Supporting Communication in Primary Schools

Interacting with peers and making friends can be challenging for young people with language and communication difficulties and differences.
We want all children to be happy at school and we know that friendships and social interaction are just as important as academic achievement. Here are some ideas to help.

Make communication opportunities accessible:

Use a total communication approach when interacting with young people who have difficulties understanding language and/or expressing themselves. This means using different communication methods alongside each other to help young people understand what you are saying to them. It also offers more opportunities for young people to communicate in ways which are accessible for them.

Communication methods include:
When communicating with young people, use language which is accessible to them. This may involve breaking down information and instructions.

Create opportunities for interactions:

Children are more likely to interact with others when relaxed and while doing an activity that they really enjoy.

Join children in their play and follow their lead to develop shared attention and enjoyment.
Create opportunities for children to interact with others who share similar interests, so that friendships can develop naturally e.g., encourage children to share each other�s interests or create activities and lunchtime clubs for children who share similar interests such as Lego, sports, art etc.
Consider the environment when creating opportunities, e.g., some children may find busy or loud areas overwhelming and may find it easier to make friends in quieter spaces.
Offer choices of activities to support children to express what they want to do.
Recognise and respond to children if they request they want an interaction or activity to end (verbally or non-verbally).
Consider buddy programmes for children who would like support from peers to join in games on the playground.

Support children to recognise emotions in themselves and others:

Supporting children to recognise emotions in themselves and others (e.g., sad, happy, scared, excited, angry, surprised) can help them to develop empathy and regulate their own emotions.

Strategies to support children to understand emotions:

Talk about emotions in context and model words children can use to explain how they are feeling. For example. when reading books, talk about how characters are feeling and why.
Provide regular opportunities for children to express how they feel and why
Talk about body sensations in relation to emotions.
Use visual support e.g., emotion scales/ energy scales alongside spoken words and facial expressions. Visuals can be found here.

Support children to understand social situations:

Many children benefit from support to understand social situations, understand perspectives of everyone involved in the interaction and learn strategies to manage communication breakdowns or conflicts. Comic Strip Conversations and Social Stories are approaches which support children�s social understanding in visual ways. It is important to note that Social Stories and Comic Strip Conversations are designed to inform children about situations rather than direct them to change their behaviour.

Social stories can help children understand what to expect in a social situation, understand what other people think and feel and reduce anxiety. Information on social stories can be found here.

Comic strip conversations can help children understand what happened in social situations. Speech and thought bubbles are used to help children to understand what other people were thinking and feeling, whilst their own thoughts and feelings are equally validated. More information about Comic Strip Conversations can be found here.

If you are working with children who have a diagnosis or specific needs, consider educating other children about this to increase peer awareness and create an inclusive environment. Liaise with professionals for guidance on this if needed.