Getting the Picture: Inference and Narrative Skills for Young People with Communication Difficulties

Young people with communication difficulties often struggle in social situations, as without adequate inference, narrative and sequencing skills, correctly interpreting and responding to other people can be a real challenge. This fully photocopiable resource has been designed to improve these skills in the way this population can often learn best – visually.

This book is brimming with thought-provoking illustrations of different people in different places, all of which are accompanied by a series of questions designed to encourage prediction and inference skills. Participants are asked to consider everything from who the person in the picture is, what they might be doing, and where they might be going, to how they may be feeling and why. Questions can either be completed individually or brainstormed as a group, and there are three types of illustration to work with – single person, picture sequence, or large scenes containing several interactions. The final section teaches important sequencing skills by providing muddled picture narratives that need to be ordered.

This book will be a valuable tool for speech and language therapists/pathologists, occupational therapists, special educators, parents and anybody else looking to help young people with communication difficulties to understand and connect with the world around them.

David Nash is a speech and language therapist based at Freeman College in Sheffield, UK, a specialist college for young people with complex communication difficulties aged 16 to 24.