title: A Comprehensive Approach in Educating Children with Speech and Language Impairment in Pre-Primary Education type: Application Papers language: English published: 15 Oct 2025 updated: 15 Oct 2025 category: Pedagogika author: Mgr. Sabina Smolíčková Introduction
Communication represents a fundamental pillar of child development and creates the foundation for the learning process, active participation in the social environment, and, last but not least, emotional self-expression. From early manifestations of nonverbal communication and shared attention to developed verbal interactions, communicative competence is a key factor in learning, the development of one's own identity, and social inclusion. In practice, however, establishing a single diagnostic category at a counseling and prevention center may not suffice. It is essential to also consider associated diagnoses that frequently occur in children in pre-primary education. Pervasive developmental disorders can manifest differently in each child; therefore, it is appropriate to apply differentiated and comprehensive educational approaches that reflect the individual needs of the child. We will take a closer look at the comprehensive approach in educating children with speech and language impairment (hereinafter SLI) in pre-primary education.
Foundations for Educating Children with SLI A comprehensive approach involves supporting the holistic development of a pupil with SLI and does not focus solely on developing communicative production (Gibbard, 2024). In this context, professional literature often recommends a multisensory approach based on the activation and integration of all sensory modalities, contributing to more effective skill acquisition (Bočková, 2017). This approach aligns with the goals of inclusive education, which aims to ensure equal access to a quality educational process for all pupils, including children with special educational needs, health disadvantages, or communication barriers — thereby supporting their full participation and academic development (Dudu et al., 2024). To fulfill these goals, the Educational Program for Children with SLI (2024) requires a coordinated approach involving the school, the school support team, and the family, based on intensive partnership collaboration. An essential component is the creation of an environment that fosters shared responsibility and the precise setting of educational goals and strategies that enable systematic and targeted support for the development of the child's communication abilities.
Methods of a Comprehensive Approach to Developing Speech and Language Impairment
The development of SLI requires coordinated and differentiated approaches that go beyond isolated speech production exercises. Current international studies (2025) emphasize the need for a multisensory and interdisciplinary approach that stimulates multiple areas of development and thereby also supports the child's spontaneous communication. The following overview offers recommended methods in individual areas that have proven effective in practice:
- Spatial Orientation
According to Colic et al. (2025), spatial orientation contributes to the development of understanding prepositions, sequences, and step planning, which are related to grammatical sentence structure and the development of narrative skills. New research from 2025 recommends using navigation tasks in the classroom, in which children follow verbal instructions associated with movement in space. Since many children need active movement, it is good to engage them.
- Auditory Discrimination
Auditory discrimination is the foundation for phonological awareness, correct pronunciation, and differentiation. Current studies confirm the effectiveness of short, daily blocks of auditory training with gradually increasing difficulty (Hu, 2025).
- Visual Perception
Visual-perceptual abilities are closely related to text comprehension. In practice, the use of visual sentence maps, pictograms, and graphic organizers has proven effective, helping the child understand relationships between words and the order of elements in a sentence. Gradually increasing visual complexity supports selective attention and the ability to comprehend more complex communicative situations (Grossard et al., 2025).
- Gross and Fine Motor Skills
Motor development is closely linked to speech development. Movement activities, such as obstacle courses with verbal instructions, contribute to the acquisition of spatial relationships, prepositions, and sequential concepts. Fine motor skills are supported through activities requiring precision and coordination (e.g., threading beads according to verbal instructions), which simultaneously stimulate language and executive functions (Okur, Aksoy, 2025).
- Emotional Domain
Effective communication development also includes supporting emotional regulation and the ability to express one's needs. Adaptive programs from 2025 link the development of joint attention, symbolic play, and regulation training with explicit practice of spontaneous utterances. In practice, the use of "I feel… I need…" cards and training in repair strategies, which teach the child to ask for help, a pause, or repetition of information, has proven effective (Moraleda-Sepúlveda et al., 2025).
- Cognitive Processes
Strengthening cognitive functions, such as phonological working memory, rhythmic processing, and executive skills, contributes to the overall effectiveness of the communication process. New rhythmic-linguistic programs combine clapping, drumming, and syllable repetition, helping to align articulatory rhythm with speech structure (Lee et al., 2025).
- Socialization
An intervention called Peer-mediated (hereinafter PEERS) significantly increased the number of interactions of isolated children with peers and supported cooperative play and communication in preschool classrooms. According to results by Justice et al. (2025), developing socialization through peer involvement is an effective strategy also for pupils with speech and language impairment.
Recommendations for Practice Based on New Studies:
- Create a stimulating environment that allows the child to move and orient in space, and combine it with verbal instructions and the development of prepositions (important for spatial orientation),
- Include short daily blocks of auditory training (10–15 minutes) with gradually increasing difficulty and feedback,
- Support visual processing through pictograms, visual sentence maps, and graphic schemes that complement verbal input,
- Connect motor activities with language tasks, thereby stimulating coordination and strengthening communication skills,
- Involve peers in intervention, model social situations, and teach the child appropriate communicative responses,
- Develop emotional literacy, use visual aids for naming feelings, and teach the child strategies for self-control and making requests,
- Collaborate with the family, provide them with guidance and simple activities they can repeat at home, thus reinforcing the continuity of learning.
Conclusion
The results of current research confirm that communication development cannot be reduced to isolated communication exercises alone. A comprehensive approach that integrates spatial orientation, auditory discrimination, visual-perceptual processes, motor skills, socialization, emotional regulation, and cognitive functions leads to a more significant improvement in the communication competencies of children with SLI. The application of such strategies strengthens not only the linguistic level but also the children's ability to cooperate, plan independently, and actively engage in educational situations. A key factor for success is the connection of the educational process with the school support team and the family, thereby ensuring continuity of stimulation across the child's different environments.
Author: Mgr. Sabina Smolíčková The author studied special education, social education, and education management. She currently works as a kindergarten teacher for children with speech and language impairment. She is an external doctoral student.
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