Why did we write Language for Behaviour and Emotions? Children and young people’s language development is important for their emotional development, behaviour and mental health. We often see problems starting between children and young people because of verbal misunderstandings and problems with managing their emotions. These can then escalate because they can’t negotiate or repair […]
Author Archive | Melanie Cross
‘Change is the only constant in life’ (Heraclitus) – so we’re going with it!
There are many things to regret and be worried about now. Many of us are reeling from the rapid changes in our lives, the implications for us, our families and our work. I also feel fairly useless, I want to get out and help, but I know the best thing is to stay in. It […]
How can we collaborate to develop services for children and young people who have SEMH & SLCN?
An issue we continually revisit, both at Course Beetle courses and at the Social Emotional Mental Health (SEMH) Clinical Excellence Network (SEMH CEN) is how can speech and language therapists (SLTs) collaborate with others to develop services for children and young people who have SEMH & Speech Language and Communication Needs? This is an issue […]
Can Speech and Language Therapy be Attachment and Trauma friendly?
I have been trying to understand the impact of negative early experiences on children who experience social emotional and mental health needs (SEMH), for many years. The difficulties they often have with emotion regulation, socialisation and learning are obvious. Their SLCN tends to be less recognised, of course. Over the years, I have encountered many […]
Is this Social Emotional and Mental Health needs, bad behaviour or a communication breakdown?
Children’s behaviour can be very puzzling; why would a boy prefer to hang upside down over the chair in silence than do an assessment, or play with Lego? Why did two eleven-year olds (who can use words) have a ‘conversation’ in screeches while taking turns to scribble on a chalk board? There are often a […]
