Language and Social Exclusion

The link between language and social exclusion has been known for many years. Recent research showing that children in some areas were starting school without adequate language and communication skills has led to an increased interest and awareness of this issue. Inadequate language and communication skills puts these children at considerable disadvantage especially as we know that for some children, these communication difficulties continue well into their school career and can have a significant impact.

Those children and young people at the greatest risk of social exclusion, are often also at risk of communication difficulties e.g. young offenders, looked after children, those who have a conduct disorder and others with social emotional and behavioural difficulties. We don’t know enough about why and how language and social exclusion are linked, but it seems important to help those at risk to develop their communication skills.

In November 2007 I CAN held a conference to explore these issues:

Social Exclusion: the role of speech, language and communication in supporting social inclusion

If you've got a question about Language and Social Exclusion, Ask Talking Point.
 
The following series of articles are written by some of the contributors to this conference. Some are about theory and research and some focus on practical ways to help those at risk of social exclusion develop their language and communication skills.

• Baby and Me DVD - This article is a practical intervention report about developing early interactions
  
• Making Sense of Secure Children’s Homes - This article is a model of speech and language therapy intervention with young offenders
  
• Grief, Identity & Adolescence: A speech, language and art therapy group -The article aims to share a positive joint working experience and open a discussion about the benefits of joint working between art therapy and speech and language therapy for both the clinician and the client.
  
• Let’s Talk: What parents in NE Sheffield say about children learning to talk - This article is an investigation into the views of parents about language development
  
• “This language disorder’s the thing that made me the person I am”. Self understanding and social development in young people with communication difficulties - This article is a comparative study about young people’s views of themselves and how that affects their social inclusion.
  
• Does Language Delay Persist in Children from Socially Disadvantaged Backgrounds? - This article reports on a follow up study on a group of 10-11 year old children who were described as having significant language delay aged three and who were from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds
  
• Teaching Talking in Year 7 - This article describes some of the work of the Teaching Children Talking Project, an East Riding of Yorkshire LA initiative, and how one secondary school has developed this further to fit their students’ needs.

Last modified: May 13 2009