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Afasic Cymru Voice for Life and Youth Justice Board
Training Day Metropole Hotel Llandrindod Wells on
Thursday 18.06.15 Report by Gabriella Simak
Introduction – Conference Opening:
Dusty Kennedy – Director of YJB Cymru Wales
Jeanette Carr – Director of Afasic Cymru
Reviewing policy in relation to speech and communication skill assessment in YOTs
and YOI is part of the sector prioritisation model in which the SLCN training was
offered to staff last year (2014), which then was positively received by those who
received such training. Then in late last year communication skills and abilities of
young people in YOTs and YOI became part of effective practice once the need to
help young people to better communicate within the service was established.
Effective practice policy was translated into practice development that was based on
recent research highlighting the prevalence of young people with speech language
and communication needs (SLCN) both in YOI and YOTs (see for example:
Evaluation of the Leeds Speech and Language Therapy Service Provision within the
Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme provided by the Leeds Youth
Offending Team NHS Leeds by Gregory and Bryan, 2009; The Bercow Report: A
Review of Services for Children and Young People (0-19) with Speech, Language
and Communication Needs 2008).
In order to address their communication needs, young people must be screened,
which then requires a standardised screening tool to identify/assess and break down
young people’s communication skills/needs. Asset was recognised as a screening
tool which failed to include a section on SLCN in its Core Profile. The RCLST (Royal
College of Speech and Language Therapists) advocated for a standardised
screening tool specifically designed to be used by Youth Justice Professionals in
settings such as YOI and YOTs. As a result, AssetPlus was adapted to its now
current version and includes a section on SLCN screening – Speech, language,
communication and neuro-disability screening tool. Although different approved and
standardised screening tools are now in use by practitioners to screen young people,
the goal of meeting the communication needs of young people are the same in
England and Wales. Still other practitioners use the Speech, Language and
Communication Screen, a tool designed by the RCSLT1 or the Blank Levels of
1 This is a general screening tool for SLCN in both adults and children

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Questioning2 to help young people engage with services. Subsequently, SLTs
developed the Speech and Language – Further Screening Tool as a direct result of
the pilot study in 2009 in the Leeds YOT. However it is important to recognise that
the tools to meet young people’s needs are devolved to the Welsh Government at
the strategic policy level.
Claire Moser – Policy Officer RCSLT (see PowerPoint titled: Embedding speech,
language and communication [SLCN] in AssetPlus)
The transition from Asset to AssetPlus has been ongoing from mid-2014 as
AssetPlus was released as an EPC (Early Practice Change) last year to selected
YOTs. It is a screening tool for use specifically within CJ settings for young people
11-18 and up to 21. AsstePlus will assume that young people will have some form of
SLCN until proven otherwise – such as: not understanding terms or phrases
frequently used in CJ settings (e.g. breach, contract) or have everyday language
issues. Those young people with one or more forms of SLCN will often nod but may
not understand what is happening to them.
Once released and fully in use, AssetPlus will be referred to in the PSR and
magistrates will have access to its results within the PSR.3 However, once SLCN is
flagged in the PSR, it is too late: young people have already been to court, been
through a trial. Often the parents themselves have SLCNs that may be undiagnosed
and untreated. Therefore, it is important to work with families of young people and
help parents support their children through the process.
It has been a 7 year campaign run by RCLST to raise awareness of the importance
of addressing the SLCN of young people in CJS. The goal of the campaign is to
raise awareness, but also to achieve all YOTs/YOI to have regular access to an SLT
on staff. Changes in the staff working with young people in YOI and YOTs and the
lack of SLCN screening included in Asset has made the campaign a long one. Due
to the fact that Asset failed to include an SLCN screening tool and by selectively
implementing SLT service in to the core service of certain YOTs meant that young
people working with YOTs with an SLT practitioner were assessed at minimum and
in some cases may also have received individual or group interventions by the SLTs.
However, in those YOTs where there was no seconded SLT on staff the young
people would not even be screened for SLCN at all. The RCSLT commissioned a
piece of research eliciting the views and opinions of SLTs and YOT/ YOI
practitioners, which resulted in (2 years later) the conceptualisation of the SLCN
2 This tool is to help simulate children’s language development and engagement and is not meant as a screening
tool: Blank, M., Rose, S.A., Berlin, L. J. The Language of Learning: The Preschool Years ISBN: 9780808910589
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fVmUQgAACAAJ 1978 Grune & Stratton
3 i.e. the same as for example the young person’s learning styles would be reported.

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screening tool – originally designed by SLTs working with children. There is no easy
answer, but working with parents, practitioners can support the whole family.
AssetPlus has been released (since 2014) as an EPC document and is in the
process of being formally rolled out to all YOI/YOTs by the end of 20164. It is
important to note that the SLCN screening tool in AssetPlus is just what it is meant to
be: a screening tool and if practitioners have doubts about a young person, they
should refer to an SLT who can then identify specific SLCN of the young person.
Practitioners in YOI/YOTs are encouraged to become familiar with AssetPlus and the
SLCN assessment tool; feel free to start using it and AssetPlus training will continue
for all staff as the rollout progresses. Unfortunately, some of the rollout plans for
AssetPlus were pushed back, but the updated AssetPlus rollout schedule is included
in the slides.
Also, The Box is a training programme provided by the RCSLT to help raising
awareness of SLCN and how to respond once SLCN is identified in a young person
or child. 5
To continue with the campaign of SLTs in every YOT/YOI, SLT managers are asked
to make a business case/argument to provide SLT service to all YOTs. They need to
make the business case to each authority individually and will need numbers from
each YOT to show business case to commissioners in individual local authority.
Dr Rachel Taylor, University of South Wales - SLC Research in Wales
As a result of 2 years of research a final report was published in February 2014 by
the Children’s Commission and the Communication Trust6 in which it was noted that
some practitioners are not aware of what is meant by SLCN. SLCN can be thought
of as an umbrella term which includes social communication and all communication
needs of the individual. For example, social communication is defined in relation to
nuances of language use in social interactions and falls within the umbrella term
SLCN7.
4 See PowerPoint Slide 15 for details of AssetPlus rollout.
5 See more here:
http://www.rcslt.org/speech_and_language_therapy/the_box_training_for_the_criminal_justice_sector/open
6 https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/policy-and-practice/send-reforms/support-around-joint-
commissioning-for-slcn/february-2014-conference/
See more at: Report from the Children’s Communication Coalition (2010) Engaging for their futures and our
society Improving the life chances of children with speech, language and communication needs. Available at
http://www.rcslt.org/about/campaigns/ccc_report_2010
7 The Bercow Report: A review of Services for Children and Young People 90-19) with Speech, Language and
Communication Needs (full report). Available at:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standar
d/publicationdetail/page1/dcsf-00632-2008 Reference: DCSF-00632-2008

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Young people with some form of SLCN are overrepresented in the youth justice
system. Those with SLCN will have difficulty engaging with services and SLCN will
prevent these young people from fully participating in interventions. Young people
presenting with SLCN are also at risk of bullying8 and are likely to develop ineffective
communication. It will also affect individuals’ employment prospects (both ineffective
verbal and written communication). 9
In terms of Restorative Justice (RJ) constructive and articulate speech is essential to
repair the harm caused by an offence. SLCN in young people will increase their
stress levels in RJ meetings which may lead to an unsuccessful RJ meeting.
By introducing the work of Communication Champions to the YOS may ease the
identification of SLCN in young people. 10
For some young people, SLCN and other needs are ‘very hidden’, their needs are
very complex and may have underlying difficulties/needs, such as hearing
impairment or impaired sight. Sometimes, a simple hearing test or eye test can help
young people’s SLCN.
Early identification of SLCN in young people is highlighted throughout the
presentations. Emphasis is on early diagnosis and will lead to early intervention. It is
‘the failure of the system’ that some young people are diagnosed with SLCN once
they have committed offences already.
Some of SLTs working in YOTs in England have had the chance to work with the
local police and were able to train police officers. However, SLT services as part of
the core service of YOTs are still at the early stages and SLTs in Wales have not all
had a chance to work with the police yet. It is a work in progress. In terms of RJ
efforts, diversion systems have been introduced in England where the police work
with YOTs closely to divert young people from being formally charged or going to
court – see Bureau Panel (also introduced in Wales). Most but not all police stations
divert young people at the first instance. In England, the YJB also introduced the
triage system in some YOTs where the young people are seen by an SLT at the
court and a quick assessment is done on the spot. Based on this assessment, the
SLT will write a report and recommendation of interventions if needed.
8 Geoff Lindsay , Julie E. Dockrell & Clare Mackie (2008) Vulnerability to bullying
in children with a history of specific speech and language difficulties, European Journal of Special
Needs Education, 23:1, 1-16, DOI: 10.1080/08856250701791203
9 Vaswani, Nina (2014) Speech, Language and Communication Difficulties, Centre for Youth and Criminal
Justice www.cycj.org.uk
10 More at: https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/projects/local-champions/

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The SLCN and neuro-disability screening tool11 in AssetPlus assesses neuro-
developmental disorders, developmental coordination disorder that may manifest as
behavioural difficulties. Because young people may present with complex needs,
specialist referrals may need to go in several directions in order to address all of
young people’s needs. AssetPlus is designed to assess as many of the possible
needs young people may present with as possible; needs assessment is more in-
depth with AssetPlus. However, it is important to remember that YOTs and YOI work
with a diverse client base with diverse needs and there needs to be a flexibility to
meet these diverse needs and to remember to allocate services to those who need it
without compromising service to others.
It is crucial to raise awareness early on in the CJS of SLCN before sentencing
occurs in order to provide with different interventions to enable young people to
engage. To help young people to communicate more effectively should be an easy
referral to mainstream external services. The issue then arises that sometimes
referrals to mainstream SLT services will take some time and by the time the young
person can be assessed by an SLT in mainstream services, they may have
completed their orders and the YOT will not monitor their attendance with SLT.
There is a danger of some young people with SLCN to fall through the cracks and go
on without the SLT support they need. Time is essential and SLT services should be
accessible in a timely manner for all young people without delay. Continuity of
service provision is also important, even after young people have completed their
orders and no longer work with YOTs or are released from YOI.
There is a particular concern of those young people who turn 18 while in custody.
This means they have to transition into adult corrections, including other services
(e.g. mental health services) provided within corrections and mainstream services.
As is often the case in YOI, many services are provided within the YOI framework
and are easily accessible to young people in custody. Many of these services will
then be commissioned externally, mainstream, and may not be readily available or
accessible to young people transitioning into adult corrections. For those young
people turning 18 while in custody and entering adult services, continuity of service
provision is important, especially when transitioning into adult custody. Example was
given: Cardiff Prison: specialist mental health services are provided to young people
entering the adult prison services to ease their transition.
11
Screening tool and Supporting Guidance available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assetplus-speech-language-communication-and-neuro-
disability-screening-tool

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The Workshops
Lowri Burgess – SLT covered Conwy-Denbighshire, and Gwynedd Mon YOTs
Amy Ballard – SLT covered Flintshire, Wrexham YOTs
Comment re- police training: by the time young people get to the YOT, police deal
with them, would have often interviewed them, may not recognise and flag
communication difficulties of some young people. In North Wales, both Lowri and
Amy have done some training with North Wales Police to raise awareness of SLCN
of young people, particularly new recruits and PCSOs. In some cases they have
trained magistrate and solicitors as well. More training is needed and it is a work in
progress to have all police officers and police staff trained. It is their priority to raise
awareness of SLCN and the training they provide focuses on awareness of different
types of SLCN and how to identify and recognise these communication difficulties in
young people.
Another comment from the audience: Communication difficulties of young people
can be conceptualised in two ways:
1. As a social developmental issue related to learning
2. As a pathological issue – medicalisation of SLCN
Attachment to family is important as described in social learning theories – therefore
it is important to approach SLCN of young people in a holistic way involving the
family and working with the wider environment and social circle of young people may
help with their communication difficulties.

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Activity: The Communication Chain (see attached) 12
12 Provided by Clare Booth – Administrator, Afasic Cymru www.afasiccymru.org.uk

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How to work with young people who have SLCN/D?
Vocabulary: Keep it Simple!
Anecdote: Young person had been working with an SLT as part of her work at the
YOT for some weeks. Young person with stammer was at supervision meeting with
YOT case officer. The officer voice recorded the session with this young person and
at the end played the recording back to her. When the young person heard herself
speak without stammer, she burst into tears. As the young person explained, she
had never heard herself speak without a stammer. Subsequently the parents heard
the recording as well and were surprised at their daughter’s progress. Before coming
to the YOT, the young person was thought to have been on the autistic spectrum,
which was not the case.
Some of the possible outcomes of living with undiagnosed SLCN:
 Isolation
 Poverty
 Mental health difficulties – depression
 Child sexual exploitation
 High risk behaviour
 Use of psychoactive substances (“legal highs”)
 Being labelled as ‘difficult’, ‘different’
 Closed worldview
 Vulnerable to abuse
Specialised (i.e. language
used in CJS, courts.
Conceptual - impossible to
convey precise meaning non-
verbally)
Abstract (i.e. responsibility,
whereabouts, supervision
More complex language -
difficult to convey non-verbally)
Basic (i.e. what where when
how. Can easily convey non-
verbally: draw or mime basic
vocabulary)

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Time is of the essence: A Service Gap
There are certain difficulties that arise from current practice. It is difficult to refer
young people to mainstream SLT for a number of reasons. SLTs in the mainstream
service often work with young school aged children and by the time a young person’s
SLCN is diagnosed at the YOT, they are much older than those children SLTs mainly
work with. Mainstream SLTs may not have the time in their practice to accommodate
these more mature young people in their schedules. There may be further barriers
for young people to access mainstream SLT services, such as access to resources.
There may not be enough time for mainstream SLTs to work with young people 1-2-
1 with the provision of specialist interventions that are age appropriate. Also, some
SLTs with seconded roles at the YOTs provide assessment and screening of young
people while lacking the time and resources to provide interventions – group therapy
or 1-2-1 support. Referral to mainstream SLT services can be challenging as well
because of the time lapse between assessment by SLT at YOT and referral to
mainstream SLT interventions when the young person is most likely to fall through
the cracks and never being seen by an SLT. Often parents lack a support network
and contacts to follow-up with recommendations of the YOT officer. Reports
prepared by the YOT and assessment results may be lost or not read – information
is lost. How can YOTs advocate for young people if no one else listens? Therefore,
effective information sharing between different services is crucial.
Other barriers to accessing SLT services for young people who work with YOTs can
be due to the fact that language demands may be higher at secondary education.
Language used in secondary education is not as structured and more complex than
it is in primary school, thus young people with undiagnosed and untreated SLCN are
more likely to struggle with coping and may not reach their full academic potential. It
is also less likely that SLCN will be picked up and diagnosed in young people in
secondary education because the structure of the environment helps children to
understand (i.e. breaking down and explaining concepts to easily understandable
chunks) at primary educational level, but much less so in secondary education. As a
result, young people with undiagnosed SLCN will have difficulty understanding
instructions given, which may lead them disrupting the class and displaying
behavioural problems, which again may lead to young people being labelled as
‘difficult’ or ‘kids with problem behaviour’. There is a knock on effect of this chain of

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events that will eventually become a cycle:
SLCN may lead to a cycle of difficulties: SLCN will affect the young person’s
performance in class, which if negatively impacted will lead to mental health
difficulties such as depression and anxiety (isolation). In turn anxiety and depression
will reduce capacity and performance will decrease even more, which will lead to
possible explosion of bad behaviour and truancy. At the end of the cycle the literacy
and educational options of the young person will be negatively impacted by SLCN.
With lowered literacy skills and educational attainment of the young person the
employability and life style options will also be affected and greatly limited in the long
term. This, of course, will then affect the choices of the individual and may lead to
criminal and offending behaviour.
Difficulty
performing
in class
Anxiety/depr
ession
Bullying/exp
loding
behaviour
Truancy/bad
behaviour
Disengage
from
education

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To stop the cycle and to make a positive impact on the life of a young person with
SLCN there are some easy steps that practitioners can make a big difference with:
Slow down the rate of speaking and the young person’s rate of speaking will also
slow down, especially if they are anxious and are rambling. Ask simple questions –
refrain from asking complex questions, as well as asking WHY? questions may lead
to misunderstandings.
The last point is particularly important because if practitioners ask: “Do you
understand?” the young person will be inclined to say “yes” because they just want
to be done with the process and leave. Young people with SLCN will not understand
facial expression and will not be attuned to, responding to body language. The same
goes for tone of voice. It is extremely isolating for young people with SLCN not being
able to follow a conversation because they don’t understand non-verbal cues. By the
time a young person with SLCN picks up on a non-verbal cue, the conversation has
moved on many times over – with time lapsed, it is difficult for them to catch up with
conversation. Young people will feel left behind and left out – peer pressure to keep
up with their peers. Due to this pressure, young people with SLCN will not be able to
communicate their opinions effectively, which will lead to loss of confidence at
expressing their opinions and may feel under pressure to keep up with their peers.
Thus, young people’s behaviour will be greatly influenced by their peers. As well,
often young people would like to have help but don’t know what it is they need help
with.
SLCN means that young people have difficulty understanding information, which
may also lead to them avoiding certain situations if the information is not processed
correctly, therefore, young people with SLCN may follow instructions poorly. This
may lead to them breaching their orders and being sent back to court.
Explain concepts with context: use pictures, charts,
models, narrative sequences
Break larger, more complex concepts down and use
smaller chunks. Use simple language!
Pause often and ask them to repeat what you have told
them at frequent intervals

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Young people with SLCN are unlikely to understand idioms, colloquialism and non-
literal meaning. They will take language very literally! When they are questioned by
police and understand lingo literally, they may come across to police officers as
‘cocky’, ‘arrogant’, ‘rude’. In an example it was explained that a particular young
person was thought to have Asperger’s, whereas he had severe communication
difficulties as it was revealed later on.
From the perspective of the parents and carers: it is a great relief for parents to know
exactly what the problem is – and SLCN diagnosis by an SLT will also include a
breakdown of the communication needs/difficulties, e.g. specific expressive difficulty.
How can young people deal with change in their lives? Take the time to understand
their questions. It is not only important that they understand what practitioners tell
them to do, but also important that practitioners take the time to explore young
people’s questions. This way, young people may be more likely to understand and
take advice from practitioners which will help them change their lives.
Overall: SLCN may lead to several other difficulties for the young person:
Offending behaviour
Limited life choices Labelled as 'offender'
School exclusion
Low literacy level Isolation
SLCN/SLCD
Low self-esteem Low confidence

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What we see in the young person is the behaviour problem, which is the symptom of
the underlying difficulties the young person faces – the tip of the iceberg. If the
underlying difficulties (e.g. SLCN) are addressed, the young person’s social life can
be completely changed. Children can become introverts and withdrawn from social
situations. But! It is often a range of different needs and difficulties that need help
and support – it is never only communication needs/difficulties alone. SLCN/D are
often coupled with other difficulties, such as mental health issues or chaotic family
backgrounds. All of these complex needs must be addressed and other external
services need to be involved to address and intervene in order to stop the knock of
effects of the underlying issues. SLCN can also affect the relationship that young
people form:
Practitioners in general can help support healthy relationships that young people
form, which will have a positive impact on their behaviour overall. For example,
Parent Support Officers have been appointed and schools can refer young people
who can then liaise with Afasic Cymru to support the young person with SLCN and
their whole family. Another example of the excellent holistic approach to support: a
Family Support worker has just been appointed in Gwynedd.
Other programmes that should consider training in SLCN awareness, such as the
consequential thinking, anger management programme, and substance misuse
programme.
SLCN
Social
situations/relationships
Unhealthy coping/bad
behaviour