Health visitors report rise in children with communication difficulties
Neil Puffett
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
There has been an eight per cent rise in health visitors reporting more children experiencing delayed language in the space of a single year, it has emerged.
Statistics collected by the Institute of Health Visiting reveal that 72 per cent of health visitors in 2016 said they had experienced an increase in the number of children they encountered with delayed speech and communication development - meaning they may use simpler sentences, fewer words and struggle to understand the same instructions as their peers.
This compares with 64 per cent in 2015 - an increase of eight percentage points. the results of the survey have been submitted to the Bercow: Ten Years On review of service provision for children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).
Jean Gross, chair of the review, said: "The Institute of Health Visiting's evidence highlights a worrying trend in health visitors reporting a rise in children with delayed language.
"Now is the time to find out how parents and carers really feel about the reality of the SLCN support they have received for their child so we can understand what, if anything, has changed over the past decade.
"We are asking them to speak out so we can ensure [the review's] recommendations about information and provision are firmly rooted in their experience."
Last month a study found that more than half of the children and young people's workforce have received little or no learning in their initial training about speech, language and communication (SLC) development.
The Bercow: Ten Years On review has launched a short online survey, which closes in June, in order to get the views of parents and carers.
