Children with communication difficulties can sometimes find reading and writing a challenge because of the problems they have with all the language skills which underpin literacy. The right support for their language early on is the key to helping them to develop their written skills. 

Below is some advice to help with literacy:

• Talk around the books they are reading and don't just ask questions - comment on the books too

• Retell the story and guess together what might happen next

• Make sure your child hears stories as well as trying to read their own school books. Audio books are a great idea for children who find reading hard. This will make sure they don't miss out on the new vocabulary that children who do read are experiencing

• Encourage your child to say the word out loud as they are trying to spell so they can listen to the sounds

• If they find handwriting difficult then take the pressure off by using letter tiles when practising spelling

• Let them decide for themselves how long they need to look at a word before covering it up and trying to spell it

• Always check they can read back their own spelling attempts