Jean Gross again

[cyberseraphim]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242056/Teenspeak-youngsters-unemployable-limited-vocabulary.html

It's so stupid to make it sound as if children 'go on' to have significant problems talking because of their parents or the TV! But still Jean has 2 grown up children without autism or any other problem so she obviously knows what she is talking about - If she was in my room, I'd turn the TV up very loud.

...this is the sort of crap the first SALT who assessed DS said to us.

She made us feel bad and guilty for him watching too much tv, still having a dummy, and still drinking his morning milk from a bottle!
She didn't explain or wonder why he couldn't do pretend play at the assessment, but she pointed out that he didn't speak partly due to his environment!...she implied it was our fault really!

Grrrr!!!!

DS2 is the same - all came in like magic - For an NT child talking is as natural as breathing or hair growing but I think some like to build it up as a 'life skill' that won't happen unless you are parenting in an 'appropriate way'

as my gran would say

gross by name, gross by nature

Yes, there probably are kids who would benefit from more parental input to help with their early speech. There are equally kids who spend every waking hour in front of the TV but have perfectly normal speech.

Publicity like this does nothing to help kids with S & L disorders and just perpetuates the myths about speech & language we've all been battling against.

She's just irritatling me now really [ hmm]

I did not hear the Woman's Hour interview so to be fair, I am not 100% sure what she is on about and how she distinguishes SN need from NT need but I still think parents with 'successful' children often have a need to build up a narrative that proves it was not by chance but due to their good parenting.

more from this "expert"

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6982420.ece

It's beyond satire really, that the supposed Communications Champion doesn't have time to talk to real life parents.....

btw I have looked up about her on t'internet - her background seems to be as an ed psych and with literacy and kids with SEN - every child a reader etc.

You might have thought that a qualified SALT might have been appointed to this post....

That Times OnLine Article is very sad - Does JG really think she is doing anything but recycling long exhausted drivel about children and speech ? It almost makes me wish she could get a chance to learn something about real life - but I suppose that's a very nice thing to wish. She sounds extremely ill informed - she probably thinks parents cause leukemia and alien abduction too !

not a nice thing to wish I meant !

let's see in terms of pissing off parents of language-delayed/disordered kids

we have 1)jolly little anecdote about her own kid's wonderful speech. TICK

2)einstein anecdote. TICK

3)mummy I need more salt for the porridge as first utterance ever anecdote. TICK.

maybe to give some benefit of the doubt, she thinks the media will only be interested in this issue if it's presented mostly in the context of NT pre-schoolers?

I cannot stand this Einstein thing - there is a letter still in existence from an Einstein family member commenting on how well he described his infant ideas ( Einstein was 2) but still Jean does not have time look into these things.

God thats an irritating article. There's an almost cheery 'oh well, some children get mental illness from lack of speech (WTF?) but mostly they come right'.

Its totally unhelpful.

I think you are being really unfair.The Bercow Report and Lamb Inquiry were really important documents and gave a broad overview of how crap things are.

The govt. has taken on board the recommendations and got moving very fast.There is a lot of stuff going on including the Better Communication Research Programme based at Warwick university.

The systemsic change needed cannot happen overnight.Jean Gross's job is to look at the situation in more detail.

It's fantastic that she is not a SALT.This sends out the clear message that communication issues are the responsibility of all and lie at the core of education (you would be amazed to know how many people see it as an 'add on'. She is a highly respected Ed Psych who has done some sterling work.

And of course her remit is not to engage with individual parents. What a bizarre assumption!

ok maybe I am a bit bitter and twisted on this whole issue - and I hope I am wrong and that in the medium term things improve - I wouldn't expect her to spend more than a small amount of time talking to parents but I suppose feeling that it wouldn't be any part of her job at all took me aback.

She says she regrets she can't.That was what the consultation document was for-people were invited to respond.

Over 900 parents did.
Were you one of them?
Have you read it?

I think the systems is shite but please, give some credit when good people (and there are plenty out there) are trying to make a difference.

(THe Einstein thing is bollocks though and I am astounded she came out with it.)

as it happens, yes and yes to both those questions, I do have a great deal of respect for Mr Bercow and the review. I have also taken part in two local consultations about NHS services and the joint clinic procedure. So I don't just rant bollocks on the internet, honest!

I didn't say you did!

(Well done for taking part.I did too and have read it cover to cover as well.It is really cheering but I of course accept your point that it will not have an effect on your own child right now.)

She may be doing good work elsewhere - but surely she should be trying to dispel myths that parents cause serious speech disorders. Ds1 attended an ms nursery in a deprived area and many of the children had parents with what Guardian readers would call 'social issues' but the children all seemed to chatter away nineteen to the dozen with spot on semantics and pragmatics of language and a pretty good vocabulary too.

Cyber, it is an indisputable fact (backed by research) that sometimes environmental factors have an impack on communucation.
This cannot be countered by your anecdotal evidence and in case, you are ferring to language and not speech issues.

I am sure it could be down to the newspaper reporting but she does not seem to be clear on whether she is talking about environmental factors and language or actual speech disorders - I blame her parents they probably had their crystal wire radio for too long. I don't think there is a problem in using anecdotes to illustrate a point - I just don't don't agree that Jean's anecdotes about Einstein and Rabbi LB are very useful when thinking about language development.