#SpeakUpSalford

Parents
& Carers

Social Interaction Difficulties and Autism

There are some subtle rules about how we use language to communicate and interact with other people. As adults we use them without realising it - we know what to say, when to say it and how to say it to other people.

Some children have difficulties in this area, which are sometimes referred to as 'pragmatic difficulties'.

Children with pragmatic or social interaction difficulties may also have problems using non-verbal skills, such as:

  • Making appropriate eye contact
  • Knowing how close to stand to someone
  • Using appropriate body language and facial expression
  • Interpreting someone's facial expression or tone of voice
  • They may also have difficulty with conversational skills and may
  • Interrupt more than is acceptable
  • Make little effort to keep conversations going by listening and responding
  • Randomly change the topic
  • Be unaware of what their conversational partner needs to know and give too little or too much information
  • Some children also take things very literally and misinterpret common expressions such as 'pull your socks up' or 'run on the spot'.


For more information on social interaction difficulties go to www.talkingpoint.org.uk/parentpoint and follow the links to 'Difficulties with using Language Appropriately in Context'.

Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Some children with these sorts of difficulties may have a form of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). If you're concerned that your child is showing characteristics of ASD talk to your health visitor or GP. You can also contact The National Autistic Society Helpline on 0845 070 4004 or atautismhelpline@nas.org.uk

If you are concerned that your child is having problems developing communication and social interaction skills, go to What to expect in Speech and Language Development for more information (and to find out how to refer to speech and language therapy).

 

 

NEWS/ EVENTS

Examples of What We Offer

Early Years

Our Early Years team follow the Greater Manchester Early Years Delivery Model (EYDM). They work in close partnership with health, local authority and social care colleagues to support early identification of speech, language and communication needs to ensure the right support at the right time for children, parents/ carers and settings.

School and Post 16

We work within with settings to identify and support communication needs. This could through training staff, modelling and coaching, whole class/ small group input and 1:1 interventions. There is a wide virtual training offer available for Salford schools. Please speak to the school/ college Link Speech and Language Therapist if you have any questions. 

 

 Enhanced Services

The Enhanced Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) Service allows settings to buy-in additional support. This is bespoke to each setting and might involve universal, targeted and specialist input and training. For further information, please contact  salttraining@nca.nhs.uk

 

I would also like to say that I am very impressed with the work Speech and Language Therapist is doing in school as well as the professional way she deals with my parents and her helpful advise to my staff. I believe credit where credit is due.

School staff

I have found working with the speech therapist very beneficial. She helps me to set achievable goals for the children by coming into the nursery and interacting with the children and getting to know them. She talks to us on a regular basis and updates us on what targets she would like the children to achieve next. She teaches us new strategies to use with the children which we find really useful, we try to incorporate this into everyday activities. Parent’s often comment on how much they appreciate the advice from our therapist. They also comment on how much progress their children have made since visiting her. We don’t know what we would do without her!

Anneka Williamson, Children’s Centre Practitioner

My child absolutely LOVES coming to see you, you are so good with him. We are extremely grateful for all of your care and support. He is counting down the days until we can come again.

Parent

I just wanted to send a quick email to say thank you for the training you delivered for us this afternoon, it was so useful and informative. It was great to have further training that was bespoke to Early Years and built on what we had done in the whole school training. We're excited to start implementing it for our children.

Early Years Teacher

EPs and SALT frequently work together during Multi agency meetings to clarify individual concerns and strengths. We develop joint objectives, that are regularly reviewed and evaluated to improve outcomes for children and young people. Parents and teachers comment that this work is effective and helps to increase their understanding and knowledge. Jointly we increase schools capacity, through conversations and training, to meet the needs of their pupils.

Joanne Snee- Educational Psychologist

I am new to the role and I have found all members of the team extremely helpful and have gone out of their way to support me.

School SENCo

This is great and I am so appreciative of your support. We have nothing but fantastic things to say about the Salford SALT team and the support that you have given to both of our children.

Parent