Children's speech and language therapy resources
By Dan Allard
Looking for reliable advice, information and tools for children's speech and language therapy? We've put together a list of websites offering online support and downloadable resources.
Chatterpack
Run by volunteers, Chatterpack is a special educational needs and disabilities hub which supports families, schools and health professionals (such as speech and language therapists and occupational therapists). Visitors to the website can sign up for the monthly newsletter, as well as downloading a range of free resources. This includes commenting and communication boards and a pack for developing school-related and everyday vocabulary.
Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
The speech and language therapists at Worcestershire NHS Trust have put together a suite of downloadable materials. It includes fun learning games for parents to play at home with their children, as well as resources to support transition between different environments (e.g. home and school) and between different activities (e.g. day planners).
Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
A range of downloadable resources are available from the Speech and Language Therapy Department at the Essex Partnership University NHS Trust. They include developmental norm charts, activities to encourage attention and listening, and fun learning activities and games for language development.
The Communication Trust
Founded by Afasic, BT, the Council for Disabled Children and I CAN, the Communication Trust is a coalition of over 50 not-for-profit organisations which supports everyone working with children and young people in England to develop their speech, language and communication. The Trust's website has a wealth of downloadable resources for both parents and practitioners, including teachers, SEND specialists and health professionals.
Listen to Us is a practical resource for people providing training support or professional development in speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). It's designed to be led interactively by professionals with strong expertise in the area, such as speech and language therapists, and specialist and advisory teachers.
iCommunicate
This Australian website (created by a British speech and language therapist) is aimed mainly at parents and teachers. It has lots of useful downloads with information and ideas to help with children's speech and language development.
BBC Tiny Happy People
Supported by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge and developed in association with leading experts in child language development, including speech and language therapists, Tiny Happy People aims to help parents develop their child's communication skills through simple activities and play ideas.
Sanctuary Health’s Careers Hub
Our careers hub is packed full of resources, blogs and templates designed to help you progress in your speech and language therapy career. Your Sanctuary consultant will also be able to offer further guidance and support.
Small Talk
Run by the National Literacy Trust and the Department for Education, Small Talk is a pilot project to help parents chat, play and read with their child at home. It's part of a wider National Literacy Trust initiative to improve the home learning environment for children up to the age of five.
Afasic
Founded in 1968, Afasic seeks to raise awareness and to create better services and provision for children and young people with speech and language impairments. Their website has a selection of free downloads, including a section for professionals which has lots of useful information for those working in speech and language therapy jobs. Many of the resources are also available in Welsh language versions.
We work hard to ensure our community have access to speech and language therapy tools. We have also written a series of blogs around navigating your speech and language therapy career.
