Speech-language therapy for child social communication disorder

INTERVENTION: All pariticpants take part in the Social Communication Intervention Programme, a manualised intervention for children with pragmatic language difficulties. The programme involves 20 sessions of individualised speech and language therapy delivered by a trained speech and language therapist. The sessions may be delivered over 10 weeks or 20 weeks. The intervention is manualised (The SCIP Manual Adams and Gaile, 2015) and individualised for each child according to her/his assessment results, needs and priorities as agreed with parents and teaching staff. Relevant intervention tasks are identified in three areas: Social Understanding and Social Interpretation, Pragmatics and Language Processing (high‐level comprehension and expression). Therapeutic methods include modelling, role play, sabotage and sabotaged role play. Participants are followed up at the end of the intervention programme (at 10 or 20 weeks). CONDITION: Specialty: Children, Primary sub‐specialty: General Paediatrics; UKCRC code/ Disease: Other/ General symptoms and signs ; Mental and Behavioural Disorders ; Social communication disorder (SCD) PRIMARY OUTCOME: Goal attainment is measured using Goal Attainment Scaling to review individualised functional goals set at baseline, post‐intervention (10 or 20 weeks) SECONDARY OUTCOME: 1. Parent/carer reported pragmatic ability is measured using the Children's Communication Checklist ‐2 (CCC‐2) at baseline and post‐intervention (10 or 20 weeks); 2. Social language interpretation and peer verbal interactions are measured using the Social Language Development Test ‐ Elementary at baseline and post‐intervention (10 or 20 weeks); 3. Conversational ability is measured using Targeted Observation of Pragmatics in Children’s’ Conversation (TOPICC) at baseline and post‐intervention (10 or 20 weeks); 4. Parent’s perception of changes in language skills, social interaction, social skills and peer interactions is measured using the Parent Functional Communication Checklist (PFCQ) at baseline and post‐intervention (10 or 20 weeks); 5. Functional narrative skills are measured using a dynamic Narrative Measure at baseline and post‐intervention (10 or 20 weeks); 6. Children’s perceptions of their own communication skills and of SCIP intervention are measured using Child Perception Measures post‐intervention (10 or 20 weeks) INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. Age 6 ‐10 years 2. Parents/carers able to participate in intervention 3. Social communication problems as observed by the SLT ‐ a minimum of two out of five behaviours from a brief social communication screening checklist 4. Non‐verbal reasoning within normal limits (Percentile rank = 5) as measured on the Ravens Coloured Progressive Matrices 5. Score in the communication impaired range (<58) on the Children’s Communication Checklist ‐2 General Communication Composite (CCC) and in the SCD range on the CCC‐ 2 Social Interaction Deviance Composite