Becoming a manual occupation? The construction of a therapy manual for use with language impaired children in mainstream primary schools Elspeth McCartney À , James Boyle ` , Susan Bannatyne À , Emma Jessiman ` , Cathy Campbell § , Cherry Kelsey § , Jennifer Smith À and Anne O’Hare § À Department of Speech and Language Therapy and ` Department of Psychology, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK § Department of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK (Received 13 January 2003; accepted 9 July 2003) Abstract Background: The construction of therapy protocols for a large-scale randomized controlled trial comparing speech and language therapists and assistants, and group and individual therapy approaches for children aged 6–11 in mainstream schools is outlined. Aims: The aim was to outline the decision-making processes that led to the construction of the research therapy manual, and to give a preliminary report on compliance with the manual. Methods & Procedures: A search of the research and professional literature and of published therapy materials was conducted to locate usable examples of effective language therapy for primary school children. Results were collated into a manual of therapy principles and activities to structure research intervention. The use of the manual with children ( n~30) receiving individual or group direct therapy from a speech and language therapist in the first phase of intervention was audited. Outcomes & Results: Very few high-level research studies were found, but the professional literature gave added information. Therapies for comprehension monitoring, vocabulary development, later grammar and narrative were adapted for the research intervention, and procedures compiled into a manual to guide research speech and language therapists and assistants. The audit of direct International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders ISSN 1368-2822 print/ISSN 1460-6984 online # 2004 Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals DOI: 10.1080/01431160310001603592 Address correspondence to: Elspeth McCartney, Department of Speech and Language Therapy, University of Strathclyde, Southbrae Drive, Glasgow G13 1PP, UK; e-mail: e.mccartney@strath.ac.uk INT. J. LANG. COMM. DIS., JANUARY–MARCH 2004, VOL. 39, NO. 1, 135–148