More support for children with speech and language difficulties will only be achieved if the public have a better understanding of the problem, a new campaign claims.

A poll was conducted as part of the National Year of Communication, which revealed that of the 6,000 adults surveyors just a quarter knew that babies say their first words between 12 and 18 months. Forty-eight per cent of those questioned were parents of children under five, but just one in five knew that more than one million children and young people have some form of long-term communication difficulty in the UK, which often leads to them needing support from those in speech and language therapy jobs.

The survey results have been published to coincide with the launch of the Hello campaign and will be used to highlight speech, language and communication difficulties in nurseries and schools across the country,

Jean Gross, England's communication champion told CYP Now: "Public understanding of children's communication difficulties remains worryingly low. The automatic response seems to be to blame parents or technology. This just isn't right, we need to clear up the confusion and myths that exist around this subject. Around 10 per cent of children have some form of long-term communication difficulty that can affect them early, severely and for life."

"These results reinforce the need for the Hello campaign to radically improve understanding of speech, language and communication difficulties and the impact this has on children's lives," she added.