1st Edition

Supporting Children’s Speech, Language and Communication Needs

Edited By Susan McCool Copyright 2026
324 Pages 33 B/W Illustrations
by Speechmark

324 Pages 33 B/W Illustrations
by Speechmark

This book is the definitive text on understanding and supporting children’s speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Written by experts, it presents evidence-based approaches in a highly accessible format. Wide-ranging in scope, Supporting Children's Speech, Language and Communication Needs

  • covers best practice for many groups of children, including those with speech sound disorders, Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and neurodevelopmental differences
  • discusses specialist populations, including acquired brain injury and cleft lip and palate, as well as childhood onset eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties
  • features chapters on inclusive communication environments, Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC), communication partners, the whole systems approach and evidencing impact, exploring cross-cutting themes.

Case studies are included throughout to bring learning to life, and recommended online sources of further information are included. Comprehensive, authoritative and up to date, this book will prove indispensable for students and practitioners in speech and language therapy.

List of contributors

Introduction

Susan McCool

 

Part 1: Understanding and supporting children’s speech, language and communication needs

 

Chapter 1: Understanding and supporting children’s speech, language and communication

Susan McCool

 

Chapter 2: A ‘whole systems’ approach to meeting speech, language and communication needs

Marie Gascoigne

 

Chapter 3: Inclusive communication

Kim Hartley Kean

 

Chapter 4: Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

Janice Murray

 

Chapter 5: Communication partners

Hayley Moroke

 

Chapter 6: So what? And Prove It! Evidencing impact

Marie Gascoigne

 

Part 2: Speech

 

Chapter 7: Speech Sound Disorders (SSDs)

Joanne Cleland and Helen Stringer

 

Chapter 8: Voice

Wendy Cohen

 

Part 3: Language

 

Chapter 9: Promoting early language development

Sheena Reilly and Cristina McKean

 

Chapter 10: Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)

Courtenay Norbury and Susan Ebbels

 

Part 4: Communication

 

Chapter 11: Severe and profound learning disabilities (a school-based approach)

Rachel Sawford and Ann Miles

 

Chapter 12: Stammering

Ben Bolton-Grant

 

Chapter 13: Neurodivergent children: a neuro-affirming lens on autism, ADHD and beyond

Lynne Bremner and Marion Rutherford

 

Chapter 14: Social, emotional and mental health needs: trauma-informed and anxiety-aware care?

Susan McCool

 

Part 5: Selected populations with specialist needs

 

Chapter 15: Deaf children

Sarah Beazley and Judy Halden

 

Chapter 16: Cleft lip and palate

Stephanie van Eeden and Julie Davies

 

Chapter 17: Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)

Katherine Buckeridge, Helen Cullimore, Lucy Cuthbertson and Rhiannon Halfpenny

 

Chapter 18: Childhood onset eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties

Diane Sellers, Ailish Harrison, Sally Morgan and Mari Viviers

Biography

Susan McCool is a Principal Teaching Fellow in speech and language therapy at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. She is the author of Working with Child and Adolescent Mental Health: The Central Role of Language and Communication.

“I’m so glad this book has been written. In a profession where the knowledge and curriculum develop so rapidly, it is quite remarkable to have a reliable source of such contemporary information. The authors provide holistic understanding of everyone supporting a child with SLCN, ultimately resulting in highly informed readers, readily able to enable the best outcomes for children and families. Doing so within evidence and impact-based frameworks ensures strong foundations and secure progression for research, service provision and especially, individuals”. - Shona Corker, Programme Lead, MSc Speech and Language Therapy, York St John University, UK

"Supporting Children’s Speech, Language and Communication Needs” is impressively succinct in covering a breadth of complex topics and sharing this detail in a way which is easy to understand and absorb.   It will be a very reassuring aid to developing Speech and Language Therapists as well as those who have been in practice for even longer.”AnneMarie MacRae, Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist

"An essential read for those new to speech and language therapy, Supporting Children's Speech, Language and Communication Needs provides a valuable and comprehensive overview of best practice and current thinking in the field. This textbook provides both guidance and inspiration taken from a range of experienced professionals." - Annie Jones, NHS Speech and Language Therapist

"Children don't exist in a vacuum, as some academic texts might imply. This book consistently encourages the reader to look at the child in the context of their family, friends and wider system. The consistent structure of the book, with visual supports, makes it easy to find what you need in the text. I wish this book had existed when I was starting out as an NQP!" - Gillian Davidson, Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, working in the NHS and in independent practice.

"Supporting Children’s Speech, Language and Communication Needs is an excellent resource for speech and language therapy students and NQPs alike, given its detailed and informative discussions regarding best practice for a range of needs found in the paediatric specialty of speech therapy." - Chloe Mercer, SLT Student Manchester Metropolitan University