A SEN governess for a child with speech delay or language disorder

The short answer: for a child with a speech delay or a language disorder, the speech and language therapist decides what to work on and how. A SEN governess makes sure it is worked on all day, at breakfast, in the car, during play and at bath time, in the language your family actually speaks. The therapist sets the targets; the governess turns them into many small chances to practise.

Why the hours between sessions matter

A speech therapy session might be an hour or two a week. Language is used every waking hour. Therapists know this, which is why so much of their work is coaching parents in what to do between sessions. For a family where both parents work, or where the hardest moments come while a parent is juggling three other things, a governess can carry that coaching through the day consistently.

The difference shows up in ordinary moments. The child who points at the juice is given the word and a moment to try it, rather than simply handed the cup. The toy car becomes "red car", then "red car fast". The request at the park is waited for rather than guessed.

Carrying the therapist's targets

The most useful thing you can do at the start of a placement is get the therapist's current targets in writing, in plain words, and share them with the governess. A good target sheet says what the target is, what it looks like in practice, how much help to give, and what to record.

The kinds of strategies a therapist might ask a governess to use include:

• Modelling words or short phrases just a step beyond what your child currently says
• Expanding what your child says, by repeating it back with one more word or a little more grammar
• Waiting after a question or a pause in a routine, so that your child has space to respond
• Offering choices, such as "apple or banana?", that give a reason to use a word
• Narrating what is happening during play and routines, without firing questions

What the strategies should not become is drilling. Asking a child to "say it" again and again, or correcting every sound, can turn talking into something to avoid. If the therapist wants particular sounds practised, they will say how and how often.

The governess should also record what happens: new words, attempts, what helped and where it was hard. That record is useful to the therapist at the next session, and it is a far better picture than anyone's memory of the week.

Matching the language at home

For a child with a communication delay, the language the governess speaks matters more than almost anything else on the brief. Many UAE households use two or three languages, and a child with speech and language difficulties needs the people around them to be consistent about which language is used, and for what.

Ask your child's speech therapist which language or languages to use for therapy targets, then match the governess to that advice rather than defaulting to English. If the therapist recommends the home language for most interaction, a governess who speaks it fluently is worth more than one with a longer CV in a language nobody at home uses.

Signs, pictures and devices

Some children use signs, pictures or a speech-generating device alongside or before speech. If your child's therapist has introduced one, everyone uses it, every day, including the governess. These systems give a child a way to communicate now, and therapists use them alongside the work on speech. A governess who quietly sets one aside because speech is the goal is working against the plan, however good the intention.

What a governess should not do

• Diagnose a speech delay or language disorder, or decide whether your child needs therapy
• Design speech therapy activities or change the targets
• Pressure your child to speak, or hold back what they need until they say a word
• Replace the speech and language therapist, or reduce the sessions because "the governess is doing it"

If you are not yet sure what is behind your child's speech, start with a speech and language therapist. Our speech delay page explains what to look for and how therapy works for younger children, and developmental language disorder vs speech delay explains the difference between the two. When you need someone to carry the plan at home, the SEN governess page sets out what a placement includes.