Applying for a reception - speech delay

[FlutterShyPinkiePie]

My DS is 3 and has a speech delay. We have seen an NHS therapist and are currently waiting for more sessions. He has also had a few sessions with a private therapist.

He has yet to be diagnosed with any official 'condition' but only has a handful of words that are intelligible to anyone outside the family (& even I have to know what he is looking at to understand him)

In January we will have to submit his application for a reception place and have no idea how it works in this situation. Ideally he would go to the school his sister goes to which does offer some completely SN places and has support for those in mainstream classes too if required.

Does anyone have any advice for applying for schools in this situation? Would main stream classes accept a speech delay? Should I tell the school before applying? Is there a level of speech required for mainstream or does it differ from school to school? Just don't know how to begin the process

Any advice would be gratefully received.

[lljkk]

Wait, you're worrying about an application 10 months from now?

[FlutterShyPinkiePie]

I am learning that NHS speech therapy doesn't move very fast. i have been waiting 6 months for more sessions as it is and if I need a statement (not really sure what one of those is but have heard the term a lot) or to look into school which may offer more support if mainstream education is not recommended then why not be prepared?

[lljkk]

No guarantees, but trend of opinion seems to be that state is better than private for most SN.

It fits my experience that NHS weekly SLT can't do much for children under 3.5-4yo, supposedly other countries have weekly SLT sessions that do make a difference for under 3, perhaps private weekly SLT can do a lot for under 2s, too. Early NHS SLT was all about listening skills, so not a lot weekly SLT sessions could do that parents couldn't do just as well or better. A crucial part of NHS SLT was the homework that parents get. But might depend what problems your DS has. Mine were purely speech delayed & only for specific sound targets. They didn't have language disorders or other neurological delays.

I think you will just have to wait to see what your son is like at tend of the yr, with regard to speech & any other concerns you have. Speech delay on its own should not be a huge problem for any school to handle.

[incywincyspideragain]

my ds has speech delay and starts school in september - he also starts speech and lang therapy tomorrow (huge fight to get it this 'early' as he is a summer baby and they do it at 4 which is bollocks because 4 or not they all start school in september...) his delay is due to chronic glue ear - as an aside has your ds had a hearing test? please make sure he can hear - not all SALT's ask for a hearing test to be done imo its essential

As for school they should be able to manage but meet the SENCO to feel reassured before hand (fwiw you'll never really know until they start and then it varies from teacher to teacher) ask what kind of strategies they'll have and use, have they had children before with speech delay - some are happy to sign for example to help with frustration, they can also help refer you to a preschool team that should support his transition into school - does your ds go to nursery? is he getting any support there?

Once ds's school place is confirmed I'm meeting with the SENCO with his audiology and SALT reports and getting him on School Action plus with an IEP, I'll meet with them once a term to discuss his progress especially in reception as its all phonics in School.

For now I wouldn't worry - he might make huge progress in the next few months so its best to assess his needs closer to the autumn term when you are looking round the school, hth

[gerbilsarefun]

I was told by dd's reception teacher (dd had speech delay) that on there would be at least one child in each year with speech problems. It was more common than I thought. My dd came on brilliantly with her speech once she started school, and as a 14yo now, she has a great vocab.

Just noticed your name OP, my girls were mad on My Little Pony and Pinkie Pie was dd1's first MLP.

[nextphase]

I can see why your thinking about this now, but it is a long time til he will start school.
I think, if this we me, I'd try to push for hearing and SALT now, and then come September, visit the schools you would be considering putting on the application form, and talk to them about the current situation. if you think his sisters school may be good, can you get him into the school nursery to get him settled?
Hope his speech comes along soon

[Asheth]

Don't know if you're still reading this OP, but if you are - I'm a year ahead of you, with my speech delayed 4 year old starting school this year.

First of all I would say don't panic! This time last year my DS spoke only in repetitive phrases and echolalia. A year on he is still delayed, but his speech is much more purposeful.

Before you apply for schools go and look round any that seem possibilities and find out how they will help/support your DS. Your first place would be his sisters school and if they have some SEN places then they would be the best people to tell you what setting would be best for your DS. I only ever considered main stream school for my DS and nothing else has been suggested to me.

I think you would find it hard to get a statment at this stage, but that doesn't mean there would be no support. Is he at a nursery or pre-school? If so ask them to put him on an Early Year Action Plan. They will set up targets and strategies for helping. They can also liase with speech therapists. And when he starts school help with the transition. My DS's pre-school have set up a meeting with the school SENCO for this. If your DSs nursery does not do this, then it might be worth finding him one that does for the last year before school. Once he is at school he should go onto a school action plan and they can take the special needs process on to school action plus and statement as necessary. I have found the support given to me by my DSs pre-school very helpful. Good luck!

[net11]

ASHETH, I will love to get in touch as my son has repetitive phrases and echolalia too.


He is 3.8 and his speech is improving but will love to hear from you on what you are doing to help your little bundle of joy.

Dose your son still have lots of echolalia?

Thanks

[jellysmum77]

My son has just started his reception year at the mainstream school that his sister attends. He has speech delay which presents in articulation problems and phonological disorder. He is very difficult to understand to those who he is not familiar with.
His preschool did an iep for him and this will also be done by his new class teacher. He attends SALT, we are looking into private therapy now too. The school have to take him and do what they can to cater for his needs.
You do have a long way to go yet though and a lot of progress could be made by your son before it gets to January. Once my son got his school place they sent out packs for us to complete so that we could explain about any concerns we had and tell the teacher a bit about him so I gave details of his speech delay in this.

[heather1]

Hi, my Ds, now 8 with perfect speech, had speech delay, glue ear ( have you had a hearing test for your DS ?), and dribbling. I found the pre-school speech therapy on the NHS to be extremely limited and really not that helpful tbh.
The infants school he went to had a special needs support unit called Badgers. My Ds was in the main part of the school. The Badgers children attended part of their day in Badgers and also had a place in the relevant year class and shuttled between the two classes. This is the school www.dovers-green.surrey.sch.uk/page/?title=About+Our+School&pid=2
This meant there was a SENCO permanently on site. Dsreceived several SALT session every week and she worked wonders with him. I cannot thank her enough. This is the kind of school you may wish to consider. We were lucky as it was our closest school.
The additional benefit was that all the children saw no difference between those with additional needs and the able bodied children. All played together well.
Also just to mention if he does have glue ear don't be afraid to push for gromits. I didn't push for this as out doctor said the hearing loss wasn't serious enough. Then we moved to a country with an insurance based health system (Switzerland) we took Ds to an ENT doctor due to an ear infection. He was amazed given Ds history and continued hearing impairment that gromits hadn't been inserted at a much younger age. They were done and we noticed an immediate improvement in speech quality and Ds couldn't believe how loud the world was!

[Gemmanp90]

How rude!