Why intervene?

There are several reasons why it is crucial to intervene, and to intervene early:

  • Language is the foundation of education and the medium of educational instruction
  • Literacy builds on oral language – print is written language
  • Numeracy draws on language skills.  Arithmetic  depends on  verbal  processes and children need to understand the verbal problems they have to solve
  • Language is vital for social and emotional development. Children need to be able to communicate to make friends, to join in activities and to express their feelings
  • Language – inner speech –  is important for self-regulation and behaviour control
  • 7–10% of children have language difficulties at the time of school entry; this is a critical stage for learning to read
  • There are two kinds of poor reader: children with poor decoding (often called dyslexia) and children with difficulties in reading comprehension (poor comprehenders). Both groups, and especially those who have problems reading for meaning, have language difficulties
  • Without good oral language, a child will not be able to read for academic purposes
  • Children with poor oral language are at high risk of educational failure
  • Evidence-based interventions can be used to promote language and comprehension skills
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