Communication Difficulties

Speech, language and communication underpins everything that we do – from making ourselves heard and expressing our opinions to interacting with and understanding the world around us.

People with communication difficulties may:

have little or no speech or speech that is difficult to understand
have difficulty saying or generating words or sentences
have difficulty understanding what other people are saying
have difficulty knowing how to interact socially with other people
find it hard to fully access learning opportunities at school or college

The development of communication is vital for learning, socialising, making choices and becoming independent.

Communication difficulties frequently occur alongside other diagnoses or form part of a wider disability. At St Rose’s, we understand the impact that a communication difficulty has on the whole life of a child or young person. We also understand the influence that a person’s complex physical or sensory needs can have on the development of communication. We are experienced in working with students with a very wide range of diagnoses and a broad range of ability. We use our knowledge and expertise to work with each student, assessing their own personal set of skills and working with them to achieve individual goals.

Communication is an integral part of both the school and college curriculum at St Rose’s. Our teaching and care staff work seamlessly with the therapy team to ensure that communication opportunities are maximised in all settings, with an emphasis on developing the following areas, as appropriate to students’ individual needs.

Non-verbal communication
Attention and listening skills
Cause-and-effect development
Receptive and expressive language development
Developing use and understanding of signing such as Makaton
Sequencing and problem-solving
Pragmatic language development
Social communication

We use a very broad range of communication strategies and approaches at St Rose’s. By promoting a ‘Total Communication’ approach, we ensure that all forms of communication are valued. We ensure that gestures, body language, signs, symbols, photographs, objects of reference and Voice Output Communication Aids are used in a consistent manner to support speech or as an alternative to speech.

Students require consistent, skilled support from all staff and their families to achieve and build on their communicative successes. The culture of the St Rose’s community promotes achievement, enjoyment and wellbeing for all, whatever their communication needs.