Communication

Local Services

Speech and Language Therapy

Speech and Language Therapy webpages

This service works with children with speech, language and communication or swallowing difficulties, from 0 to 16 years of age. The therapist’s role is to:

• identify children’s strengths and needs
• support the development of skills in each child through their carers and teachers
• enable the child to maximise their potential

On this page you can find information and videos about how to support young children’s speech, language and social communication.

Your child may have an allocated speech and language therapist who may work with you and your child through their nursery, school or in a clinic. Please contact them for specific advice about your child. Not all autistic children require support with their communication and therefore not everyone will need to access the Speech and Language Therapy service.

The Sheffield Children’s NHS speech and language therapy website contains information to support early communicators and communicating kids. You can also find videos with ideas to support communication at home. If you have an allocated therapist, you can ask them about accessing the interaction and communication webinars.

You can download a symbols for home kit to make schedules to explain what is happening now and next, explain daily routines, provide choices and support children to communicate their wishes. If your child has an allocated speech and language therapist, they will show you how to use this with your child.

You can watch a video on communication in autistic and neurodivergent young people made for the Autism in School project here.

You can also access information sheets on the Sheffield Children’s Resource Library. This includes advice about:

• Joint attention
• Intensive interaction
• Social stories
• Comic strip conversations
• Supporting communication in emotionally dysregulated children and young people
• Using emotion monitoring cards

Sheffield Small Talk

Small Talk webpage at sheffield.ac.uk

Run by The University of Sheffield, preschool-age children with any speech, language or communication need can attend to work with Speech and Language Therapy students, supervised by qualified Speech and Language Therapists in the university. 

National Organisations

National Autistic Society – a website with information on communication tips, communication tools and understanding and developing communication.