Susan McCool – författare

In children, mental health challenges and communication differences typically combine in complex and inter-related ways. Remarkably, this crucial point is all too often forgotten, and communication is overlooked. Services are frequently fragmented, leading professionals to look at children through distinct lenses of either mental health or communication, meaning insights can be incomplete and important perspectives unshared.Working with Child and Adolescent Mental Health makes the compelling case that communication is central and should be a primary consideration whenever we think about children’s mental health. With a practical focus, and an easy- to-read format, it suggests how this can be achieved by identifying how practitioners and services can work more cohesively to understand and optimise children’s communication capacities.This book includes:Practical advice, grounded in current research, and presented in an easy-to-read, digestible styleGuidance to help practitioners competently and compassionately identify and respond to the needs of children and young people with complex combined communication and mental health needsReal-life case studies from a wide range of settings, unpicked to clearly illustrate topics discussed in the book and offer encouragement and inspiration to practitionersChecklists and questionnaires to help practitioners in daily practiceRecommendations for, and links to, useful additional resourcesTools to support reflection and enhancement for individual practitioners and servicesEssential reading for speech and language therapists, psychologists, mental health practitioners, educators, social workers, and anyone else concerned with children’s wellbeing and resilience, this book highlights the transformational impact of placing communication at the heart of all efforts to support children and young people’s mental health.

In children, mental health challenges and communication differences typically combine in complex and inter-related ways. Remarkably, this crucial point is all too often forgotten, and communication is overlooked. Services are frequently fragmented, leading professionals to look at children through distinct lenses of either mental health or communication, meaning insights can be incomplete and important perspectives unshared.Working with Child and Adolescent Mental Health makes the compelling case that communication is central and should be a primary consideration whenever we think about children’s mental health. With a practical focus, and an easy- to-read format, it suggests how this can be achieved by identifying how practitioners and services can work more cohesively to understand and optimise children’s communication capacities.This book includes:Practical advice, grounded in current research, and presented in an easy-to-read, digestible styleGuidance to help practitioners competently and compassionately identify and respond to the needs of children and young people with complex combined communication and mental health needsReal-life case studies from a wide range of settings, unpicked to clearly illustrate topics discussed in the book and offer encouragement and inspiration to practitionersChecklists and questionnaires to help practitioners in daily practiceRecommendations for, and links to, useful additional resourcesTools to support reflection and enhancement for individual practitioners and servicesEssential reading for speech and language therapists, psychologists, mental health practitioners, educators, social workers, and anyone else concerned with children’s wellbeing and resilience, this book highlights the transformational impact of placing communication at the heart of all efforts to support children and young people’s mental health.

This book is the definitive text on understanding and supporting children’s speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Written by experts, it presents evidence-based approaches in a highly accessible format. Wide-ranging in scope, Supporting Children's Speech, Language and Communication Needscovers best practice for many groups of children, including those with speech sound disorders, Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and neurodevelopmental differencesdiscusses specialist populations, including acquired brain injury and cleft lip and palate, as well as childhood onset eating, drinking and swallowing difficultiesfeatures chapters on inclusive communication environments, Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC), communication partners, the whole systems approach and evidencing impact, exploring cross-cutting themes.Case studies are included throughout to bring learning to life, and recommended online sources of further information are included. Comprehensive, authoritative and up to date, this book will prove indispensable for students and practitioners in speech and language therapy.