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Resources for children and young people with developmental language disorder and speech, language and communication needs.
Celebrating over 31 years producing resources for children and young people.
Loved by customers worldwide. 35 countries and counting...
188 resources in our current catalogue and more to come each term.
Resources downloaded by our customers from our website and counting ...
For 31 years, our small publishing company has provided cost-effective, attractive resources, devised by experts and loved by children.
While our location has changed over time, we remain a rural company. Located in the Shropshire hills, our office, otherwise known as the Sheep Shed, is surrounded by friendly black Jacob sheep. If you listen carefully enough you can sometimes hear them on a call.
We partner UK and international experts to develop innovative material responsive to the needs of children and young people
Misha is an experienced, practising Speech and Language Therapist, working in a private practice in North West London. She delivers therapy to children in many settings, including pre-school, primary school, special school, moderate learning disability and secondary school settings. Misha’s passion lies in working with pre-school/primary school age children, and her particular area of expertise is in the assessment of, and intervention for, speech sound difficulties. Her aim is to make speech sound therapy intervention fun and easy to understand for her clients and their parents/carers. Working with a range of children in a variety of settings, Misha has seen the importance of targeting early speech sound disorders/delays in children clearly demonstrated. Merging her experience as a speech and language therapist with her talent for drawing and creativity, the idea for the Black Sheep Press resource: ‘A Journey Through Speech Sounds’ was born! Misha has used this approach with great success in her own practice. Children love the colourful, attractive pictures and both parents and teaching professionals have found it a fun way to help teach how to produce and use the sounds.
Suze has worked for many years as a speech pathology clinician with children. Her work focuses on understanding risk factors, developing and evaluating interventions, and developing programmes to support and promote child mental health with a focus on Developmental Language Disorder. She is Associate Professor in Speech Pathology at Curtin University and Director of Graduate Research. She led her profession as National Chair of the Ethics Board of Speech Pathology Australia from 2010-2019 and is a Life Member of Speech Pathology Australia. Language and Literacy in Young People is internationally recognised as one of the leading programmes of paediatric research in the areas of language, literacy and mental health, with impact on both research and on clinical practice. Black Sheep Press is proud to include Suze’s Peter and the Cat Narrative Assessment within our catalogue.
Helen Rippon has been the main author and illustrator since we began providing worksheets in 1992. She prides herself on producing practical, easy-to-use resources suitable for SLTs, other professionals, support workers and families. Helen’s career has spanned over forty years as a paediatric speech and language therapist both within the NHS and, latterly, as an independent practitioner within two local schools. Her speciality (supporting children with severe and complex communication disorders in mainstream school) has given her a wide experience of working alongside teaching staff and an in-depth understanding of the demands of teaching children with these difficulties. We are delighted that Helen is now using all of this experience to add to our ever-expanding product range. She is a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
Emily is a speech language pathologist who works at a specialist school for young children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Emily supports children with developmental language disorder, parents, and teachers in mainstream schools. Emily is part of the Team at Language and Literacy in Young People - a thriving group of researchers and HDR students, based at Curtin University in Western Australia. Emily's research background includes working memory in poor readers and oral inferential comprehension in young children with developmental language disorder. In 2022 she co-authored a clinical report which presents a reference data set for our Peter and the Cat Narrative Comprehension Assessment (NCA), for typically developing 5 to 7 year old children and those with Developmental Language Disorder.
Caroline is a semi-retired speech-language pathologist (SLP). Her interests include evidence-based practice; child speech development and disorders; developmental language disorder; the science of reading and spelling; the role of families in SLP/SLT intervention; applications of information and communication technology in professional practice; research translation; and the impacts of science, pseudoscience, and fads on clinical and education practice. Caroline is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Health Sciences (SLP) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa; and an Adjunct Fellow, the Graduate School of Health, University of Technology (UTS), Sydney. She was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2018 for services to Speech Pathology.
Catherine Redmayne practised as a Speech and Language Therapist with preschool and primary age children for many years. She became very interested in the work of Dr. Marion Blank and the experimental version of the PLAI based on that work (Preschool Language Assessment Instrument by Blank, Rose & Berlin), and later published versions of the test. Using the PLAI highlighted the fact that many children with delayed or impaired language skills did not select relevant picture and language details that would help them to ‘know’ things. And they did not move from responding to very simple questions to coping with more complex ones. The idea for Mr Goodguess was born, and the extra back-up activities provided in the resource bring in ways to practise early language skills and/or pinpoint areas where more help is needed. Catherine has her own language blog and resources which give lots of ideas www.languageisheartosay.com.
Bec Shanks is a Senior Specialist Speech and Language Therapist with more than 25 years experience. She lives in North Wales with her family by the sea. She has worked collaboratively with education and CAMHS services in England and Wales for most of her career, developing speech and language therapy services for children and young people within primary and secondary mainstream settings. Bec is passionate about how services can work better together to support neurodiverse children and young people with language and communication needs, in education. Bec currently works as a speech and language therapist in Conwy and Denbighshire Neurodevelopment Team. Her experience of working with children with language and communication needs has resulted in the publication of her best selling narrative resources with Black Sheep Press.
Angie Wootten has been a practising teacher of the deaf for nearly thirty years. Working as a visiting teacher in a mainstream environment, she has seen the need for both deaf and hearing children to develop strong pragmatic skills in order to build successful relationships, and to enter smoothly into the workplace. To this end, Angie works with individuals and groups of deaf and hearing children on social interaction skills. She is a passionate advocate of role play and co-authored the handbook for teachers Using Drama to Teach Personal, Social and Emotional Skills (O’Hanlon and Wootten, 2007). Her MPhil was in oral communication skills. She also works on the University of Birmingham course leading to the mandatory qualification required to teach deaf children. She is the author of three popular Black Sheep Press resources - Social Responses (available at both basic, intermediate and advanced level).
Eilidh is a Specialist SLT supporting children with specific speech and language difficulties in mainstream education. She has worked in NHS Dumfries and Galloway since graduating in 1997. Both her clinical work and her research focus on supporting children with speech, language and communication needs in mainstream settings. Eilidh's M.Ed. was in Speech and Language Difficulties at the University of Birmingham. She has also played an active role in the Specific Language Impairment (Developmental Language Disorder) Scotland SIG, including as Chairperson. Eilidh's work involves community clinics and school based therapy for children with a variety of communication needs. Eilidh is the author of our popular resource "Informal assessment of social language and communication skills for children in primary school". The assessment pack was developed by Eilidh and the paediatric Speech and Language Therapy team in NHS Dumfries and Galloway.
Dr Liz Dean is a speech and language therapist who has 30 years experience working within the NHS and charitable sectors as well as in the education of speech and language therapy students. Liz leads the Independent SLT Practice ‘Langlearn’ which provides specialist SLT services for clients with complex disabilities across the North West of England. She specializes in the communication difficulties that arise as a result of learning disability and complex disability; as well as in developmental speech and language disorders, and acquired communication disorders following stroke or head injury. Liz is particularly committed to working in collaboration with families, teachers and support staff to provide an integrated approach to maximizing communication skills. Liz co-authored the popular Black Sheep Press resource "Independence Through Communication - A pack of activities and ideas for young people with moderate and complex disabilities" .
Dr Anne Hewitt was a Senior Lecturer in Speech and Language Therapy at Manchester Metropolitan University and a Specialist Paediatric Speech and Language Therapist in Sefton until her recent retirement. She has 34 years of clinical experience working with children with a wide range of communication impairments. She recognised the need for the High Level Language Comprehension Test (HILLT) in her clinical practice and devised it as part of her PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University. She was awarded her PhD in March 2017. HILLT is a standardised assessment of verbal understanding for 5 to 11-year-old children. It assesses the comprehension of a wide range of inferences (including social inferences) and non-literal language (including idioms). Test results are a useful tool to contribute towards differential diagnosis of different types of communication impairment. The test will also highlight specific areas of high level comprehension to target for intervention.
Dr Sarah Patten graduated from Birmingham Polytechnic, beginning work as an SLT in North Wales, specialising in the school-aged population. Ten years later Sarah transferred her specialism to children with a hearing loss. Working in the only school for the deaf in North Wales, she provided services to families in their home environments. It was within this role that her interest in appropriate assessment protocols for the D/deaf paediatric population grew. Sarah worked as a lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University for 10 years, including student clinical co-ordination, supporting student research and a weekly clinic in schools with resource bases for children with a hearing loss. Upon completing her PhD, Sarah moved to Kean University, USA, where she currently co-ordinates the speech-language pathology doctoral programme and supports student research. The investigation of the use of Speech Perception Assessments and the trials to support the validity and reliability of WITSPA were the core components of her PhD.
The Black Sheep Press Bilingual Assessment (FLAC) resources have been developed by practising SLTs Florence King, MSc, Brona Trolan, BSc, and Laura McGuiggan, BSc. All three work in community clinics with children and their families and have extensive experience in assessment, differential diagnosis and the provision of intervention for children, including children who are bilingual or whose family members speak a language other than English. Cultural and linguistic adaptations are the result of collaborative working with interpreters employed by the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Interpreting Service. Florence King is also the author of the Black Sheep Press resource "Words For All Children - the boy with the blue shoes". She believes passionately in a constructivist model of language acquisition, learning language on-the-hoof; humour in communication; and the duty of all adults to give the children in our lives a rich, varied and expansive vocabulary.
Judith Carey has 40 years experience as a speech and language therapist. Her passion lies in early years and early intervention. Judith has three children, two of whom are teachers so her links with educational issues are strong. Judith's career centred on working as a highly specialist Speech and Language Therapist in early years, and leading the Stockport NHS pre school SALT team. She also spent five years as lead in an education funded programme to enhance language in nursery schools and classes in Stockport. As part of an Early Years Project in Stockport, Judith developed the popular Black Sheep Press Foundation Stage Narrative packs for Nursery and Reception aged children. She is recently retired and continues to support speech language and communication needs and deliver the in demand narrative intervention on a voluntary basis.
Dr Roslyn Neilson, Ph.D., is an Australian speech-language pathologist and respected academic who has extensive experience carrying out clinical work, research, teaching, publishing and consultancy in the area of literacy and reading difficulties. Her expertise includes a specialist focus on assessment and intervention for phonological awareness. Dr. Nielson has extensively researched the relationship between phonological awareness in young children and the development of literacy skills. She is author of the Black Sheep Press resource "Phonological Awareness". This resource will be particularly useful for class teachers to supplement the Letters and Sounds approach for children who require additional support to progress in their reading and spelling. It includes a background information section on phonological awareness, three teaching modules and activities, strategies and picture resources which target syllables, rhyme and sound makers.
Sarah Parkin is a Speech and Language Therapist working within Preschool Clinics and Mainstream School Support Service in Stockport. She qualified from Manchester Metropolitan University and has developed a special interest in phonology and its links to literacy development. Sarah Parkin has worked as a highly specialist speech and language therapist for cleft lip and palate, selective mutism, severe and complex speech disorders, and phonological awareness disorders. Sarah is the author of two popular ‘Time For Sounds’, phonological awareness packs for nursery and reception aged children, published by Black Sheep Press. In addition the Black Sheep Press resource "Word Finding" (which uses a highly visual approach to vocabulary retrieval and storage), devised and illustrated by Helen Rippon, was based upon an original idea by Sarah.
Sue Nicholls is a qualified youth and community worker. Since having children of her own, and also working as a registered childminder, she has become more interested in the emotional literacy of young children and has produced resources to help them understand the social world. She has had several games published by Speechmark Publishing: ‘Let’s Talk: Feelings’, ‘Let’s Talk: Assertiveness’, 'Let's Talk: Resilience', 'You Choose' and 'Tell Me Why'. She is especially passionate about children’s emotional resilience, self esteem and finding ways of helping children to feel ‘big on the inside’. She is the author of best selling "Friendship Terrace", published by Black Sheep Press - a series of 10 fun little stories about characters who find it difficult to relate to and interact with others. The characters learn and practice positive relationship-building skills. Sue currently works as Development Manager of Rookhow, a Quaker charity in the Lake District.
Qualifying in 1978, Angela worked for North Staffordshire NHS throughout her career, becoming Senior Specialist SLT for children with specific speech and language impairment. She also had an advisory role for the SLTs across North Staffordshire. Angela is the author of our popular Languageland speech and language programme. The Languageland training package was first published in 2008 and since then has been used by many speech and language and teaching professionals throughout the UK in schools and nurseries. Languageland remains one of Black Sheep Press’ most popular packs. The program which was developed over seven years, funded by Newcastle-Under-Lyme NHS PCT and Staffordshire LEA. Languageland become one of 12 finalists in the West Midlands NHS Innovations competition in 2005. Languageland has been used extensively throughout Staffordshire LEA and has achieved excellent outcomes. Languageland is now in its second edition, with newly updated pictures.
Catherine is a practising speech and language therapy assistant with over 20 years of experience. She delivers speech and language therapy to primary-aged children in group and 1-1 settings. Catherine has played a key role in delivering Narrative Therapy to children across Conwy County, and in addition provides training to school staff and parents about how to use narrative therapy, both in the classroom and in a home setting. We are delighted that Catherine has now used her extensive experience and collaborated with Bec Shanks to develop the Black Sheep Press Narrative app and online resource. The app was trialled with children ages 4 – 7 by clinicians, teachers, and parents, producing extremely positive feedback from all groups. The app mirrors the development of narrative skills in children – from raising their awareness of the individual components of a simple story to retelling and generating their own endings to stories. Catherine found that the app really supports the development of the child's ability to re-tell a story.
We provide resources to support children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and speech, language and communication needs. All our resources are written and developed by experienced professionals and experts in their field.
Clear instructions and appealing illustrations are our hallmark. We are confident that our worksheets, assessments and apps will work for you and the children you support.
An increasing number of children are entering full-time education needing support with speech, language and communication skills. When seeking resources to help children with communication in the classroom or nursery, look no further.
Our resources are devised by experts and loved by children and young people. Full instructions are included making them suitable for use in the classroom and for parents.
If you feel your child needs support with talking and understanding words, our resources can help. With easy to follow instructions and engaging pictures, our resources provide simple and fun activities to help your child at home.
We hope you enjoy browsing our website which has a useful search function, helping you to select the right resource.
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