Semantic Skills – Meaning of Language Bundle for age 11+

This pack offers a structured and visual approach to aid children's understanding of how and why people use sarcasm, and to recognising sarcasm both through context and intonation.  The pack will help to demonstrate that sarcasm may be signalled by intonation alone, but also by the context in which the utterance is made - an example is when someone says 'Lovely day' when in fact it is pouring with rain!

Full of Helen Rippon's engaging illustrations, this resource will be useful to practitioners working on social communication skills with pupils who have Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Suitable for use with children aged 7 years+

For more information see below.

This pack give teachers and speech therapists/pathologists suggestions for varied and entertaining activities to promote speaking and listening in four key areas of oral language; asking questions, active listening, building vocabulary and using language for thinking. These can be used as whole class activities to meet curriculum targets, or to address individual therapy targets.

Suitable for use with a wide age and ability range from KS1-KS3 (6- 14 years)

For more information see below.

The transition to secondary school can be a daunting time for any child, particularly children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or a learning disability. Talking About Secondary School is a resource designed to help ease the transition between Primary and Secondary School.

This resource  gives children the opportunity to discuss common situations and challenges  that may arise in Secondary School, thus, helping them to cope with the extra social demands and complicated routines. Successful management of these situations is dependent on the young person’s social skills, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal problem-solving capacity, as well as the response of others and the context of the event. This pack aims to teach children specific strategies to manage these situations, as well as preparing them for the changes that they will face when starting secondary school.

For more information see below.

Every day, children and young people are required to handle a wide range of challenging social situations. Successful management of these is dependent on the child’s social skills and interpersonal problem-solving capacity, as well as the responses of others and the particular social context.

Talking About Community is a resource aimed at children and young people aged thirteen and above. It is designed to aid those young people in developing their social skills in the community. Good social skills enable us to function in diverse situations in terms of making good choices, knowing what to say, and knowing how to behave. This is the case not only in their educational setting, but also in their wider social community.

For more information see below.

To be an effective learners, young people need to develop self-worth and confidence in their abilities, take responsibility for their own learning and performance, demonstrate persistence and resilience in the face of setbacks and manage feelings of anger and frustration. Emotional literacy can be thought of as a set of skills that help learners be successful in school, in work and in relationships.

Talking About Social and Emotional Skills (part of our popular Talking About series) aims to support young people in the development of their social and emotional skills and is aimed at children between the ages of eleven and thirteen.

For more information see below.

Every day, children and young people are expected to respond to a wide variety of social situations that occur in their daily lives. This entertaining pack of role-play scenarios helps to prepare them for these situations where they may struggle with social responses - to respond with appropriate understanding, empathy or listening skills.

This practical resource uses illustrated role-play activities to promote appropriate responses to common social enquires. Appropriate responses to such situations demonstrate a knowledge of ‘social code’ as well as listening and empathy skills. This pack works at an advanced level. Basic and intermediate level resources are also available.

The activities are suitable for teenagers (UK Key Stage 3/4; 11-16 years) whose pragmatic skills are delayed.

For more information see below.