Student Support File for Speech and Language Disorder
Guide for Irish Teachers
Speech and language disorders encompass a range of difficulties with speech production, understanding language, and using language to communicate. In Irish schools, students may present with expressive language disorder, receptive language disorder, verbal dyspraxia, or a combination. The NEPS guidelines include detailed case study examples for this condition.
About Speech and Language Disorder in Irish Schools
Speech and language disorders encompass a range of difficulties with speech production, understanding language, and using language to communicate. In Irish schools, students may present with expressive language disorder, receptive language disorder, verbal dyspraxia, or a combination. The NEPS guidelines include detailed case study examples for this condition.
Prevalence: Approximately 5-7% of Irish primary school children have a speech, language, or communication need, with many receiving speech and language therapy through HSE services.
Relevant NEPS Need Areas
When completing the Strengths, Interests & Needs section of the Student Support File, focus on these areas for students with Speech & Language:
Common Strengths
- Good non-verbal communication and body language
- Strong visual learning ability
- Kind and sociable disposition
- Good listening skills with visual support
- Willingness to engage in small-group activities
- Ability to follow routines once established
Common Needs
- Explicit teaching of vocabulary and language structures
- Support with expressive language - forming sentences and narratives
- Strategies for speech intelligibility in the classroom
- Visual supports to aid comprehension of instructions
- Targeted phonological awareness for literacy development
- Social communication support for peer interactions
Support Strategies by Continuum Level
Record these strategies in the Student Support File under the appropriate Continuum level. Choose strategies based on the student's individual needs, not all strategies will apply.
Classroom Support
ALL - Class teacher-led interventions
- Use visual supports alongside verbal instructions (pictures, symbols, gestures)
- Allow additional processing time - wait 5-10 seconds after asking a question
- Pre-teach key vocabulary before new topics
- Use Colourful Semantics or similar visual frameworks for sentence building
- Simplify language - use short, clear sentences
- Provide a visual timetable and task boards
- Encourage peer modelling of correct language structures
School Support
SOME - SET-led targeted teaching
- SET-led language programme (e.g., Colourful Semantics, Talk Boost, Word Aware)
- Implementation of SLT targets during SET sessions (3-4 times per week)
- Targeted phonological awareness programme for literacy
- Small-group narrative intervention (story retelling with visual supports)
- Home-school communication to reinforce targets
- Regular liaison with SLT to align school and therapy goals
School Support Plus
FEW - Multi-disciplinary team involvement
- Intensive individual language programme with daily SET input
- Direct SLT involvement in programme planning and review
- Application for SNA support if communication difficulties create safety concerns
- Assistive technology for communication (AAC device, communication board)
- Multi-disciplinary team review (SLT, NEPS, SET, parents) each term
- Referral to specialist language class if available and appropriate
Example SSF Phrasing
Copy-paste ready phrasing for the Strengths and Needs sections. Replace [Student] with the student's name.
Strengths Phrasing
- “[Student] communicates well using gestures and facial expressions.”
- “[Student] has a kind disposition and an outgoing, mature personality.”
- “[Student] has a good visual memory and learns well from pictures and demonstrations.”
- “[Student] follows classroom routines well and shows a willingness to engage with peers.”
Needs Phrasing
- “[Student] needs support to develop expressive language skills, particularly sentence structure and grammar.”
- “[Student] requires a slow rate of speech programme to improve intelligibility.”
- “[Student] benefits from visual supports to aid comprehension of multi-step instructions.”
- “[Student] needs targeted vocabulary instruction to increase word knowledge for curriculum access.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What are SMART targets for speech and language difficulties in Irish schools?
How do I write a Student Support File for a child with speech and language difficulties?
Should SLT targets be included in the Student Support File?
What classroom strategies help students with speech and language difficulties?
Official Irish References
Essential Guides
Related Conditions
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