problems and to develop strategies to support children with difficulties.
  
• Communication Friendly Settings: A commitment to ensuring that all settings provide language rich environments, support skill development and help early identification of difficulties.
  
• Specialist Provision: A commitment that resources will follow assessed need, with a focus on ensuring that those with severe and complex speech, language and communication needs can easily access the help they and their families need.