Undetected communication problems in children with behavioural problems

There is an increasing amount of evidence for links between emotional and behavioural problems and communication difficulties. Many children who hav emotional and behavioural problems also have communication difficulties (Cohen and Lipsett 1991, Benaisch et al. 1993) and children who have communication difficulties are more likely to develop psychiatric illness than their peers (Cantwell and Baker 1985). More importantly there are many children with emotional and behavioural problems who have undiagnosed speech and language difficulties. These have been found in child psychiatric populations (Cohen, et al 1993) and special educational settings (Burgess and Bransby 1990). This paper reports on a small-scale study which found undetected communication problems in children looked after by the local authority. The implications for these children are explored.