Understanding Me
5 out of 5 based on 4 reviews
£35.00 or £17.50 for slight seconds plus postage
By Susan Stewart & Amanda Hampshire, first published in 2007, it has now been updated with new information and handouts. All the handouts are available as digital downloads to print off on demand and the manual can also be accessed digitally.
An invaluable resource for professionals working with adolescents with communication difficulties.
Understanding Me was developed in response to the needs of pupils with communication disorders. Their language difficulties make it particularly hard for them to understand and accept their diagnosis. As they are growing up, they are increasingly aware of the widening difference between themselves and their peers, and may perceive themselves as being “thick” or “stupid”. This painful lack of self-awareness occurs alongside all the other changes of adolescence. The aim of the programme is therefore to enable pupils to understand what their own particular diagnosis means, so that they can explain their communication difficulties to others, e.g. their parents/carers, peers, teachers, supervisors in work experience placements, etc.
The programme has been updated in line with the SEND Code of Practice 2015 and with changes in terms of current diagnostic labels.
Understanding Me supports pupils who have been given a diagnosis of:
- Speech Sound Disorder
- Developmental Language Disorder
- Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Social Communication Disorder
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
NEW - updated session plans and resources are available to support both groups of pupils and now individual pupils too.
The programme of 13 group sessions covers the following areas:
- Establishing the group
- What is communication?
- Parts of the body used in communication
- Brain Activity for Communication, Introducing the 9 Intelligences
- The 9 Intelligences
- Intelligence Skills and the Functions of the Brain
- Word Intelligence, Functions of the Brain and Receptive/Expressive Language
- Role of SaLT and Diagnostic Terms
- Understanding Me
- What Information do I need?
- Making a Personal Passport
- Sharing Information with the Family
- Future Therapy
The programme of 7 individual sessions covers the following areas:
- Base line questionnaires and the unique nature of every person
- Communication, body parts and the importance of the brain
- The 9 Intelligences
- Character descriptions and diagnostic terms
- Creating a Personal Passport
- Sharing the Personal Passport with parents/carers
- Sharing Information about personal difficulties with Family and Friends
What resources do you receive?
- A hard copy of the manual, plus access to an e-book version. This provides the information and session plans. It also shows examples of the resource sheets to use with pupils.
- Full sized resource sheets available to download and print off as and when required, in black and white or colour.
About the digital resources
This title includes printable resources available to download from this website. You will be required to create an account or log in to purchase access. Access to the digital resources begins once payment has been completed and lasts as long as your Elklan account remains active. Access is for the account holder only and cannot be shared.
How to access
Please log in, choose My Digital Resources from the User menu at the top right, then click the title you wish to access.
If payment on foot of invoice is selected in the checkout (available for organisations only), you will need to contact selina@elklan.co.uk to arrange access.
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Reviews
Christine D
27th June 2022
As Speech, Language & Communication Lead TA at the school where I work, I initiated 'Understanding Me' with some of the children I work with as there was a need for them to be able to understand their diagnosis in a positive way. In looking for material, that is when I found this material on Elklan, while doing one of their courses. A student I work with has recently been diagnosed with ADHD and had an appointment with their Educational Psychologist at hospital. His Mum explained the 'Understanding Me' program that he was doing with me and the EP thought it was amazing that a school would be so proactive with one of their students. It is adaptable and flexiblle to suit the students you are working with so can decide what to include according to needs of the student and their range of understanding. Thank you for producing a material to enable me to work with students in such a way.
This review is for Understanding Me
L. Dennis
25th May 2021
This is an extremely useful and accessible resource which aims to support children and young people in understanding their communication needs and any wider clinical diagnosis such as Developmental Language Disorder and Social Communication Disorder. It can be used by a whole range of professionals who may be working with the young person including Speech and Language Therapists and Teaching staff.
The programme can be used either on an individual basis or as part of a group and includes week by week session plans and accompanying resources. The new addition of the digital access resource proves invaluable and a huge time saving facility, which now eliminates the need for any photocopying.
Most importantly, this programme is designed to be fun and engaging for the young person. When implemented as part of a group programme, it enables the young person to identify with other children who may struggle in the same areas as themselves and to learn to accept their differences and celebrate their strengths.
This review is for Understanding Me
Ms S. Marshall
9th April 2021
My son was diagnosed with autism four years ago. He is now twelve and although we have discussed his diagnosis with him on many occasions, he still struggles to fully understand and accept his identity as autistic. This has a detrimental impact on his self-image and his self-esteem.
The Understanding Me resource offers young people with diagnoses like autism and other communication disorders a vital opportunity to explore their specific diagnosis in a positive and in-depth way. I believe there is a real need for this work to be done with the young person, and, until now, a definite gap in the resources on offer to young people and their parents.
Understanding Me is just what my son needs to help him to understand and accept his diagnosis, and to begin to build his very low self-esteem.
This review is for Understanding Me
Sara Emmerton
7th April 2021
Understanding Me is a really excellent therapy programme for use with young people with a range of communication disorders, to help them understand and communicate about their diagnosis. The resource offers a sensitive and methodical approach in which young people examine their own strengths and difficulties in light of different types of brain intelligence. Crucially, the programme takes into account the language difficulties which may act as barriers to young people understanding the complexities of their diagnosis.
I am confident that Understanding Me will help many young people with communication disorders achieve greater understanding about their diagnosis and, as a result, experience an improved sense of wellbeing.
This review is for Understanding Me