Mable Therapy launches tool to screen early years children for SLCN

Mable Therapy has announced the launch of a new tool designed to help schools identify children at risk of developing Speech, Language, and Communication Needs (SLCN) – the Mable Early Language and Communication Screener (MELCS).

MELCS automatically assesses reception-aged children (4-5 years old) on critical language development areas, such as phonological processing, memory, and expressive language skills. Children are assessed on a range of core differentiators, including non-word repetition, sentence repetition, and grammar comprehension, enabling the MELCS to provide educators with a comprehensive overview of each child’s capabilities. While providing a fun, interactive experience for the children.

With a simple interface, which clearly flags any problem areas for each child, MELCS enables teachers to accurately and rapidly assess and identify children who may require further intervention, without taking teachers away from full classroom management. And because each child is assessed in an identical way, there is no scope for unintended bias or the differing opinions of assessors.

Developed upon a strong foundation of evidence-based SLCN research, MELCS not only highlights areas where each child may need additional support, but where required, provides next-step suggestions – such as teacher-led intervention and therapy referral.

MELCS has been designed to integrate seamlessly into a school’s existing educational framework, making it a practical solution for early detection and intervention.

Martha Currie, Clinical Director and co-founder of Mable Therapy comments: ‘Language skills change the way a child experiences not only school but their entire life. It influences academic attainment, social connection, and personal confidence, yet research suggests that a growing number of children are struggling with communication skills. Schools are perfectly placed to identify children who may require additional SLCN support, but they currently lack the tools they need to do this consistently. MELCS has been designed to address that problem.’

‘MELCS is by far the most ambitious project we have embarked upon at Mable, but we are confident that it will make SLCN screening simpler, more efficient, and more effective for schools, and to help a lot more children to overcome their difficulties and reach their full potential.’

MELCS has already been trialled by The Kemnals Academy Trust (TKAT) and is being rolled out across the trust. TKAT Director of Primary Education Gianni Bianchi said, “It has been really positive to work with Mable Therapy on piloting this scheme, and we are now implementing it in all 29 of our primary schools across London and the South and East of England. It’s great to have an efficient and effective speech and language screener that produces succinct reports for our school teams to use with children to help them progress.”