Stammering need not be a barrier to achievement. In the first of a series of articles, BSA's education officer Cherry Hughes looks at monitoring with teachers your child's performance against their ability levels, and at 'School Action'.

Parents inevitably worry that their child's stammer will adversely affect their educational achievement. This need not happen, provided that the child's speech is supported by teachers who use the simple strategies recommended by the BSA (see the CD ROMs for teachers), and who monitor each pupil's academic performance against their abilities. However, to ensure that this support is happening parents do need to monitor their child's progress at school and to be prepared to discuss this with teachers.

On the whole, children who stammer are not likely to have other difficulties that are barriers to achievement, unless the stammer is part of more complex needs. As a group, they have the same profile range of ability and personality traits as the non-stammering population of their age group. In fact, there is a suggestion that children who stammer may tend to be more sensitive than is the norm, and that as a group they may be more able than is the norm.

Whether this is the case or not, we do not know, but it does reinforce my point that it is very important for your child to develop the language skills that will allow the full achievement of potential. This means the development of a rich language environment in the school and the home, by which the child can be stimulated to learn to express the full range of experiences and emotions to the maximum level of potential. The development of a wide vocabulary through learning and a good reading programme will enhance your child's language skills, build confidence and may in fact reduce the effects of the stammering.

I will say more about creating a rich language environment in a future article. Here though, I want to focus on the question of whether the child is meeting his or her potential, and the possibility of formalising support through 'School Action' or 'School Action Plus'.

Measuring potential

This term 'potential' is a bit off-putting, but it simply means what your child has the capacity to achieve, if the opportunity is presented. Schools nowadays do actually measure potential, and the best of them actually use test scores to monitor progress. In practice it boils down usually to cognitive abilities tests (CAT), taken at different stages of school life. These give scores for potential in verbal, quantitative and non-verbal skills. A score of 100 is average and your child's score is a good pointer to where he ought to be placed in the performance level for that subject. There is no reason why the school should not explain these scores to you if you ask. If you find that your child has a high CAT score in an area where he is not performing at that level, then questions should be asked and an effort made to improve that performance.

It is too easy, in my experience, for children who stammer to be allowed to avoid stretching themselves intellectually. Teachers may feel so concerned about the effects of the speech difficulty that they can be reluctant to make appropriate academic demands on the child. While I am not advocating pressurising your child to achieve, I am suggesting that parents do ask to see their child's academic profile of potential and then discuss with the teacher how to balance appropriate academic demands with sensitivity to the child's speech needs. As with medical records, parents have the right to see educational records with the exception of matters relating to child protection.

School Action

One way of providing you with the opportunity to have regular informative talks with the teacher(s) is to consider whether the question of placing your child on 'School Action' or 'School Action Plus' would be helpful. This is an opportunity provided by the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice to have your child's support in school formalised, and it is a helpful lever sometimes to request resources such as some specific staff time.

Some education authorities do advise their schools to do this automatically when an outside agency is involved, such as a therapist; others leave the decision to the school in liaison with the parent. If you would like more information about the SEN Code of Practice before visiting the school then do contact your local branch of Parent's Partnership. This is the agency in every education authority designated to give impartial advice on any aspect of special educational needs. You can find your local contact at www.parentpartnership.org.uk

If you decide that you want to discuss this further then you should contact the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (Senco) at the school, so that you can express your concerns and find out what the position is for your child. If your child is moved onto 'School Action', then you should have a meeting at least once a term to discuss progress, and there may be an individual education plan (IEP) developed. This IEP will include targets that you can support at home, and discuss when you next meet with the Senco. It might also set out, for example, ways to help the child participate in oral work in class, taking account of the stammer. If the school advises, after discussion, that placing your child on School Action would not be helpful at this stage then you have the option of returning to the issue later. Individual needs of children do change and what might be helpful at one stage of development may not need to be continued, and the intention of the SEN Code of Practice is to allow for flexibility.

Remember that stammering need not be a barrier to achievement. Children who are performing at, or above, their potential are more likely to develop the self confidence that will allow them to make choices that reflect their abilities and interests.

In a future article I will consider the importance of a rich language environment for the child who stammers and how to provide it.

If you have any enquiries relating to school issues for your child, please do contact Cherry on 01606 77374 or email her on ch@stammering.org

This is a fuller version of an article in the Spring 2008 issue of 'Speaking Out', page 9