A speech and language programme, devised under a Sure Start project, is gaining in popularity and has plans for expansion as concerns about language delay in young children continue to grow. BLAST - Boosting Language, Auditory Skills and Talking - is a six-week course aimed at enhancing the language and communication skills of three- and four-year-olds by focusing on vocabulary and pre-linguistic skills such as attention, memory, listening and speech sound awareness. It was designed by Middlesbrough speech and language...