Communication and Interaction Advisory Service

ECHO work with schools and settings to provide universal and targeted support to pupils.

The ECHO Team works in class or with a pupil 1:1; they aim to assess the impact of speech and language difficulties on access to teaching and learning; access to the environment; engagement with peers and their community, and social and emotional development.

The ECHO team also work with settings to provide class, phase, or whole school support, focussing on effective communication within the environment.

The Team strives to reduce barriers to learning by; supporting teachers and pupils; recommending and modelling resources, sharing appropriate learning aids, and delivering CPD opportunities. They carry out communication friendly audits for settings and offer a package of support in response to the findings.  Settings can be referred to the ECHO team by Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology or by a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENDCO).

The Speech and Language Centre based within Quarry Bank Primary School is an intervention centre for pupils from Reception and Key Stage One who present with severe and complex speech and expressive language needs.

Pupils are referred to the centre by the highly specialist Speech and Language Therapists working across the borough.

The two-day placement provides pupils with an intensive immersion in speech and language therapy along with a highly differentiated curriculum in a communication friendly environment.

Autism and Social Communication Team (ASC) are a team of professionals who offer support to children and young people, aged 5-16, with autism or a social communication need.

The team coaches, consults and co-works with pupils, families, and educational settings across the Dudley borough, helping reduce barriers to learning caused by autism or a social communication need.

The team works with pupils who attend a mainstream Dudley school who may have an autism diagnosis, although this is not compulsory, and those who have difficulty with their social communication skills. 

The team can provide support to individual pupils and to whole settings through their setting support packages.

Whole school support will be provided where:

• Setting has an increasing number of pupils with a diagnosis of autism.
• Setting has implemented suggested strategies, as outlined in Dudley’s OAIP document, and would like guidance on further support strategies.
• Setting would like to access training, offered by the ASC Team.
• Setting would like to access the ‘Autism and Communication Friendly Environment’ audit, as offered by the Communication and Interaction team (ASC & ECHO).
• Setting would like to access support to look at policies and procedures, identifying ways to tailor them to suit pupils with an autism, communication or interaction need.

Request for individual support:

• Pupil has an existing diagnosis of autism or is currently undergoing an assessment, although this is not essential.
• Pupil has a social communication difficulty which is impacting on access to the curriculum.
• Pupil has difficulty with processing large pieces of information; they regularly need tasks breaking down into smaller chunks.
• Pupil shows evidence of sensory processing difficulties.
• Pupil may experience difficulties to regulate emotions – is becoming more reliant on adult support to do so.
• Setting has implemented all suggested strategies, as outlined in Dudley’s OAIP document and pupil is still having difficulty to access the curriculum or learning environment.