Toddlers need lessons in speaking, listening and the art of conversation in order to reduce the worrying number of young people who are unable to string a coherent sentence together by the time that they start school, an independent review suggests.

John Bercow, a Conservative MP and author of the report, said that in some areas up to 50 per cent of the school-age population had communication difficulties.

He said that the key to tackling speech and language problems in children and young people was to provide help and support from an early age, preferably before the children started school.

More than 89,000 school-aged children have been identified with specific speech and language difficulties. The number suffering from communication difficulties as part of a wider problem, such as autism, raises the total much higher. Difficulties range from delayed speech development and stammering to serious communication impairments.

“In some areas, particularly areas of social disadvantage, this group may be as large as 50 per cent of the population,” Mr Bercow said. “Often parents are the first to recognise that something is wrong, but they are frustrated that the professionals whom they approached for help, including health visitors and GPs, don’t take them seriously.”

His report, based on 2,000 submissions, including 1,000 from parents, found that access to information and services is often poor, services are mixed, continued support as children grow up is lacking and that effective joint working between the health and education services is rare.

Without early support, from nursery to primary and secondary stages of education, children with speech and language problems would fail to thrive, Mr Bercow said. He pointed out that 60 per cent of people in young offender institutions had speech and language problems.

The independent review, commissioned by Ed Balls, the Children, Schools and Families Secretary, and Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, is the first for seven years.

The report sets out possible “next steps” to raise public awareness, including the provision of more speech and language therapists and a national year of speech and communication. This would help parents and teachers to identify children with potential problems.

Mr Bercow will produce his final report in July, but there is no guarantee that his proposals will be accepted or funded by the Government. He insisted, however, that if the Government really wanted to make a difference, it needed to come up with proper funding.

Some chat lines

— Speak to your children and give them time to respond

— Encourage talking – ask them open-ended questions

— Try talking about what is going on in their world

— Speak in sentences one word longer than theirs to help to build their vocabulary

— Read to your children to develop good listening skills

— Singalong songs are a good way for children to learn the pace of language and the repetition reinforces the meaning of words

— Build talking together into your routines: at mealtimes and when watching television

— Give encouragement – repeat what children say using the right sounds yourself and let them learn, rather than criticise

Source: I CAN

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