BEST has been designed to be delivered to groups of between 3 and 6 children. Group intervention has many benefits including better and more efficient use of resources, being more engaging and fun for children, and providing more opportunities for children to hear language spoken by their peers. If you are struggling to find enough children to for a BEST group we recommend trying to include children with typical language skills rather than delivering BEST on a one to one basis.  

BEST was originally designed to have two adults leading the sessions, one to provide the language models and record children’s responses, and another to provide additional support by signing. If you plan to have one adult leading sessions we suggest capping the group size at three or four children to make it more manageable.  

BEST uses sentence sets comprising similar sentences where one part of the sentence changes. For example, the man is laughing/the boy is laughing/the girl is laughing etc. Toys are used to represent the people and the objects 

Each session follows the same format and is divided into ‘input’ and ‘output’ phases. During the input phase the adult(s) says the sentences, models the toys performing the actions, and use sign to provide additional visual support. During the output phase, children are given the opportunity to model with the toys and produce the sentence. It is important to note that children are not compelled to speak during the output phase and that all and any responses should be accepted. 

BEST delivery do’s and do nots 

• Do try to use sign alongside speech when modelling the sentences as this provides additional visual support for children with language needs and has been shown to be more effective than speech alone. 

• Don’t use too much additional or extra language in the session as this may increase the cognitive load for children and prevent them from identifying patterns in the language they hear. We want children to focus on the BEST sentences only.  

• Do not use verbal praise (well done, good listening etc) 

• Although it may be difficult try not to use verbal responses to children’s statements or communicative attempts 

• Do give praise and respond to communicative attempts nonverbally by smiling, giving a thumbs up etc 

• Do give verbal praise at the end of session and let children have some free play time with the toys 

• Don’t worry if children are moving around or not looking at you when you are producing the sentences and modelling the toys. The most important thing is that they are listening to the sentences. As their language skills improve this will support other skills over time such as attention and listening. 

• Don't worry if children appear not to be responding after the first few sessions. Many children do not start to show increased language ability until after several sessions 

• Don’t try to prompt children to produce words or sentences or try to modify their responses in any way. Accept the child’s response (or lack of response) and simply model the correct target sentence. The aim is for children to produce language only when they feel comfortable and confident to do so. 

Refer to the BEST Manual and Therapy Record booklet for more detailed information on delivering BEST  

BEST Manual

BEST Therapy Record Book

BEST Care Plan Treatment Aims

BEST Care Plan Template