Our mental health and speech and language challenges roundtable

The roundtable was hosted by Olivia Blake MP, Chair of the SEND All Party Parliamentary Group, the discussion focused on how schools, the curriculum, and the whole children’s workforce should be better equipped and trained to help children with speech and language challenges who also face mental health issues.

When children struggle with talking and understanding words, they can often feel socially excluded, isolated, and marginalised. It impacts their ability to engage with the world and express themselves. With the UK Government’s plans for Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in every school, it’s vital these teams are properly trained to understand and help those with speech and language challenges.

At the roundtable, we heard from Professor Courtenay Norbury from UCL. She highlighted that while talking therapies are valuable for many people, they may not be effective for children with speech and language challenges. Imogen Berry said her son Ioan, who has Developmental Language Disorder, found Lego therapy, creative arts like music and drama, and simply people who understood and cared to be the best help when he faced mental health struggles in school. She also pointed out that for many young people like Ioan the impact of their speech and language challenges on their mental health only really becomes apparent at secondary school. This is just the point at which support often falls away, so we really need to focus on helping vulnerable young people in adolescence.

Baroness Hollins shared how visual aids, like picture timetables, not only helped her son communicate but also supported his mental health. We also heard from Julia Buckley MP, who suggested that language supportive tools, like visual aids for explaining concepts and introducing new words, could be integrated into mainstream education, fostering an inclusive environment. Jodie Gosling MP made the excellent point that so much of the curriculum in early years is focused on language and communication, butthat completely drops away as soon as you get to primary school; perhaps we need rethink that. We also heard from Linda Lascelles, CEO of Afasic, who stressed the importance of parental support packages.

The message from people there was clear. Together, we can create an inclusive environment where every child can thrive by:

• empowering the children’s workforce with training
• making sure the children’s workforce has access to the tools they need to spot children with speech and language challenges
• ensuring mental health teams know how to help those struggling with talking and understanding words
• making speech and language support an integral part of our education system.