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Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson | TED

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Teaching Kids About Diversity & Inclusion + Our Favorite Diversity Books

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Books about Diversity and Inclusion for Early Years children

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Books about Diversity and Inclusion for Early Years children

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Best children’s books - Diverse & Inclusive Books for EYFS

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Discover our recommended booklist - Diverse & Inclusive Books for EYFS - with the best books and quality texts for primary ages and topics, reviewed and selected by experts.

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Books about Diversity and Inclusion for Years 1 and 2

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Books about Diversity and Inclusion for Years 1 and 2

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A list of recommended books for Diverse & Inclusive Books for KS1

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Discover our recommended booklist - Diverse & Inclusive Books for KS1 - with recommended books and quality texts for primary ages and topics.

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Books about Diversity and Inclusion for Years 3 and 4

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Books about Diversity and Inclusion for Years 3 and 4

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A list of recommended books for Diverse & Inclusive Books for Lower KS2

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Discover our recommended booklist - Diverse & Inclusive Books for Lower KS2 - with recommended books and quality texts for primary ages and topics.

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Books about Diversity and Inclusion for Years 5 and 6

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Books about Diversity and Inclusion for Years 5 and 6

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A list of recommended books for Diverse & Inclusive Books for Upper KS2

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Discover our recommended booklist - Diverse & Inclusive Books for Upper KS2 - with recommended books and quality texts for primary ages and topics.

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Welcome to

Children's Speech &
Language Therapy

Speech & Language Therapy (SLT) aims to support children and young people to reach their full potential with speech, language and communication.

Welcome

Speech & Language Therapy (SLT) aims to support children and young people to reach their full potential with speech, language and communication. We also support children with feeding and swallowing. We work with other key people involved in children's lives such as families, other health professionals, education and social care colleagues.

Families

In this section you will find:

information about the different areas of speech, language and communication

suggestions of how to help your child at home.

If your child is accessing our service please refer to their therapy plan which will identify areas of the website relevant to your child.

Professionals

In this section you will find:

Additional services that can be bought in including commissioned therapy time

How to access our training courses: universal, freely accessible training as well as more specific training that can be bought in to your service

Resources

Here you will find a range of videos our Speech and Language Therapy team demonstrating different therapy approaches and pictures you can use to support your child's speech sound development.

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Speech & Language Therapy (SLT) aims to support children and young people to reach their full potential with speech, language, communication, families, health professionals, education, social care

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The Dimensions of Health and Wellbeing is a free online tool providing self-care information to support adults, children and young people in Coventry and Warwickshire.

You can rate yourself or another person against a number of dimensions related to health and wellbeing.

The Dimensions tool is available 24/7 and creates a Dimensions report which provides information about self-care, local services and support.

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The Dimensions of Health and Wellbeing is a free online tool providing self-care information to support adults, children and young people in Coventry and Warwickshire. You can rate yourself or another person against a number of dimensions related to health and wellbeing.

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Dyslexia Awareness Part 1: Module 1 - About Dyslexia

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Book recommendation

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From a crazy idea to a Queen's Award

What if...

...I left my job as a safeguarding lead in the NHS, trained as a Makaton Tutor and set up a charity which combined my speech and language therapy training and creative skills to teach and raise awareness of inclusive communication. That was the thought stuck in my head while on maternity leave in 2016.

It was a daft idea, leaving the security of the NHS to work unpaid in a sector I knew nothing about. But the thought refused to go away; I had seen the lack of support for people with communication disabilities and the devastating impact that has on people's lives:

as a speech and language therapist working with adults with learning disabilities and autism

as a safeguarding lead working with vulnerable adults with dementia, aphasia or other communication needs

as a daughter and granddaughter when my Dad had a brain tumour and my Grandpa had a stroke

But was it sensible to leave a regular income and strike out into uncharted territory, especially with young children?

Of course it wasn't. But if breaking my neck and back six years earlier has taught me anything, it is that life is for living - and I knew that I would regret it if I didn't try.

Fast forward another six years, and Include.org is now a registered charity, based in Surrey, with a small staff team and over 50 volunteers working to provide community activities which promote Makaton signing and another inclusive communication skills. We raise awareness of communication needs in schools and businesses and provide training to help ensure that people with understanding and speaking difficulties get the support they need and deserve.

With the support of our volunteers, we run outdoor inclusive communication sessions, create easy read resources and devise training with our members. We now have not one, but two Include Choirs, which use Makaton signs, symbols, objects and more to make sure our members with communication needs are fully included and empowered.

Our volunteer team includes people with learning disabilities and autism who use or have used Makaton themselves - and without exception, we were all absolutely delighted to discover we'd been chosen to receive the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service this year.

The Queen's Award is described as the MBE for volunteer groups and, due to the sad death of Queen Elizabeth II, we are one of very last UK charities to receive it, making it even more special. We look forward to proving ourselves worthy of this honour and reaching even more people with Makaton and inclusive communication in 2023.

If you would like to support include.org in our mission, any donation made between 29th November and 6th December via The Big Give Challenge Website will be doubled! Needed more than words alone can say (thebiggive.org.uk)

For more information about Include.org please email info@include.org or visit www.include.org

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What if... ...I left my job as a safeguarding lead in the NHS, trained as a Makaton Tutor and set up a charity which combined my speech and language therapy training and creative skills to teach and raise awareness of inclusive communication. That was the thought stuck in my head while on maternity leave in 2016.

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Book recommendation

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Emotion Coaching scripts are an excellent way to discuss children's feelings when they are regulated.

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South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

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Discover stylish Loop earplugs: experience life at your volume. Loved by 2M+ customers for concerts, sleep, focus & more. Shop now!

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Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust

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Understanding Sensory Needs and their impact on Anxiety

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Disability in Sport ft. Ade Adepitan | Voice Box | Childline

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Climate activist Greta Thunberg on why being on the spectrum is her “superpower”

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By Amanda Morin

Some of the biggest names in movies, music, and sports are people who struggled in school with learning and thinking differences. Here are a number of the celebrities who found their passion and overcame their challenges.

Whoopi Goldberg (dyslexia)

Long ago, before Whoopi Goldberg was diagnosed with dyslexia and before she knew how common this learning difference is, kids in school called her "dumb." But her mother told her not to listen to them. Her mom told her she could be anything she wanted to be. Goldberg believed her and grew up to become a comedian and talk-show host - and one of only about a dozen people to have won a Grammy, an Academy Award, an Emmy, and a Tony Award. She says that thinking differently has been a factor in helping her succeed.

Daniel Radcliffe (dyspraxia)

As the star of the Harry Potter movies, actor Daniel Radcliffe can be seen zipping around on his broomstick and saving the day during Quidditch matches. In real life, he has dyspraxia, or developmental coordination disorder (DCD), which can make it difficult for him to tie his shoes. Handwriting also continues to be a challenge. He was 9 when his mother encouraged him to audition for a play. "I was having a hard time in school," he said. His mom thought acting would boost his confidence. She was right!

Steven Spielberg (dyslexia)

Legendary film director Steven Spielberg wasn't diagnosed with dyslexia until he was in his 60s. School administrators thought he was lazy. He was bullied by classmates, and his troubles in school played a part in his career. Not only did making movies give him a place to channel his energies, but feeling like an outsider helped him co-write The Goonies, a hit movie about a quirky group of friends who didn't quite fit in at school. He said finding out as an adult that he has dyslexia was like "the last puzzle piece to a great mystery that I've kept to myself."

Justin Timberlake is many things. He's a singer-songwriter, actor, and entrepreneur. He's also one of the many adults - and musicians - in the U.S. who have ADHD. Early in his career, Timberlake co-starred on Disney's All New Mickey Mouse Club with Ryan Gosling, who as a child was diagnosed with ADHD and was bullied before he became a Mouseketeer and movie star.

Cher is an Academy Award‒winning actress and Grammy-winning singer. But she struggled in school with undiagnosed learning differences. "I couldn't read quickly enough to get all my homework done and for me, math was like trying to understand Sanskrit," she wrote in her autobiography The First Time. "The only way I learned was by listening to the teachers in my classroom." She didn't find out about her dyslexia until years later when she took her child to get evaluated for learning and thinking differences.

Octavia Spencer (dyslexia)

Octavia Spencer has won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her acting. She's also a children's author who knows what a challenge reading can be for some kids. That's because Spencer has dyslexia. She vividly recalls how scared she was as a child when she had to read aloud in class. "I was paralyzed with fear because I kept inverting words and dropping words," she has said. However, she stresses that dyslexia shouldn't prevent kids from pursuing their dreams. "[It] doesn't really mean that you're not intelligent - it just means that your brain functions differently," she has said.

Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow has dyslexia. His father and brother do, too. Learning differences can run in families. He was diagnosed in elementary school and found ways to work around his reading difficulties. Tebow is one of many NFL players who have been open about their learning and thinking differences. "It has to do with finding out how you learn," he said. "I'm not somebody that opens a playbook and just turns and reads and reads. So I just made flashcards. I take each one, and then boom, when I'm traveling, I just flip through it. That really helped me. Writing it down, flipping through and quizzing myself, that was a great way for me to do it."

Henry Winkler (dyslexia and math issues)

Keira Knightley (dyslexia)

After Keira Knightley was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 6, she used her love of acting to help motivate her to read. Knightley struck a deal with her parents that if she worked on her reading every day, they would agree to hire her an agent. The Pirates of the Caribbean star made good on her half of the bargain, using movie scripts to practice reading. She went on to become one of Hollywood's highest-earning actresses.

Anderson Cooper (dyslexia)

CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper hasn't let dyslexia stand in the way of his success. He also won't allow his reading issues to stand in the way of his love for books and literature. His own book, Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival, was on the New York Times best-seller list.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has built an empire with his best-selling cookbooks, prime-time TV shows, restaurants, and cookware. He also has dyslexia and said he didn't finish reading his first book until he was 38. " I get bored easily," he said. But the sci-fi sequel to The Hunger Games managed to keep him engaged. "I read Catching Fire. I loved disappearing into a story."

Award-winning TV journalist Lisa Ling struggled in school from the time she was a child all the way through college. She eventually dropped out of college, went on to become a producer, special correspondent and, eventually, an investigative journalist with her own show. While reporting on ADHD, she discovered that her own struggles are because she, too, has ADHD. It was a relief and allowed her to look at herself in a new way. "In a strange way I do feel like it has helped me. I can hyperfocus on things that I am excited and passionate about," she has said.

About the author

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Celebrities With Dyslexia, ADHD, and Dyscalculia

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Some of the biggest names in movies, music, and sports are people who struggled in school with learning and thinking differences. Here are a number of the celebrities who found their passion and overcame their challenges. Whoopi Goldberg (dyslexia) Long ago, before Whoopi Goldberg was diagnosed with dyslexia and before she knew how common this learning difference is, kids in school called her "dumb."

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Dyslexia is a learning difference which primarily affects reading and writing skills.

However it does not only affect these skills. Dyslexia is all about how you process information.

Dyslexic people may have difficulty processing and remembering information they see and hear, which can affect learning.

And when we're almost all stuck at home studying, that can cause huge challenges if not managed in the right way.

"It must be quite overwhelming"

Mollie King is an ambassador for the British Dyslexia Association. She was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was in primary school.

"I was about 9 years old when I got the diagnosis," she says. "Suddenly everything made sense... I now understood why I found my reading so hard compared to my classmates.

"I found homework so hard because I learned through having a conversation and having a teacher talk to me about something."

When you're working at home on your own and not having conversations with friends and teachers that can make learning really tough. And if you have dyslexia, with virtual deadlines, it can be even tougher.

"It must be so overwhelming at points... If someone said to me you've got to read this quicker now all that's going to do is make me read more words in the wrong order... I'm best when I'm most relaxed and have time to process things."

And that's the key to getting a grasp of your dyslexia. Time to process.

Top tips for managing your dyslexia:

Setting the scene - make sure you're in a quiet place and minimise your distractions.

Take a brain break - take time out to help process information into bite size chunks... BUT don't watch TV!

Keep a learning journal - like a scrapbook it will help you keep track of what you've learnt.

Mollie and Donna from the British Dyslexia Association have shared their insights into how best you can handle your dyslexia in lockdown and help you form strategies that will have a positive effect on your learning, whether you are remote-learning or in the classroom.

Dyslexia can be your superpower

Mollie, who's a member of the girl group 'The Saturdays', and now a Radio 1 presenter, says her dyslexia has never held her back - and she's not met anyone who's dyslexic that hasn't had the "fire in their belly" to work hard.

Dyslexia is definitely not something to hold you back, and in some ways can actually be a superpower

She says being dyslexic has only meant she, like many others, have just had to work that bit harder.

Whilst recognising that learning in lockdown must be incredibly challenging if you have a learning difference like dyslexia, identifying and understanding how to manage it can actually make you better equipped to deal with difficult circumstances, like home learning.

And with that determination to succeed it can be your superpower.
How have you been handling your dyslexia in lockdown? Do you have any tips for what's worked for you? Let us know.

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Mollie King on dyslexia: In some ways it's your superpower - CBBC Newsround

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Dyslexia is a learning difference which primarily affects reading and writing skills. However it does not only affect these skills. Dyslexia is all about how you process information. Dyslexic people may have difficulty processing and remembering information they see and hear, which can affect learning.

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Famous Neurodivergent Celebrities: Inspiring Stories to Know

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If you require an interpreter for a meeting in school, please let us know and we can book one for you.

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Multilingual Language Assistants (MLAs) – Coventry City Council