I am becoming increasingly frustrated and, frankly, heartbroken by the number of families on my caseload who have fought so hard to secure an EHCP, with excellent, detailed provision in Section F, only to discover that nobody is actually delivering it.
And there is a huge problem that we are not talking about enough. As Speech and Language Therapists, we cannot do our jobs effectively in isolation.
Communication happens 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It doesn't happen just during a therapy session.
We need tutors, support workers, mentors and other professionals who understand communication, who can build relationships, who can recognise subtle communicative attempts and who genuinely WANT to work with neurodivergent children and young people.
Yet the system for recruiting and providing these people seems extraordinarily weak.
There are agencies and companies offering services, but too often I hear of people being sent into homes with little understanding of autism, complex communication needs, sensory differences or alternative and augmentative communication (AAC).
And some appear uncomfortable working with children who do not use spoken language, who communicate differently, or who need support with personal care and toileting.
These children are not the problem. The lack of understanding, training and appropriate recruitment is. Some of the children I work with communicate in the most extraordinary, creative and marvellous ways.
They may not use spoken words, but they notice EVERYTHING.
The expression on your face.
The sigh when they need help.
The impatience in your voice.
The way you look at their parent.
The subtle suggestion that they are somehow too difficult, too demanding or too much trouble.
Please never confuse an inability to speak with an inability to understand.
And please don't assume that because a child communicates differently, they don't recognise when someone doesn't want to be there.
Many of these children are extraordinarily perceptive. They pick up on body language, tone, emotional responses and the smallest changes in how people relate to them.
They deserve people who see their competence, recognise their communication and value them exactly as they are.
Not people who merely tolerate them.
We can write the most detailed EHCPs imaginable. We can specify specialist SLT input, communication programmes, AAC support, sensory adaptations and carefully planned educational provision.
But if there isn't a skilled, compassionate and consistent team around that child, the provision remains words on paper.
And families are left trying to deliver an entire educational and therapeutic programme themselves.
We need better recruitment. Proper training. Meaningful supervision. Accountability for delivery. And, above all, people who understand that supporting a child with complex communication needs is skilled, important and deeply relational work.
Communication is not a therapy activity. It is how we connect, belong, learn, express ourselves and participate in life. We need to stop treating the people who support that communication as an afterthought. Because these children deserve so much better.
And so do their families.
#EHCP #SEND #SpeechAndLanguageTherapy #AAC #Autism #NeurodiversityAffirming #CommunicationIsMoreThanSpeech #EOTAS
