Glossary

AAC: Alternative and Augmentative Communication i.e. sign language, symbol systems, communication aids.

Active Listening: taking an active responsibility for understanding a spoken message, for example, using clarification strategies.

Acquired brain injury - brain damage caused by events after birth rather than as part of a genetic or congenital disorder and can result from either traumatic brain injury (such as physical trauma due to accidents, falls, assaults, neurosurgery) or non-traumatic injury derived from either an internal or external source (such as stroke, brain tumours, infection). 

Articulation: the use of articulators e.g. tongue, lips and vocal folds to produce speech sounds.

Articulators: lips and tongue.

ASD - Autism Spectrum Disorder -  a spectrum of disorders that involve an impairment in social interaction, social communication, flexibility of thought and often sensory issues.

Asperger’s Syndrome - a condition under the umbrella of autism spectrum disorders.

Assessment for Learning - Assessment for learning has been defined as: "The process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there." Quoted from Assessment for learning: 10 Principles by the Assessment reform Group 2002.

Attention: the ability to focus in an appropriate, sustained way on a particular task or activity.

Attention control - the ability to control focus on a task or activity.

Auditory Discrimination: the ability to recognise and distinguish similarities and differences between speech sounds.

Auditory Memory: the ability to process and retain heard information for long enough to act on it (sometimes called short-term auditory memory).

Auditory perception - the recognition and understanding of information and stimuli received through the ears.

British Sign Language (BSL): the language of the Deaf community in England, Scotland and Wales. BSL is a visual language system which has its own grammar (including grammatical facial expression) and idioms. It is not a signed form of English.

CAMHS - Child and Adolescent Mental. The team consists of a range of specialists (psychiatrists, mental health nurses, mental health workers, therapeutic social workers, psychotherapists, clinical psychologists, occupational therapist, speech and language therapist) and work with children and their families who are experiencing emotional, behavioural and mental health difficulties. 

Cerebral Palsy - neurological condition that affects movement, posture and co-ordination.

Chunking - giving information in small amounts, one piece at a time, by pausing between each idea. Each piece of information can then be allowed processing time.

Clarification Strategies: Identifying why a message has not been understood and then requesting a change in the behaviour of the person giving the message itself to enable understanding, for example, speaking more loudly or more slowly, repeating, rephrasing, adding more specific information.

Cleft lip – a structural abnormality, where there is a split in the upper lip, which occurs during foetal development, sometimes associated with cleft palate.

Cleft palate - a structural abnormality whereby the roof of the mouth is not closed completely during foetal development, which may cause associated problems with eating, breathing, articulation and hearing. 

Cognitive skills - these are the skills required for all aspects of thinking including the processes of perception, memory, reasoning, language and some types of learning.

Commenting: talking about what the child is doing or is involved in – avoiding the use of excessive questioning.

Communication: exchanging information with other people using verbal and non-verbal means.

Communication Book - personalised book containing photos or pictures that enable an individual to communicate basic thoughts and ideas by pointing to the pictures in the book. This is a low tech AAC device.

Communication Environment: who you are talking to and where you talk to them.

Comprehension: understanding what is said, signed or written (also referred to as Receptive Language).

Conductive hearing loss - a hearing impairment caused by a difficulty in transmitting sound through the outer or middle ear.

Deduction: the ability to use given information in order to solve a problem. Deduction produces new information (M Johnson). At 6 years of age children can typically cope with a simple and visually concrete deduction.

Delay: typical speech or language development, but following a child of a younger developmental age.

Developmental levels of visual recognition - there are 8 stages of visual recognition to consider, from the actual object to the written word. When choosing visual cues to support the child's understanding, the developmental level of the child's visual recognition needs to be considered, for example, from being able to recognise real objects and photographs to line drawings, to more abstract features such as symbols and words.

Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia (DVD): a motor speech disorder affecting the planning and co-ordination of muscle movements. Speech may be characterised by inconsistent use of sounds, visible groping for sounds, inability to articulate sound sequences when asked to do so on command, after imitation and difficulties increasing with length and complexity of sound sequence.

Disorder: atypical speech or language development which doesn’t follow the ‘normal’ developmental pattern.

Down’s Syndrome - a chromosomal condition in which extra genetic material causes a delay in the child's development. Symptoms may vary from child to child and can range from mild to severe.

Dysarthria: muscle weakness which affects the accuracy and power of articulation making speech sound slurred.

Dysfluency: interruptions to the smooth or fluent flow of speech, including sound and word repetitions, tense ‘blocks’ on sounds and facial grimaces (also referred to as stammer or stutter).

Dyslexia - the word 'dyslexia' is derived from two Greek words: 'dys' meaning 'difficulty' and 'lexia' meaning 'words'. The literal meaning is therefore 'difficulty with words'. The symptoms of dyslexia can differ from person to person, and each person will have a unique pattern of strengths and weaknesses. For further information, refer to the Worcestershire Dyslexia Pathway.

Dysphagia - difficulty with eating and drinking in a smooth and coordinated manner.

Dyspraxia - dyspraxia is generally recognised to be an impairment or immaturity of the organisation of planning of co-ordinated movements. Associated with this may be problems speech, language, perception and thought.

ECAT (Every Child a Talker) - programme that aims to raise children’s achievement in early language, practitioners’ skills and knowledge and to increase parental understanding and involvement in children’s language development.

ECERS (Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale) - an internationally recognised tool which enables early years settings to evaluate their environment and provision, and to identify clear steps for development in order to improve outcomes for children.

Echolalia: repetition of another’s speech sounds or language. It can be immediate repetition or delayed from something the child has heard earlier.

Expressive Language: the choice and arrangement of words into phrases and sentences, taking into account grammatical rules. The language may then be conveyed via speech, sign, symbols or writing.

FIP (Focused Improvement Plan) - it is an Early Years plan written in response to areas identified during the self evaluation process. Specific actions are planned to address improvement over a realistic timescale, matched to the resources available. Staff responsibility is allocated to these actions.

Forced Alternatives: providing the child with a choice of two items or objects to verbally choose from, one of which is the target items or object.

Friendship stop - a designated place where children can come when they have no one to play with. Other children are encouraged to regularly stop by and interact with the child that has no one to play with.

Functional Communication: the appropriateness of which language is used within a context.

Global development delay - delay in all areas of development i.e. physical, language and communication, learning, social.

Glue Ear: a fluctuating hearing loss caused by the intermittent build-up of fluid behind the ear drum.

Grammar: the rules followed in language; the combination (syntax) or the modifying of words (morphology) to form appropriate phrases or sentences such as talking about the past or future.

Hearing Impairment - may be: sensori-neural hearing loss (permanent); conductive hearing loss (of middle ear origin); fluctuating hearing loss

Hypernasal: speech sounds affected by too much air flow down the nose.

Hyponasal: speech sounds affected by too little air flow down the nose.

Inference: any conclusion which can reasonably be drawn from a sentence or utterance (Hurford et al 1993). Inference uses implied or assumed information. Children begin to infer meaning from approximately 5 to 6 years but the skill continues to develop until at least 13 years (M Johnson).

Information Carrying Words (ICW): the number of keywords that must be understood for the overall meaning of a spoken or signed utterance to be carried out, for example, “Show me the teddies nose” = 2ICW (also known as keywords).

Information processing skills - taking in information, storing this information in memory and retrieving it when needed.

Individual Education Plan (IEP): specific targets or strategies put in place to aid a child’s access to the curriculum.

Intonation: the rhythm of how we speak.

Jargon: sound sequences, phrases and sentences with no meaningful content (this refers to a child’s language but sometimes covers professionals as well!).

Language - system for expressing thoughts and ideas using a set of symbols such as speaking.

Language Content: the meaning of what is said, signed or written.

Language Form: how what is said, signed or written is organised such as rules of grammar, rules of speech.

Language Delay: language development that is following a normal pattern, but typical of a younger child. Development occurs at a slower rate.

Language Disorder: language development that follows an atypical or irregular pattern.

Language Use: how a speaker or signer uses language in a social context (also known as pragmatics).

Language Link - a universal screening tool to identify children with receptive language difficulties.

Learning Disability - a condition where an individual has difficulty learning according to the typical pattern.

Learning Walk - a focused visit through learning areas, followed by feedback and reflection. It is about the next steps in improving practice and developing setting or school wide provision.

Makaton: a simplified sign and symbol system based on British Sign Language (BSL) and natural gesture.

Modelling: repeating the child’s sentence or sign and so providing an example of appropriate words and phrases.

Morphology - the grammatical rules of words and parts of words including patterns of inflections and derivation.

Multisensory - using two or more senses simultaneously so that the stronger sense can support the weaker. The visual, auditory and kinaesthetic senses are the most frequently used.

Multi-sensory Impairment - a combination of vision and hearing loss which creates a unique pattern of learning difficulties that significantly impact on the development of communication, access to the environment and mobility.

Non-literal Language: language which requires prior world knowledge. It is based on words that usually have several meanings or which don’t make sense in combination with the other words used, for example, idioms.

Non-verbal Communication: the parts of communication which are not verbally language based, but which rely on the individual’s understanding or use of gesture, body language, facial expression, eye contact.

Paediatricians - A community paediatrician is a doctor who specialises in the care of children and is based in the community. This doctor most often will be assessing and looking after the long term health care needs of children with delay in their developmental progress. This could be delay in their physical or learning skills. This doctor also has a particular expertise in assessing children with unusual or worrying patterns of behaviour. Some community paediatricians will also specialise in children with hearing or visual difficulties. A consultant paediatrician is the most senior doctor who specialises in the care and treatment of children.

PECS: Picture Exchange Communication System created by Bondy and Frost (1994). Requires the child to exchange a picture of a desired item with another person in order to retrieve the item and thus teach the initiation of communication.

Personalised learning - personalising learning and teaching means taking a highly structured and responsive approach to each child's and young person's learning in order that all are able to progress, achieve and participate. It means strengthening the link between learning and teaching by engaging pupils – and their parents – as partners.'

Phonology: the rule based system of sounds used in speech.

Phonological Awareness: the awareness of sounds within words for example identifying the initial sound of a word, word that rhyme and the number of syllables within a word.

Pragmatics: the rules about how we use language in social communication, including the appropriate use of eye contact, turn taking, initiation of conversation, maintaining a topic of conversation. Disordered pragmatic skill or development means that a child has difficulties in understanding and using the rules of interaction in an appropriate and flexible way.

Pre-linguistic Skills: skills needed before language can develop, for example, eye contact, turn taking, pretend play.

Processing (speech) - the ability to perceive, discriminate and analyse speech sounds in spoken language (input) and to remember and select correct sounds for talking (output).

Provision map - this is a management tool which maps out the range of provision the school makes for children with special educational needs, and how the school is allocating resources to and among pupils with special educational need.

Receptive language - understanding language. Understanding of what is said or written, including vocabulary, grammar, instructions, stories, others' non-verbal communication.

SDP (School Development Plan) -a plan that includes a strategy for improving school and student performance in identified targeted areas.

Selective Mutism: a communication difficulty in which the child chooses not to speak in certain situations or to certain people although they have the ability to do so.

Semantics: the knowledge of the meaning surrounding words and sentences for example a ‘cat’ has two ears, four legs, fur and says “Meow”.

Semantic-Pragmatic Disorder: a term used to describe children who have difficulties with conversational interaction, such as initiating appropriate topics of conversation, and understanding non-literal meanings, for example, “It’s raining cats and dogs”.

SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) - identified person responsible for coordinating teaching and learning needs, as well as key support services within a setting or school for children with additional needs.

Sensori-neural hearing loss - a hearing loss arising from the cochlear and 8th auditory nerve.

Sequencing - the ability to place pictures, writing, events, activities or thoughts in a logical order.

Short-term memory - this is an earlier term for 'working memory'. The working memory can be defined as the mental space in which we hold information for a relatively short time while we do something with that information. The term working memory makes it clear that there is active processing taking place, such as the execution of instructions or the addition of two numbers.

Signalong – a signing system which is used in a number of settings and schools across Worcestershire and offers children a valuable aid to communication through sign-supported speech.

Sign Supported English (SSE): signs drawn from British Sign Language (BSL) and used alongside spoken English in English word order. It is not a language in its own right as BSL is.

SLCN (Speech, Language and Communication Needs) - SLCN is an 'umbrella' term covering children who do not develop speech and language as expected.

SLT or SALT: Speech and Language Therapy or Therapist.

SLTA / SP: Speech and Language Therapy Assistant or Support Practitioner.

Social and functional use of language - this can also be described as 'pragmatic'. It involves understanding the meaning of words and the conventional rules and hidden meaning in language: knowledge of the rules of conversation and the ability to follow them, when to listen, take turns, knowledge of social rules, how to gain attention and show empathy; as well as the ability to interpret both verbal and non-verbal rules of communication.

Social Skills: the ability to interact with other people appropriately, include making appropriate eye contact, taking turns, using appropriate language, demonstrating listener awareness, initiating interaction and responding to interaction.

Sound System: the sounds that a child is able to say and the sound combination rules the child makes use of.

Speech Delay: speech development that is following a normal pattern, but typical of a younger child.

Speech Disorder: speech development that follows an atypical or irregular pattern.

Specific Language Impairment (SLI): when a child’s language (comprehension or expression) is the only area of difficulty and all other areas of a child’s development at in line with their peers.

Symbols – visual or auditory or kinaesthetic representation of a concept, for example, picture of an apple that represents an apple.

Syntax: the rules of combining words to make a sentence (grammar).

Talking Mats - low tech communication framework involving sorting pictures.

Ten Second Rule - children with SLCN often need more 'processing time' to get their thoughts together and formulate a response. Allow the child up to 10 seconds to respond before repeating the question.

Tourette Syndrome – a neurological disorder, characterised by involuntary movements or sounds called tics.

Verbal Communication: the parts of communication which are language based.

Verbal Reasoning: think about and solving problems using language.

Visual aids - pictures, photos or real objects to support communication and learning.

Visual Impairment - visual Impairment is a reduction in visual acuity affecting near or distance functional vision, field loss and other specific visual difficulties which are not fully corrected by glasses.

Visual Timetable: the use of pictures and/or objects to represent different parts of a school day.

Vocabulary: the store of words a child knows and uses.

Voice disorder - medical conditions affecting the production of speech.

Voice Problem: a problem with the quality (hoarse or husky), pitch (too high or too low) or volume (too loud or too quiet) of the voice or with the control of the breath for speech.

Word Finding Difficulties: inability to reliably retrieve a known target word from memory.