Scheme to Promote Early Interactive Conversations (SPEIC)
Information for parents and carers
SPEIC is a programme to help children develop non-verbal communication skills. Over 70% of communication is done through tone of voice, expression and body language. In this way, using words for meaning only makes up a small percentage of communication.
We tend to focus on encouraging children to say words. SPEIC focuses on the aspects of communication that give meaning without words. Without these skills in place, children can have significant social communication difficulties in later life.
Most children learn these non-verbal skills almost automatically. They learn to:
- have good eye contact
- take turns
- share and look at objects together
through the early interactions with their parents and carers.
Children who benefit from SPEIC have not developed these non-verbal skills as well as others of their age. These children:
- may seem to be 'in their own world'
- may find it hard to attend to friends and family when they are being spoken to
- may not be concerned about the listener's response when they talk
SPEIC is a programme that encourages skills to address some of these difficulties.
The focus of the SPEIC programme
- Help children become aware of others near to them.
- Help children realise that others want to communicate with them.
- Encourage children to look at others in social situations.
- Encourage turn-taking.
- Encourage joint attention on an object or task.
- Help children take part in the 'give and take' of communication.
- Encourage children to take part in shared activities.
- Encourage children to make their needs known by approaching others.
- Help children realise that communication can have an effect and be enjoyable.
How the programme works
The SPEIC worker will work with children in their home on a weekly or fortnightly basis.
The initial session(s) will be to assess the child's level of communication skill. The SPEIC worker will also assess the activities and play that the child engages in readily and enjoys.
After each session the SPEIC worker will discuss the targets to be worked on with the parent and 'homework' may be set for the week. This helps the child to use the new skills in other situations. A little practice often also helps to consolidate the new skill.
SPEIC's focus is to encourage communication not based on words but on body language and social cooperation.
For this reason words are not used initially. The SPEIC worker will be focusing on encouraging communication skills apart from words.
- In the early part of the programme words can be distracting.
- By avoiding words to start with, the SPEIC worker and the child can focus solely on the non-verbal skill we are trying to encourage.
The SPEIC worker will use words later in the programme once the child is looking at the speaker, listening, responding and waiting for a reply.
Once these building blocks for communication are in place, words are introduced to add more meaning to the good communication already established.
How it is delivered
SPEIC is delivered using play activities. The SPEIC worker will spend some time assessing what play the child enjoys. SPEIC is not designed to teach play skills. We use the skills and interests the child already has to promote communication.
This means the toys we use and the activities we take part in are simple to start with and child-led.
- We want the child to feel comfortable with the task.
- The activity must be well within their ability.
- We are then able to use the activity to focus on the work at hand - encouraging communication.
After this assessment, the SPEIC worker will choose a range of activities that the child enjoys.
To start with, two sets of identical toys are used. This is because children can be sensitive to others in their space and sharing their play equipment.
The worker will copy the child to help the child learn that their action has a consequence. It teaches the child:
- that someone is watching and responding to what they do.
- that children don't live in isolation and those around them want to relate to them.
Once the child understands the adult is interested in them and is responding to them, the play moves on.
The adult and child will start to take turns in the activity.
- This encourages the child to realise communication is two-way.
- This helps children learn that communication involves initiating, waiting and then responding.
These are key skills in any dialogue.
The programme progresses to the point where the child starts the play. At this point there is better awareness of another person in the communication. Eye contact and responsiveness to the other is improving.
The next stage is to use one set of toys that will encourage greater levels of sharing and cooperation.
- Simple words reflecting the actions are used now ('block in', 'block out', 'Jane's turn', Sam's turn').
- The words start to enhance the quality of the interaction (extending expressive language skills is not the focus of this programme. The language used is simple at this stage).
Later stages of work include the child establishing the 'rules' for the activities and eventually negotiating over these rules.
In this way, the aim of SPEIC is different to other speech and language programmes that promote speaking. Its focus is to promote all the skills that add meaning to communication, apart from the words.
As these skills are critical to get meaning across accurately, programmes like SPEIC form a vital support to children who have delays in this area.
By working closely with parents and carers the impact of this programme can be dramatic, laying down the critical building blocks for future social communication.
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