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Inclusion by design for children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)

For mainstream primary school staff

a

This presentation is designed to introduce and raise awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).�It has been written by qualified and experienced speech and language therapists at Speech and Language UK.
The original version of this training was commissioned by Whole School SEND as part of a wider package of resources and training on DLD for school staff. It was reviewed by SENCos from primary and secondary mainstream settings across the UK, and their suggestions were incorporated.
We have since updated elements of the training to ensure it remains relevant to the current educational context.

Notes for the presenter

Notes beneath each slide outline key points for the presenter to share with the audience.
Anything shown in italics (like this) is intended as a prompt or consideration for the presenter—such as an optional activity or reflection point.
You can adapt the length of the session depending on your available time. Reviewers recommend delivering this training as a twilight session or during an INSET day.
The training can also be divided into 1–1.5 hour sections, allowing attendees time to reflect between sessions. For example:

Session 1: What is DLD? / Prevalence / Long-term impact
Session 2: What DLD looks like in the classroom / Universal support strategies
Session 3: Targeted and specialist support for children and young people with DLD

Optional activities are included throughout. You may choose to use all, some, or none of these depending on the time available and the size of your group.
You may delete, add or amend slides as needed. We recommend you adapt the slides to reflect your own context. For example, when discussing specialist support, adapt the content to reflect the provision available in your local area.

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What we will cover

What is Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)?
How many children are affected by DLD?
Potential long-term impacts of DLD
What DLD can look like in the classroom
Universal practices to support all children
Targeted, targeted plus, and specialist support for children with DLD
When to raise concerns

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Darcie’s story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38ur_bxJJG4

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What things did Darcie struggle with?

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Everything else

Darcie’s story

Challenges talking and understanding words

Speech and language challenges affect MORE than a child’s talking and understanding of words

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Speech and language challenges impact how well children do at school

In 2023, only 18% of children with speech, language and communication needs achieved the expected level in reading, writing and maths at the end of primary school (compared with 59% of all pupils).

�(DfE, 2023)

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Impact on literacy

More than 90% of children who have persistent language difficulties at age five have literacy difficulties at age 15.

(Stothard et al., 1998)

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Impact on emotional wellbeing and behaviour

81% of children with emotional and behavioural disorders have significant language difficulties, often unidentified.

�(Hollo et al., 2014)

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Impact on exclusion rates

One study found that two-thirds of pupils at risk of permanent exclusion from a secondary school had language difficulties.

(Clegg et al., 2009)

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Without skills in talking and understanding words, children will struggle

To make friends

To learn

To get a job

To have good mental health

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The communication chain

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How do communication skills typically develop?

From (or even before) birth

Through interacting with others

Following expected patterns

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Understanding/ receptive language

Talking/

expressive language

Social communication

Play

Attention and listening

Speech

There are lots of different skills involved in communicating with others. We are going to talk through six key communication skills. It’s helpful to know about all of these skills because when a child is struggling, you can think more carefully about which skill they are struggling with and what support they might need.

Talking means the words and sentences that children say. It includes sign language or using a communication device. This is also called ‘expressive language’.

Understanding involves understanding words and sentences, or signs and symbols. This is also called ‘receptive language’.

Social communication means the skills we use to communicate, and interact with other people - such as taking turns or asking for help. Social communication skills vary across different cultures and groups of people.

Play means the ways children explore their world and enjoy themselves, both with toys and with other people.

Attention and Listening means being able to focus on what someone is saying or doing.

Speech includes speech sounds. For example, in English we use the speech sounds ‘c-a-t’ to say the word ‘cat’. Speech also includes if a child stammers or not, and the quality of a child’s voice.

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Things don’t always go to plan…

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2 million children and young people in the UK with speech and language challenges

2 million

children are struggling with talking and understanding words in the UK right now.

https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/the-issue/our-campaigns/support-not-sanctions-making-school-fair-for-2-million-children/

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More children and young people struggle with talking and understanding words in areas of disadvantage

In one primary school in an area of high deprivation,

40% of pupils were found to have language difficulties.

(Law et al., 2011)

In one secondary school in an area of social deprivation, �84% of students were found to have poor language skills.

(Spencer et al., 2012)

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Speech and language challenges

Challenges talking and understanding words

Speech, language and communication needs

Language disorder associated with…

Speech sound disorder

Developmental language disorder (DLD)

Etc…

Stammering

Childhood Apraxia of Speech

There are lots of different terms that are used when children struggle with talking and understanding words. On this slide we’ll explain some of those terms and how they all relate to each other.
Terms at the top of this umbrella all effectively mean the same thing – they are umbrella terms to describe when a child has any kind of difficulties with talking and understanding words.
Speech, language and communication needs, or SLCN, is the term commonly used in an education context.
Speech and language challenges / challenges talking and understanding words – are simpler terms used in the sector to mean the same thing. Speech and Language UK asked some young people and families which terms made the most sense to them, and these were the terms they chose.
Underneath the umbrella are some examples of different diagnoses that children could be given. These are different types of speech and language challenge. This is not an exhaustive list – there are many other examples.
Developmental language disorder is one of the most common kinds of speech and language challenge – but awareness of it is still very low.

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Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)

Lifelong challenge with talking and understanding words (expressive and receptive language skills)
Neurodivergent condition
Not caused by another condition (e.g. hearing impairment, autism, cerebral palsy)
Significant impact on communicating and learning in everyday life
Usually not diagnosed until five years old or later
Diagnosed by a speech and language therapist

DLD is a lifelong challenge with talking and understanding words.
It is a neurodivergent condition. Often when we think of neurodiversity, we think of examples like autism or ADHD. However DLD is a very common, but often forgotten, form of neurodiversity.
DLD is a diagnosis given when the child’s challenges are NOT linked to another condition – like hearing impairment, autism, or cerebral palsy. The child has challenges talking and understanding words that are not linked to another condition.
The child’s difficulties with talking and understanding will have a significant impact on their ability to communicate and learn in everyday life.
DLD is usually not diagnosed until five years old or later. This is because it is a lifelong condition – children will not ‘grow out of it’.
The diagnosis is always given by a speech and language therapist. If we suspect a child might have DLD, we need to refer to speech and language therapy for them to be diagnosed.

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DLD can co-occur with some other conditions

A child could be diagnosed with two or more conditions, e.g.

DLD and dyslexia
DLD and speech sound disorder
DLD and ADHD

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No known cause

Runs in families

NOT caused by:

Learning another language
Parenting
Screen time
Etc…

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DLD is common

~7.6% of children in primary school

Norbury et al (2016)

DLD has been called the most common childhood condition that most people have never heard of.
It affects approximately 2 children in every average classroom of 30 in the UK.
Because awareness of DLD is so low, many children with DLD are not being identified – and therefore are not having their needs met.
CLICK ~7.6% of children have DLD. That means it’s approximately 7 times more common than autism – yet lots of people have never heard of it.

^{*Surrey Communication and Language in Education Study (SCALES), an epidemiological study in the UK (Norbury et al, 2016). Based on assessment of a population sample of children in state-maintained classrooms in the first few years of school. The researchers estimated the total population prevalence of language disorder to be 9.92%. The prevalence of language disorder of unknown origin was estimated to be 7.58%, while the prevalence of language impairment associated with intellectual disability and/or existing medical diagnosis was 2.34%. These estimates are consistent with previous population studies in the United States (7.4%, Tomblin et al. 1997). The researchers advise that these are estimates and precise numbers in a given community may vary depending on the diagnostic criteria and assessments employed to identify children, and the local context (estimates may be higher in areas of socio-economic disadvantage).}

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How many children have DLD in our school?

https://radld.org/about/dld/population-calculator/

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DLD 1, 2, 3

Video

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ-s02HWLb0&vl=en-GB

Primary

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What you can do

Know the signs: spot children who may have DLD (or other speech and language challenges)
Create a communication-supportive environment for ALL children
Put additional targeted, targeted plus or specialist support in place for those who need it

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1. Know the signs: spot children with potential speech and language challenges (including DLD)

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What might it look like in the classroom?

Think about…

Attention and listening
Behaviour
Social interaction and friendships
Talking
Understanding
Learning across all subjects

Activity

Activity – discuss in small groups and feedback. 5 mins discussion & 5-10 mins for feedback – you could either ask each group to feedback on one of the elements on this slide, or you could get each group to think about everything and then feed back a couple of the main points they talked about. Write key indicators on the board as groups feed back – then refer to the points on the next few slides to highlight the key indicators.

Now let’s think about what these children might look like in your classrooms, so that you know some signs to look out for.
Remember we said that DLD is referred to as a hidden or invisible disability – so there is no one set of criteria to use.
Think about what you MIGHT notice in the classroom though – in terms of attention, behaviour, social interaction, talking, understanding, and finally academic work.

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What might it look like in the classroom?

Some words that primary teachers used to describe how DLD might present in the classroom

This slide is a word cloud that was generated by primary school teachers during a Speech and Language UK webinar in Autumn 2020. We asked them what children with DLD might present like in the classroom and this is what they told us. Talk through this based on your discussion already – some extra notes below to discuss further.

This word cloud has a few of the key indicators or behaviours that you might notice in your classroom.
It’s a word cloud that was generated by primary school teachers during a Speech and Language UK webinar in Autumn 2020 when asked “how do you think children with DLD present in the classroom?”
Often children with DLD have poor attention – this can be described as not listening, staring out the window, blank, in their own world.
Or, they may become disruptive and act out.
Some may get into trouble or have conflicts in the playground, but can’t explain what has happened whereas others can fluently describe incident.
Often they might seem to just be one step behind where the other kids are in a social situation – and so because of that they struggle with friendships.

Note to presenter: remember you can delete slides as needed – see the symbol in the top right hand corner of the slides that show if they are designed specifically for primary/secondary staff

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What might it look like: video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAsf_Wqjz4g

Video

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Children who…

struggle to follow instructions
use lots of words with vague or general meanings e.g. ‘put’, ‘thing’, ‘do’
seem isolated from others or struggle to join in
struggle to explain ideas or tell stories without getting muddled
seem ‘quiet’ or take a long time to respond
have difficulty learning or remembering new words or concepts.

Signs to look out for

TA

Teachers

SaLT

Parents

SENCo

Here are a few key things that you can look out for. Children who…

Watch their peers to work out what to do – because they struggle to listen & understand the instruction
Use lots of general words e.g., ‘put’, ‘thing’, ‘do’ – because they struggle to learn new words so have less developed vocabulary
Seem isolated from others or struggle to join in because of their challenges with language skills
Struggle to explain ideas or tell stories without getting muddled – it’s hard to follow what they are saying and make sense of it
Seem ‘quiet’ or take a long time to respond – because they are struggling to understand or they’ve tuned out of listening
Struggle to ‘read between the lines’ – when you say ‘pull your socks up’ they don’t understand because the meaning isn’t obvious.
When looking out for all of these things, it can be helpful to compare observations from different people around the child
For example, parents or carers will have their own observations based on how the child presents at home and in environments other than school
They can also give you a history- it may be that the child’s difficulties have been spotted before and parents/carers have already raised concerns (although many children also slip through the net so don’t assume that a child’s difficulties have already been identified – you may be the first one to spot they are struggling and put support in place)
The SENCo & other professionals may also be able to provide historical information from the child’s record about previous specialist assessments, interventions they may have taken part in, etc.

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Free tools you can use

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h_wJvSmDYBU0XPeQ93LUD_KqH5OPziOf/view

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Free tools you can use

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14hOSH-AdaCAwAfKh9TjhCxLYLzzuzShf/view

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Free tools you can use

https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/educators-and-professionals/ages-and-stages/

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Free progress checker

Child’s progress checker

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Choose one of the tools that we have just shared.
Practise using this tool to think about a child who you have concerns about – they might be struggling with learning, friendships or behaviour.
Work through the tool and think about whether this child may have underlying speech and language challenges.

Identification tools

Activity

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Learning more than one language does NOT cause or contribute to speech and language challenges

Bilingual children are just as likely to have speech and language challenges as their monolingual peers

(RCSLT, 2021; RALLI, 2013)

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Having strong skills in their home language can help children learn English better

(Juarez 83, Duncan & Gibbs 1989, Leung 1996, Rodby 1998, Cummins 2000)

Encourage parents/carers to speak their strongest language to their child

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Bilingual children with DLD will have difficulties in BOTH / ALL languages

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Key signs to look out for in bilingual children

Are the family concerned about the child’s abilities in their home language(s)?
Is there a family history of language or learning difficulties?
Is the child progressing more slowly than peers who are learning English as an additional language – even with extra support?

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2. Create a communication-supportive environment for all children

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Layers of support

Specialist

Targeted

Universal

Targeted plus

Children and young people need support to develop and use their speech, language and communication skills. This Layers of support model helps us to think about the different type of support that is available to children and young people. Following the UK Government’s schools white paper and SEND reform consultation (2026), there are four layers of support: Universal, targeted, targeted plus and specialist. Children and young people don’t have to progress through the layers in order, and they may need support from more than one layer at the same time.

Children and young people can move between the layers as their needs change over time, depending on:

their age
the type and complexity of any speech and language challenges they have
the environment they are in, or transitioning into.

Universal: High quality teaching and support that benefits all children and young people’s development of speech, language and communication skills. This includes adaptive teaching strategies like modelling words and using simple language.

Targeted: Support for children and young people with commonly occurring speech and language challenges. This includes group interventions delivered by school staff, like our Talk Boost programmes. It also includes adult strategies like pre-teaching key vocabulary and using key-word signing with children.

Targeted plus: Support for children and young people with less commonly occurring speech and language challenges who need more personalised support from other health or education professionals. It may include advice from a speech and language therapist, and/or support delivered in an Inclusion Base. An example is a programme delivered by a speech and language assistant and overseen by a speech and language therapist to support a child’s speech sound development.

Specialist: Support for children with the most complex speech and language challenges who might have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Support at this level may be delivered in a specialist base or through a special school. An example is a speech and language therapist supporting a child learning to use an eye gaze device to communicate.

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We all understand what DLD is and the impact it can have on learning and behaviour.
We all use communication-supportive strategies all the time.
We use high-quality teaching that supports all children’s speech, language and communication development.
We have tools to identify children who are struggling with talking and understanding words.

What does good universal support look like?

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Examples of universal support

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A communication-supportive environment for all children includes:

The physical environment
Strategies that adults use
Opportunities children have to practise their speech, language and communication skills

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1. The physical environment

Reduce background noise.
Reduce classroom clutter.
Consider how the layout and sensory environment impacts on attention and regulation.
Plan and use visual supports, like:

pictures, symbols, diagrams, mind maps
label resources with symbols and words
write down key information and instructions
highlight/underline/bold key words
use a visual timetable.

The first area to consider in a communication-supportive environment is the physical environment. Some examples of how to do that are given on this slide.
Reduce background noise – this helps children attend to what you are saying without having to filter out additional noise. You could do this by closing doors and windows, and ensuring only one person is speaking at a time (adjust this based on policies/procedures in your setting).
Reduce classroom clutter to support attention and reduce the need for children to filter out distractions. Ask yourself, who or what is this display actually for?
What does the layout invite children to do? For example, long corridors invite children to run, beanbags in a circle invite children to sit and talk.
Consider how the sensory environment impacts on attention and regulation. Stand in the space… how does it make you feel? Stressed? Calm? Distracted? Does how you feel match what children should be feeling in the space e.g. energised, peaceful, inspired?
Plan and use visual supports to explain key concepts - like pictures, symbols, graphs, diagrams, and mind maps.
Visually label classroom resources with words as well as photos/symbols/images.
Write down key information and instructions at the front of the class. Highlight/underline/bold key words or put them in a different colour.
Use a visual timetable or write on the board the activities for the day or the lesson so that children know what to expect. Refer to it and update regularly by removing tasks when completed.

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2. Strategies that adults use

Model useful words.
Build on what children say.
Give sentence starters.
Break instructions into chunks.
Plan the type of questions you will use.
Give extra thinking time.
Gain children’s attention before you talk.
Teach the meaning of new words.
Create an asking-friendly environment.

The way adults talk to children can have a big impact on the development of their speech, language and communication skills. Key strategies in the primary years include:

Modelling: saying words or sentences that the child could use next time. You can do this when introducing new words to children.

For example: “Miserable means feeling really sad about something. I felt miserable when I realised I had lost my favourite shoes.”

Model (don’t correct) when children make mistakes. You can also use modelling when a child makes a mistake with something they say. Instead of correcting them, repeat back what they’ve said the right way.

For example, if a child says “I goed to the farm”, you can say back, “Yes, you went to the farm.”

Build on what children say. Extend children’s thinking and their language skills by building on what they say.

For example, if they say “We planted a tomato plant”, you could say, “yes, we planted the tomato plant in the vegetable patch”.

Give a sentence starter. Help children join in by starting the sentence and leaving a gap for them to finish. You can also write sentence starters on the board or on cue cards to remind children of ways to start their sentences when sharing thoughts and ideas. Plan opportunities for children to practise using these in group work or talking partner activities.

For example, “I think that…” or “I agree because…”

Break instructions into chunks. Give short, simple instructions. Give the instructions in the order you want children to follow them, instead of using words like ‘before’ and ‘after’.

For example: “Pack away your things. Now push in your chairs and line up by the door.”

Plan your questions. Adjust the questions you ask based on the type of response you want from children. Also think about the abilities of children and how much support they will need.

Open questions: encourage a longer response and more talking from the child. These might be harder for some children to answer. (e.g. Tell me about…)

Closed questions: encourage a shorter response and less talking from the child. These might be easier for some children to answer. (e.g. Who stole the loaf of bread?)

Choice questions: give children a choice between two options. These may be easier and could be used to help children answer correctly. (e.g. Was it the boy or the dog?)

Give children thinking time. This allows them time to think about what you have said and how they want to respond. Also plan thinking time before a task, for example in literacy children can be given extra time to think about the key things to include in a story such as the main characters, what is going to happen.

Gain children’s full attention before giving an instruction or giving important information.

Teach the meaning of new words. Explicitly teach children new words, repeat them often and give children opportunities to practise them. Check children’s understanding of new words often.

Create an asking friendly environment in which children feel comfortable to ask questions and say when they have not understood.

�

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3. Opportunities children have to practise their communication skills

Talking partner activities
Small group activities
Group discussions
Interactive book sharing
Peer interactions
Opportunities for role play and performance.

Finally, a communication-supportive environment means that children have lots of opportunities to practise using their speech, language and communication skills throughout the day. These could include:

Talking partner activities, planned frequently throughout the day so that children have the opportunity to discuss thoughts and ideas with each other before sharing with the wider group.
Small group activities where children work together and group roles are given to support children to contribute in different ways.
Group discussion activities where children are supported to discuss ideas as a group. Adults can support children to contribute in different ways by giving children different roles or providing sentence starters and word lists.
Interactive book sharing where children can ask questions, make comments or create their own stories.
Encourage peer interactions. Give reasons and opportunities for children to talk together. For example, they need to collaborate to build a structure, or solve a problem.
Role play and performance – certain toys, props, costumes and resources can help children explore different types of communicating. Think of the different types of language they might use when wearing: a judge’s wig, a nurse’s scrubs, a mechanic’s overalls. Performances also give children chance to practise taking on different roles and try out new styles of communicating.

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What does a communication-supportive environment look like?

Universal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ZbRpU9jak

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Create a communication-supportive environment

Discuss in year groups/key stages:

What examples did you notice that make the environment communication-supportive?
Which do you already have in place and which could you add to your class?

Activity

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3. Put additional targeted, targeted plus or specialist support in place for those who need it

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What does good targeted support look like?

We have evidence-based group (or individual) programmes for speech, language and communication skills.
We use additional strategies in the classroom for children who need them.
We measures children’s progress by collecting outcomes.

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Examples of targeted support

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Adapt your language
Pre-teach vocabulary
Group programmmes

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1. Adapt your language

Match your language to the child’s level.
Attract attention first – say their name.
Give simple instructions.
Use familiar vocabulary.
Use short and simple sentences.
Slow down and pause often – give extra thinking time.
Repeat key points and summarise at the end.
Show them – write/draw/demonstrate.

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Adapting your language to the level of the child you are working with is a key targeted strategy.

Match your language to the child’s level. This might mean using more simple sentences, particularly if you are working with younger children or children who talk less.
Attract attention first – agree a signal that indicates the need for whole class attention or for instructions to specific individuals. Say children’s names before giving them an instruction.
Give simple instructions – one idea at a time. Give instructions in the order you want them to follow and avoid abstract words like before and after. Explain any abstract terms you are using..
Use familiar vocabulary that you know the child will understand. Explicitly highlight when you have used a new or less familiar word, and check for understanding.
Use short sentences and do not talk for too long at any one time.
Give extra thinking time and processing time – go slow and pause often.
Repeat key points and summarise at the end.
And finally use visuals – at a targeted level you may need to use more consistent, personalised, visual support. Visual support gives something extra to help the child understand – plus a visual lasts longer than a spoken word.

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Adapt your language

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNf-VHzClPE

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Adapt your language

Discuss in year groups/key stages:

What examples of adapting language did you notice the teachers using in the video?
Which of these do you feel you use already?
Which could you introduce into your practice?

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Pre-teach topic vocabulary AND vocabulary that crosses all subjects.
Give concrete examples.
Create opportunities for children to practise new words.
Use visual supports.
Teach what a word means AND how it sounds.
Link to other words and topics children know already.
Demonstrate and practise using it in a sentence.

2. Pre-teach vocabulary

Examples of vocabulary used across many subjects

Describe
Discuss
Explain
Summarise
Compare
Predict
Estimate

At the targeted level, it’s helpful to pre-teach vocabulary to children who need additional support before the rest of the class. This means they benefit from extra repetitions, helping them to learn and remember new words.

It’s important to also teach words that are commonly used across a variety of subjects and yet often don’t receive as much attention as topic vocabulary. These words can often be found in the learning objectives that we use with children – e.g. explain, summarise, discuss – without which it’s difficult for them to understand what they’re meant to be doing.
Use concrete examples to help children understand the meaning.
Create opportunities for children to practise new words – use the word in a sentence, give a definition, write it, repeat it
Visual prompts and supports – pictures, diagrams etc. Have key topic vocab stuck up around the class. Refer to it often – visual supports can quickly become obsolete if they aren’t used and referred to often.
Talk about meaning AND sounds

Meaning – link to other words they know e.g. if teaching science equipment like ”test tube” or “beaker”, link it to other similar equipment. Make explicit links between words that sound the same but have different meanings etc.
Sounds – explicitly talk about what sound it begins with, syllables, rhyming words.

Demonstrate and practise using the new word in a sentence.

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Word maps

What does it mean?

Which category does it belong to?

Can you use it in a sentence?

Describe it – what do you do with it, where might you keep it, what does it look/smell/taste/feel like?

What does it sound like?

What sound does it begin with?
How many syllables?
What does it rhyme with?

WORD

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Word maps

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nmhWvm1gvP3qBxSowhe4dDqplBQI4VNQ/view

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3. Group programmes

Before putting in place an intervention for:

literacy
numeracy
behaviour
social skills

Think:

Could it be language?

Try a speech and language programme

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What Works database

https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/educators-and-professionals/what-works-database/

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Talk Boost Interventions

Programmes designed and tested in mainstream schools

Address underlying challenges with talking and understanding words

Small group intervention sessions delivered by a Teaching Assistant

Whole-class carryover activities delivered by class teacher

Strong evidence base

One good example of a speech and language programme is Speech and Language UK’s Talk Boost.
These programmes were designed and tested in mainstream schools with the aim of making them impactful and easy to deliver.
They support children by addressing underlying challenges in speech and language development.
They have a strong evidence base and have been proven to help many children catch up to their peers.
Generally the children who benefit most from group programmes are those with short-term speech and language challenges. Children with lifelong challenges like DLD need longer-term support and adaptive teaching.
However, often we don’t know whether a child’s challenges are likely to be short-term or lifelong.
Trying a speech and language programme can help us with this. If a child makes progress with the group programme, this is great news and we might not need additional support from speech and language therapy.
If they don’t make progress, they might have lifelong challenges. It’s worth seeking the opinion of a speech and language therapist with these children.

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What does good support at the targeted plus level look like?

Children can access more personalised support, which could include:

advice from a speech and language therapist
support delivered in an Inclusion Base
a programme delivered by a speech and language assistant and overseen by a speech and language therapist.

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Examples of targeted plus support

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A child is introduced to a visual system to help them understand how to build sentences.
A speech and language assistant supports a child with using language to negotiate.
A specialist teacher in an Inclusion Base does focused modelling of particular vocabulary or grammar.

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What does specialist support look like?

Specialist support for DLD might include:

assessment and diagnosis of DLD
goal setting and choosing programmes
support delivered in a specialist base or through a special school
assessment for, and training to use, alternative forms of communication such as personalised symbol systems or eye gaze devices
coaching families, teachers, teaching assistants in use of strategies.

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When to refer to speech and language therapy?

The child’s speech is unintelligible
The child has a stammer (is dysfluent)
Feeding or swallowing difficulties

Child’s speech and language difficulties impact on access to curriculum

Family concerns

Child is not making progress with support at universal, targeted, targeted plus levels

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Referral

Include information about the child’s:

talking
writing
social interaction and friendships
behaviour
understanding (following instructions and explanations, answering questions)
story-telling (narrative) skills
vocabulary.

These are the things that are useful to include in a referral. So keep note of your observations according to these areas.

Talking – do they express themselves at the level of their peers? Write down some examples of their sentences.
Writing – include examples
Social interactions and friendships – how do they interact with peers? Join in group games and activities? Play at break and lunchtime?
Behaviour – could their behaviour be a sign of an underlying challenges with talking or understanding words?
Understanding –Do they need instructions broken down? Do they follow explanations? Are they looking at their peers to know what to do? Are they able to answer questions?
Can they tell or retell a story? Are you able to follow stories they tell you easily?
Can they learn and remember new words?

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Support at times of transition

From nursery to primary school
Between year groups
Between primary and secondary school

Practical tips:

organise visits to new school
help children express what supports them
explicitly teach vocabulary relating to secondary school 
talk through potential problems/scenarios and possible solutions - visually if possible
give them practise using a lesson timetable
create a pupil passport/ communication profile.

Periods of transition can be challenging for all children, but particularly for those with DLD.
Children with DLD may be less able to engage in discussion about transition, to express how they are feeling, and to work through potential problems.
Let’s think about different transitions for children of the age groups that we have at our school.
Children may move up from the early years setting with concerns about their speech, language and communication skills already identified. It’s important to get as much information as we can from the child’s early years setting.
Transition between year groups is challenging for children and needs to be prepared for. The transition between Reception and Year 1 for example is a significant one that many children struggle with.
Transition between primary and secondary education is a huge change for children – they have to cope with increased academic and language demands of the curriculum, as well as the social pressure of meeting new peers and forming friendships. It’s important that we prepare them well for this transition.
There are some practical tips on this slide – if the child is changing schools, visits to the school and even time looking at photos of the school can help them prepare for the change.
As children transition to secondary education it’s important that they are able to advocate for themselves, so that they can talk about what’s hard for them and what helps them. Give them practise at talking about what helps them and also what doesn’t help.
Secondary school brings with it lots of new vocabulary – we can prepare children by pre-teaching some of the vocabulary, such as timetable, form tutor, and homework planner/diary.
Talking through potential problems and possible solutions can also help – but try to do this visually. Can use drawing to help – draw out a scenario and possible solutions.
A communication profile is helpful for both the transition between year groups and also the transition between primary and secondary. An example is given on the next slide.
Children might need a higher layer of support at times of transition.

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Include:

Strengths / what people like or admire about the child
Interests / things they enjoy
Areas of need
Strategies that support them
Relevant professionals / interventions

https://www.communicationpassports.org.uk/Creating-Passports/templates/full-passports/

Pupil passports /communication profiles

Having a pupil passport or profile for all children with SEND is good practice as it ensures useful information about the child is shared with all relevant professionals.
As a general guide, a pupil passport/profile should include information about the child’s:

Interests/things they enjoy doing
Areas of need/where they need support
How they communicate
Strategies/teaching approaches that support them (e.g. using visuals, simple language, etc)
Environmental adaptations that support them
Additional interventions they access
Any relevant professionals/agencies involved in the child’s care

As children progress into KS2 and beyond, they can become involved in writing their own pupil passport/profile. This develops important skills in self-awareness and self-advocacy. Different formats for a passport/profile can be explored with the child, such as a PowerPoint presentation, or even a video recording of them talking about their strengths, needs and things that support them.
This website could be used to download and customise templates of passports – or we can create our own from scratch https://www.communicationpassports.org.uk/Creating-Passports/templates/full-passports/

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What next?

Think about what we have covered today.

What is the first thing you are going to change/add to your practice?

When and how will you review how it has gone?

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Take the quiz!

DLD affects approximately what % of children in UK primary schools?

~1%
~5.4%
~7.6%

DLD is:

less prevalent than autism
more prevalent than autism
just as prevalent as autism.

Approximately what percentage of children with emotional and behavioural disorders have significant, often unidentified language difficulties?

~32%
~55%
~81%

Which of these are possible indicators of DLD?

Challenges with understanding words and sentences
Challenges with talking
Challenges with literacy, reading comprehension and academic success
Challenges with joining in with peers and understanding the rules of games
All of the above

Who can diagnose DLD?

A teacher
A SENCo
A doctor
An educational psychologist
A speech and language therapist

Activity

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Take the quiz!

DLD affects approximately what % of children in UK primary schools?

~1%
~5.4%
~7.6%

DLD is:

Less prevalent than autism
More prevalent than autism
The same as autism in terms of prevalence

Approximately what percentage of children with emotional and behavioural disorders have significant, often unidentified language difficulties?

~32%
~55%
~81%

Which of these are possible indicators of DLD?

Challenges with understanding words and sentences
Challenges with talking
Challenges with literacy, reading comprehension and academic success
Challenges with joining in with peers and understanding the rules of games
All of the above

Who can diagnose DLD?

A teacher
A SENCo
A doctor
An educational psychologist
A speech and language therapist (SaLT)

Activity

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Continue your learning

Speech and Language UK Learning Centre: https://learningcentre.speechandlanguage.org.uk/

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Other DLD resources

https://learningcentre.speechandlanguage.org.uk/dld-educational-support

DLD guide

DLD training slides

DLD webcast series: for primary teachers, secondary teachers, SENCos, senior leaders

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Other organisations and resources

https://www.naplic.org.uk/resource/dld-bubble-toolkit/

https://radld.org/dld-awareness-day/

https://afasic.org.uk/developmental-language-disorder-dld/

https://padlet.com/cforwood/supporting-students-with-developmental-language-disorder-dld-fvrrl0e5mjm8heiw

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DLD awareness day: October each year

https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/educators-and-professionals/speak-up-for-dld/

Video to watch with colleagues

Slides to deliver staff training

Presentation for young people to tell others about DLD

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Appendix

Please choose from the following slides based on the actions you want to take forward in your setting

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Free
Online
Can do in your own time
Takes two – three hours in total
Covers topics like typical development, speech and language challenges and practical support strategies.

Introduction to speech, language and communication

https://learningcentre.speechandlanguage.org.uk/course/an-introduction-to-speech-language-and-communication

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Communication standards audit: Primary

Free resource
Develop a whole-school approach to communication
Make an action plan of changes to make your setting more communication-supportive

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Speech, Language and Communication Framework (SLCF)

Free online professional development tool
Self-assessment tool
Provides a personalised analysis for users
Plan CPD opportunities tailored to needs
New updated version from September 2026!

https://www.slcframework.org.uk/the-speech-language-and-communication-framework-slcf/

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Thank you

Speechandlanguage.org.uk

Follow us @SpeechAndLangUK