Learners With Emotional, Behaviorial, and Communication Disabilities

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CHAPTER IV: UNDERSTANDING THE LINKS

BETWEEN COMMUNICATION AND BEHAVIOR

Overview of the Chapter

Behavior is communication. Many children and young people who have


behavioral difficulties, including many of those with Social, Emotional, And Mental
Health Needs (SEMH), also have Speech, Language, And Communication Needs
(SLCN). These needs often go unrecognized because behavior can mask a child or
young person’s difficulties with communication. Speech and language therapists play
a key role in supporting children and young people with behavioral problems and
SEMH by identifying their SLCN, advising their families and professionals working
with them on how to respond appropriately, and providing direct therapy to those
children and young people who need it.

General Objectives

At the end of this chapter, the learners can:

a. Introduce the behavior of the factors having an effective communication;


b. Incorporate effective strategies to avoid or minimize the negative outcomes
of behavior through dramatizing; and
c. Respect the students who face challenges and difficulties in communication
and behavioral problems.

Behavior is highly influenced by communication among families and peers.


Also, there is the influence of media which ultimately makes a difference in life.
Different phases of life make the mind feel, understand, remember, and thus perform
according to the experiences swallowed during these phases. This performance is
called Behavior.
The Size of the Issue

 81% of children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have


significant unidentified communication needs.
 57% of children with diagnosed language deficits are identified with
EBD.
 In a study of pupils at risk of exclusion from school, two-thirds were
found to have SLCN.
 Excluded boys had significantly poorer expressive language skills than
their peers who had not been excluded from school; many of their
difficulties had not been identified.
 More than 60% of young people who are accessing youth justice
services present with SLCN which is largely unrecognized.
 Children with persistent and severe conduct problems are about three
times more likely to have low verbal ability than children with a low risk
of conduct problems.

Lesson 1

Speech Language and Communication Needs

Pre-Discussion

Speech Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) refers to the difficulties


or challenges that individuals may experience in communicating effectively, whether
verbal or nonverbal, due to a range of factors such as language disorders,
developmental delays, or physical impairments. These needs can impact an
individual's ability to express themselves, understand others, and participate in social
interactions, leading to social, emotional, and academic difficulties.

What to Expect:

1. Define Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN);


2. Identify different aspects of Speech, Language and Communication Needs;
and
3. Understand the difficulties of children and young people with Speech,
Language and Communication Needs.

LESSON OUTLINE

What is Speech, Language, and Communication


Needs (SLCN)?

SLCN is the umbrella term that describes


difficulties in one or more areas/aspects. It is also viewed
as the "hidden difficulty".

The Size of the Issue

 81% of children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have


significant unidentified communication needs.
 57% of children with diagnosed language deficits are identified with EBD.
 In a study of pupils at risk of exclusion from school, two-thirds were found to
have SLCN.
 Excluded boys had significantly poorer expressive language skills than their
peers who had not been excluded from school; many of their difficulties had
not been identified.
 More than 60% of young people who are accessing youth justice services
present with SLCN which is largely unrecognized.
 Children with persistent and severe conduct problems are about three times
more likely to have low verbal ability than children with a low risk of conduct
problems.

SLCN can take many forms, including:

 problems understanding what others say;


 difficulties explaining their actions clearly;
 not having many words to express feelings; and
 difficulties with social communication, so they don’t know how to join a
conversation in the right kind of way.

SLCN might be masked by other ‘labels’ or ‘diagnoses’, such as learning


difficulties.

What does communication have to do with behavior?

Communication difficulties are strongly associated with behavioral


problems, with studies observing consistently higher levels of disruptive and
antisocial behavior amongst children and young people, also identified with SLCN.7,
8, 9, 10 These associations can be understood by considering the impact of SLCN
on the skills capabilities of a child or young person needs to behave and
appropriately.

 Understanding

Children and young people with SLCN often have problems understanding
what others say to them – for example, understanding instructions and understanding
things that are not directly stated. They
may also have difficulties understanding indirect requests. These children may then
appear to be uncooperative, disobedient, or oppositional, when in fact they have not
understood an instruction or the broader context. It can be harder for them to learn
new words and words for thoughts and feelings.

 Expressive Language

Children and young people with SLCN can have a variety of


expressive language difficulties, such as: stammering; selective
mutism; difficulty finding the right words; and problems constructing sentences or a
clear narrative, all of which can be misinterpreted negatively. Those who are hesitant
and revise their sentences might be seen as untruthful.

 Memory and Concentration

Children and young people with SLCN often have poor working
memory abilities, meaning they are more prone to distractions and
require repetition of information. These difficulties can often be
interpreted as laziness or a willful desire to frustrate teachers and
parents.

 Emotional Regulation

Language is important for emotional regulation. Children and young people


with SLCN may have difficulties finding the words
which describe their feelings, and can find it hard to cope
with their emotions and calm themselves. Language skills are also
needed to understand our own and other peoples’ thoughts and
feelings, which are important for behaving in the expected way.

 Social Interaction

Children and young people with SLCN may struggle to understand jokes,
idioms (for example, ‘get a grip’), and sarcasm, all of which are important for social
interaction. They may also have difficulties understanding the rules of conversation,
including how to repair misunderstandings when they occur. This can be partly due to
slow processing, which leads them to miss cues and means their
turn-taking is mistimed.

LESSON SUMMARY

Speech, Language, and Communication Needs (SLCN) is an umbrella term


that can describe difficulties in one or more areas/aspects. It is also viewed as the
"hidden difficulty". Everyone with SLCN is different and may have difficulty with one,
some, or all of the different aspects of speech, language, or communication such as
Understanding, Expressive Language, Memory and Concentration, Emotional
Regulation, and Social Interaction. SLCN can take many forms such as problems
understanding in what others say, difficulties explaining their actions clearly, not
having many words to express feelings, and difficulties with social communication, so
they don’t know how to join a conversation in the right kind of way.

Due to speech, language, or communication needs, children or young people


may experience difficulties when communicating with others. It is essential that those
who work with children especially the teachers must be able to recognize SLCN and
understand the difficulties of children and young people with SLCN and develop
strategies on how to deal with them or provide the support they need to achieve the
best possible results

ENRICHMENT

Direction: Read and discuss the case study comprehensively.

Analyze the case study below and consider how speech language and
communication disabilities might impact their lives and their learning. As a future
educator, how would you help a learner who experiences speech, language, and
communication difficulties? You may cite some situations to elaborate your answer.

Case Study: Speech, Language and Communication Needs

Robert is 9 and has a statement due to his speech difficulties, both in


expressing and understanding speech, and his lack of ability in reading and writing.
Robert now attends a speech & language unit after spending 3 years at a
mainstream school where his behavior was causing concern. He liked to have the
attention of others around them and did this by shouting and making strange noises
which attracted the attention of other children who seemed to find behavior funny.
Robert lives with foster parents and is reported to have been a very quiet child who
spoke little in his early years and spent much time on his own.

In class, Robert now tends to shout out when he knows the answers,
although his speech is still unclear. He is also very quick to point out the faults of
other children. When the classroom assistant or other adult is in the class Robert will
come up repeatedly and say he can’t do his work. When asked to read something he
says “I can’t read.” But, when encouraged by beginning the words for him, he can
manage well. In writing, Robert often can recall frequency words but he has been
taught the strategy, where he writes the words he knows and leaves the rest till the
teacher has time for individual attention – I went into the tent – Santa.

Lesson 2

Understanding Behavior as Communication

The teacher will show a picture to the learners and the learners will
observe the picture and answer the following questions.

1. What do you see in the picture? What comes to your mind after you see
that picture?

2. What are the difficulties you see in perceiving the behavior of kids with
impairments as a form of communication?

3. How does behavior affect the child's learning and development?


Objectives

At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:


a. Define behavior as a form of communication;
b. Recognize the importance of understanding behavior as a
communication tool in interpersonal relationships; and
c. Relate understanding behavior as a communication in real life
situation.

Discussion

Behavior as Communication

Behavior is a way of communicating needs or wants in response to an


environment. Behavior allows communication ‘beyond words’.

Communication is central to a child’s overall well-being. It is how individuals


share their emotions, ideas, and personal stories. If children with any form of
speech, language and communication need are overlooked, it might affect
their overall educational progress.

Negative behavior in children and young people with SLCN could mean:

 “I don’t understand what you want me to do”.


 “I can’t understand my feelings or anything about them”.
 “I know you don’t understand me and it’s making me very anxious”.
 “I can’t explain what I mean”.
 “This work is too hard for me”.
 “I am in a fight again and I don’t know how to make it better”.

Three different aspects within language

1. Expressive
Expressive impairments relate to children who have difficulties to
convey spoken language. There might be some children with mild to
moderate needs, which fail to be recognized. Within the fast pace of a
classroom, some children might be overlooked and considered as ‘shy or
reserved’ (McMinn, 2006, p.5).
Expressive Language Needs include:
 Spoken language that is unclear and difficult to understand;
 Limited vocabulary;
 Incomplete or short broken sentences;
 Difficulty to word find;
 Challenges with grammar; plurals, tenses, pronouns;
 Not interacting or talking;
 Speech that includes unarticulated sounds;
 Speech that conveys the incorrect/or missing initial, middle or
final sound in a word (McMinn, 2006).
2. Receptive
Receptive challenges are associated to the misunderstanding of
language expressed by other individuals. Tactics to avoid situations is one of
the many traits applied (McMinn, 2006). Children learn strategies to dismiss
language they cannot comprehend. This might be due to the mental overload
of the vocabulary they have received. With an attempt to ‘make sense’ of one
particular word or phrase within a sentence, they overlook the rest of the
sentence (ibid, p.17).
Receptive Language Needs include:
 Difficulty to listen and understand spoken language;
 Avoidance techniques; frequent toilet visits/copying peers;
 Memory challenges;
 Word-finding difficulties;
 Auditory processing difficulties (McMinn, 2006).
3. Pragmatic
Pragmatic impairments are associated to social interactions and
how they are applied within their language and behaviour (McMinn, 2006).
There is a wide range of different elements to pragmatic difficulties. These
relate to the misinterpretation of language, which might affect children’s
social friendships.

Pragmatic Language Needs include:


 Difficulty to interpret colloquial language;
 Inappropriate behaviour related to misunderstandings to ‘body
language/facial expressions/greetings/acceptable forms of
address’ (ibid, p.33); and
 Isolation and lack positive friendships.

Summary

Behavior is a technique of conveying demands or desires about one's


surroundings. Behavior enables 'beyond words' communication.
Communication is essential to a child's well-being. It is how people express
their feelings, thoughts, and personal tales. Speech, Language, and
Communication Need refers to three distinct components of language. These
are characterized as expressive, receptive, and pragmatic. These examples
give a tiny window into the various obstacles that children with expressive,
receptive, and pragmatic needs may face. The influence of a kid having any of
these challenges on their learning may eventually hinder them at a
progressive rate.
Enrichment

Direction: Read the questions carefully and choose the letter of the best
answer.

1. _____ is associated to social interactions and how they are applied


within their language and behavior?
a. Pragmatic
b. Behavior
c. Communication
d. Receptive

2. It is a way of communicating needs or wants in response to an


environment.
a. Communication
b. Needs
c. Spoken language
d. Language

3. A student learns about fractions in math class, they can use those skills
to divide a pizza evenly with their friends. What difficulty aspects of
language did the students acquired?
a. Pragmatism
b. Receptive
c. Expressive
d. Needs

4. Receptive challenges are associated to the misunderstanding of


language expressed by other individuals. Receptive language needs
except?
a. Difficulty to listen and understand spoken language
b. Avoidance techniques; frequent toilet visits/copying peers
c. Memory challenges
d. Needs

5. Expressive impairments relate to children who have difficulties to


convey spoken language. Expressive Language Needs include except
one.
a. Spoken language that is unclear and difficult to understand
b. Limited vocabulary
c. Incomplete or short broken sentences
d. Memory Challenges

Lesson 3

The Risk of Not Supporting Speech, Language and Communication


Needs

In many ways our ability to communicate defines us, it is one of the


ways we are judged and measured by others and how we forge our
relationships. Children starting school with speech, language, and
communication needs (SLCN) may struggle with any aspect of
communication and they can become withdrawn or present with challenging
behavior within the primary school environment.

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:

a. Identify the risks of not supporting speech, language, and


communication needs (SLCN);
b. Distinguish the different risks factor of not supporting SLCN; and
c. Describe the possible risks of not supporting SLCN.

Discussion

Unidentified and unsupported SLCN put children and young people at risk
of a range of negative outcomes about behavior:

 Difficulties forming friendships, resulting in fewer opportunities to learn


how to behave and communicate well; they may beat the risk of peer
rejection which can lead to further behavioral problems
 Literacy difficulties that impact on schoolwork
 Exclusion from school
 Involvement in the youth justice system
 Increased risk of being bullied or being a bully
 Effect on emotional well being

In addition, behavior assessments and interventions which are


language-based, such as anger management cognitive behavioral therapy,
and other ‘talking therapies’ place significant demand on language processes.
Unless children’s SLCN are identified and their needs accommodated,
assessments risk delivering inaccurate results, and treatment programs risk
being ineffective. Research has shown that:

● verbally-based behavioral interventions may not be


effective with young people who have unidentified
communication needs; and

● un-adapted group interventions may be challenging


and therefore less effective for those with social
communication difficulties.

Summary
Speech, language and communication are skills that are crucial to all
areas of learning, as well as mental health and social participation. In 2008
the Bercow Report highlighted the need to implement strategic system-wide
approaches to help increase understanding and awareness of SLCN. The
possible common risks of not supporting Speech, Language, Communication,
and Needs (SLCN) are difficulties forming friendships, Literacy difficulties that
impact school work, Exclusion from school, Involvement in the youth justice
system, increased risk of being bullied or being a bully, Effect on emotional
wellbeing. In addition, behavioral assessment and intervention such as anger
management and cognitive behavioral therapy and also verbally- based
behavioural intervention and un-adapted group intervention.

Guide Questions:

1. Give at least two risks factor for speech and language development
2. What challenges do learners with speech and language difficulties
encounter?
3. How will you able to support the needs of the students having a speech
and language disorder in your classroom?

Lesson 4

Speech and Language Therapy Promote Positive Behavior

Speech therapy improves language abilities, but Positive Behavior


Support (PBS) teaches and encourages children to act correctly. PBS
eliminates elements that support, encourage, or reward undesirable conduct
and teaches children how to replace problematic behavior with more
appropriate behavior.
Objectives

At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:


a. Explain how speech and language therapy can promote positive
behavior;
b. Classify the roles in promoting positive behavior; and
c. Distinguish the value of promoting positive behavior through speech
language and therapy.

Discussion

How speech and language therapy can promote positive behavior

Speech and language therapists have a key role to play in


promotingpositive behaviour and reducing the risk of negative behaviour
byenabling the following.

 Greater understanding of communication needs

 Working collaboratively with other staff to understand the skills


gaps and emotional needs which may underlie ‘behaviour’
problems.
 Acting as an advocate for the child or young person,
helpingothers to understand their communication needs.
 Ensuring that procedures and policies regarding de-
escalation,positive handling and debriefing are accessible to
children andyoung people with SLCN.

 Training on how to adapt teachingand support


 Providing communication-friendly environments, including
bymodelling appropriate interactions and language.
 Sharing effective vocabulary teaching strategies, ensuringchildren
and young people understand the language of theclassroom and
vocabulary around behaviour management.
 Collaborating with others to make sure behavioural targets
aredifferentiated so they can be understood and broken down
intosmall achievable targets.
 Contributing to behaviour management training oncommunication
needs, including on differentiation, visualsupport, the effects of
being literal, language for self-regulationand emotional literacy.

 Direct support
 Helping the child or young person to understand and express
theirneeds and involve them in planning for change in a
respectfulway; helping them understand what behaviour is required
in away that is meaningful for them.
 Teaching the communication skills required to behave well;offering
verbal and nonverbal scripts and coaching online,offering
opportunities to practice and succeed in using new skillsincluding
how to repair conversational breakdown.
 Supporting children and young people through transitions,
boththrough the day and in phases of education - for example
fromprimary to secondary school.

"J's story"
J was receiving individual support in the inclusion/nurture
house at a secondary school for children with social, emotional
and mental health (SEMH) needs, as he was not able to mix with
other students. A previous attempt to reintegrate J into a
mainstream school had been unsuccessful, and he returned to
the secondary SEMH school with lengthy periods of absence.
The speech and language therapist assessed J and, on the basis
of that assessment, proposed that J might benefit from a social
skills group at another mainstream school. The speech and
language therapist arranged for this to be set up and as a result
the student's attendance and participation subsequently
increased.
Summary

Speech and language therapists have a key role to play in promoting


positive behavior and reducing the risk of negative behavior. They work
collaboratively with other staff to understand the skills gaps and emotional
needs which may underlie behavior problems, act as an advocate for the child
or young person, ensure procedures and policies are accessible, provide
communication-friendly environments, share effective vocabulary teaching
strategies, collaborate with others to make sure behavioral targets are
differentiated, provide direct support, teach communication skills, and support
children and young people through transitions.

Enrichment

Guide Questions:

1. In your own understanding how speech and language therapy can


promote positive behavior?
2. How the good communication can help build a good relationship
and understand emotional needs and behavioral problems?

Lesson 5

Improving Outcomes for Children and Young People with Behavioral


Problems

SLCN (Speech, language, communication needs) children need to be


supported as it supports the ability of a child to communicate, express, and
understand feelings. The inability to communicate effectively will probably
affect children's overall social well-being and inhibit their academic skills
(Gross, 2013). And as a teacher, we must attain awareness and knowledge to
help them progress inside the classroom.

Objectives

What to expect:

At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:

a. Define improving outcomes for children and young people with


behavioural problems
b. Articulate their ideas about the ways in improving children and
young people’s outcomes with SLCN ; and
c. Draws conclusion about the ways to improve children’s and young
people outcomes with behavioral problems.

Discussion

How to improve outcomes for children and


young people with behavioral problems?

 Identification:It is important that children


and young people with behavioural
problems have any SLCN identified as early
as possible. This is in line with Department
for Education guidance: "Where there are
concerns about behaviour, the school should instigate an assessment
to determine whether there are any underlying factors such as
difficulties with speech and language". 26 Identification of SLCN can
also change adult attitudes,leading to more positive outcomes.
 Responding appropriately:All professionals working with children and
young people should be trained on the impact of SLCN on behaviour, and
how to respond appropriately to children with SLCN.

 Removing barriers:Children and young people with behavioural issues


should be taught the skills they need to behave well and should be
empowered to regulate and reflect on their behaviour.Barriers to
communication which spark inappropriate behaviours should be removed
and structured environments with explicit teaching of rules and procedures
should be created.

 Support:Speech and language therapy should be provided to those


children and young people who need it, as well as on going advice and
support to staff to enable them to meet the needs of individual children and
young people.

 Research:More research is needed to find effective ways to work with


children and young people who have speech, language and
communication needs and behavioural problems.

Summary

SLCN should be identified and addressed to improve outcomes for


children and young people with behavioral problems. Professionals should be
trained on the impact of SLCN on behavior, barriers to communication should
be removed, speech and language therapy should be provided, and research
is needed to find effective ways to work with children and young people with
SLCN.

Guide Questions:

1. As a future teacher, what are the ways you could think of to improve
the outcomes of your students with behavioral problems?
2. How you are able to help a student with behavioral problems engage in
academic activity with their peers?
Chapter Summary

Speech, Language, and Communication Needs (SLCN) is an umbrella


term that can describe difficulties in one or more areas/aspects of speech,
language, or communication. It can take many forms, such as problems
understanding, explaining actions clearly, not having words to express
feelings, and difficulties with social communication. Behaviour is a technique
of conveying demands or desires in relation to one's surroundings, and
communication is essential to a child's well-being. Moreover, SLCN can lead
to difficulties forming friendships, literacy difficulties, exclusion from school,
and involvement in the youth justice system, increased risk of being bullied,
and emotional wellbeing. Speech and language therapists have a key role to
play in promoting positive behavior and reducing the risk of negative behavior.
Therefore, it should be identified and addressed to improve outcomes for
children and young people with behavioral problems.

Chapter Assessment

Mechanics:

 have the students find their partner which are not their friends
 let the students find their own place distant from other groups
 the activity will last to 1 hour and 20 minutes

Instruction: Make each other share the worst and best experiences in your
life before and at the present. Write down all your individual observation on
your partner. 100 points.
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