1/20 Here's a thread with recommendations for any #slpeeps thinking of doing introductory SLCN training for Youth Offending Services. Specific elements will depend on the commissioning YOS. I'm mostly passing on what I've learned from others! Let me know what you think

2/20 Case Managers/Officers are highly skilled and usually strong at building relationships. Ask them to share what they are already doing to support communication individually and in the service. Point out that communication = engagement. Engagement = interventions that stick

3/20 If the focus is on identification, find out what screen they use as a service i.e. AssetPlus, CHAT? Get a copy of the SLCN part & discuss how you'd judge each area. Find out whether all Case Managers do their own screen, or is it one person in the YOS who does them all?

4/20 Even highly skilled professionals will have misconceptions/myths about SLCN. "He talks a lot so he's fine", "He said he understood", "He's intelligent so he doesn't need to see you." Try to anticipate some of these myths and then bust 'em up (the myths that is)

5/20 Speaking of SLCN...people generally don't know what that means Define it from the get-go and generally avoid/explain acronyms. I map the term SLCN to Bloom & Lahey's Form, Content, Use model. Define 'receptive' and 'expressive' too.

6/20 Cover Developmental Language Disorder! This is a biggie. Tell them there's some emerging evidence that links language disorders with reoffending. Show videos from the @RADLDcam website for the YP perspective. Use visuals to show how SLCN applies to different SpLDs/ diagnoses

7/20 We have lots of shocking stats about prevalence and consequences of SLCN in Youth Justice (and beyond). Try to present them in an interesting way. A quiz format is quite useful & engaging! We usually experience staff underestimating both prevalence and impact.

8/20 Many people working in YJ have chosen to do so as they have 'lived experience.' Present the facts about risk factors for SLCN but be mindful & sensitive when doing so & talking about the local area. Avoid Us & Them thinking/language. Check your privilege. Don't be a D-word.

9/20 YP presenting with SLCN is the 'norm' in YJ. Briefly highlight the expected norms in the 10 - 18 age bracket. Drive home the higher 'communicative demand' in the YJ system (interview, Court etc) means even a small degree of SLCN can have huge functional impact

10/20 Promote @RCSLT The Box! Use and credit key bits of it, particularly ID & YP journeys through the YJ system. This makes it 'real' and encourages YOS staff to think about their own cases. Flagging all the great content encourages them to go away and explore in their own time

11/20 Empower staff to feel like champions - often being the last safety net YPs have before becoming adults. Simply massive degree of undiagnosed need/no previous contact with SALT. They could change a life. Use Compounding Risk Model by Karen Bryan to illustrate impact of this.

12/20 Explain how SLCN ties in with emotional regulation – needing vocab to express how you feel, reflect and have an inner monologue to help you manage impulses etc. If you’re covering strategies then introduce Zones of Regulation - link with Window of Tolerance re: trauma

13/20 Include an activity that replicates the experience of having an SLCN (lots of ideas online) for the audience. Invite them to reflect on how they felt - disengaged? Stressed? Annoyed? Upset? Think about how professionals label those feelings when YP demonstrate them

14/20 "See behaviour, think communication." Exclusions, Zero Tolerance, labelled 'naughty' oh my! A great outcome is not just for YOS staff to use comm strategies to reduce anxiety in-house, but to advocate for YPs to get access to correct support in schools & support families

15/20 Touch on mental health needs/crises and that they're not mutually exclusive to SLCN. Staff using universal/targeted communication strategies for those suffering the affects of poor mental health can reduce distress & promote retention of strategies

16/20 Give some key strategies: VISUALS (esp @TalkingMats, Plain English/easy-read docs, comic strip conversations etc), checking understanding, short and simple sentences, repetition, allowing processing time. Get team to decide which to focus on 1st & hold each other to account

17/20 If you have time, run some activities. One activity: map the communicative demand on a YP as they come into the YOS for an app - incl remembering date and time, greeting receptionist, discussing the offence, seeing other YP in reception, saying goodbye etc.

18/20: Another activity - ask them to think of an interaction they've had recently and how they could have used a strategy to make it easier to get the outcomes they wanted. Create a draft resource e.g. prepare the pictures you might need for a Talking Mat around cannabis use

19/20 Outcomes! Quantitative and qualitative measures to show the impact you've had on the skills and confidence of the team. Then use them ask for more commissioning

20/20 That's it! Would love to hear other people's ideas and feedback. Oh also, make sure you include time to break the ice and have a bit of a laugh. YOS staff have tough jobs so building trust & the relationship is important