Mumsnet Talk

HW I agree.
There is something very worng with the service!
I often wonder what the point is myself.
It's what first brought me to MN as I have a child with communication issues and what was on offer was not good enough for me, hence my foray into other areas such as ABA. That is another story however....

I'm not a manager but a clinician but as in all departments in the NHS, huge pressure to ensure clinicians are as active as possible. From my perspective, there is focus on bums on seats rather than measurable outcomes but there is increasing pressure on s/lts to prove that what they do is effective (ie measurable outcomes).

If we can't prove that this is the case, doubtless we will be amongst the first to get the chop.

Do they get demoralised?
Had I not gone into using s/lt with a different focus (ie measurable outcomes and based on evidence) I doubt I woudl have remained in the profession.

Me too handy! Surely someone somewhere points out it isn't working?

I'm almost beginning to think that all improvements are developmental anyway, so what's the therapy doing?

I really think that if a caseload is so big that S&LTs spend all their time assessing and very little time remediating, there has got to be something very wrong with that service. And surely that service will be demonstrating very little efficacy? Nowadays it's all about the paper trail in the NHS, everyone has to justify their existence.

Moondog, do S&LT service managers audit the actual number of hours spent giving therapy? Do the results of the service get audited? Or is it audited by how many get discharged as opposed to how children have improved? Do S&LT get demoralised? Just wondering.

MCM, that is because unfortunately they have caseloads of about 100 ++ each.
Children with less severe communication issues are often seen in clinics for blocks of therapy.
Those with pervasive communication issues, if in special schools and units, often have an s/lt who visits regularly.

I think kids with long standing issues in mainstream schools often miss out.

The sum total of DS3's Speech Therapy currently? An assessment and me being given a wodge of worksheets with Makaton signs on. A second appointment that took place in a waiting room, more Makaton worksheets, and being told to 'use PECS then for the signs he isn't picking up'.

Nowhere does it say WHY his speech is over a year behind (at just 2yo, that's a fairly significant delay).

No ACTUAL therapy provided.

Just me, working on things like I did with DD and DS2, blindly, hoping for the best, assuming I can get him to talk, if not perfectly (DS2 still has some syntax issues at 9yo), but talking, simply because I eventually managed it with DD and DS2.

DS1 you could have a full conversation with at 18mo, so I know it's not ME. Yet they accuse me of alternately not talking enough, or talking too much. Often in the same report.

Why don't speech therapists actually DO therapy?!

zzzzz I will take a look at the videos you suggested thank you. Ineedmorepatience your Dd sounds very similar to my Ds. He is wonderful, I love him to pieces there is never a dull day, and believe it or not I find him so much easier to care for than my daughter but then he is very much like me. I think I have learnt a lot about myself during my searches on the web. Now my daughter, she is definately the opposite to my Ds, she really is a handful but I'm not sure if thats because she is a girl or if theres a little more to it.

I agree with zzzzz Dd3 has Asd and is an absolute treasure. She can make me laugh and cry at the same time. She is very loving and sweet as well as being a toad at times.

She is mostly happy, especially when working to her own agenda. And I wouldnt change her even if I could. We do work on helping her to devlop the skills that will help her through life but I see that as part of her education, not a way of changing her personality.

Having a diagnosis has really helped me and Dd3 to get our heads around some of her difficulties and work out ways of getting round them or through them.

Good luck with the Ados

Look at RALLI on utube, and watch some Temple Grandin videos too.

Despite all the anxiety up thread, ds is lovely and we have a good life.

yes Ineedmorepatience he is due the ados next week. I can't seem to stop myself from looking on the web. I really wish I wouldn't but I really can't help myself.

Spd describes the communication difficulties that children with Asd can have but there is much more to Asd for example, sensory issues, rigidity around rules and routines, lack of empathy, difficulties with social skills, repetetive behaviours and probably loads of other things that I have missed.

Is your Ds being assessed for Asd?

ok thank you so SPD is no longer diagnosed but can be a part of an asd diagnosis? hope I have read that right its just I have been having a look on the web and it appears that the symptoms of SPD are similar to the symptoms my son displays which are being described as autistic tendencies

Or dreaming of who we could put on them??

IA, feel free to join me daydreaming about them

Meetings, aaaah, how different my life would be without them.....

I might actually get time to have a camp fire on the beach.

But I was junior then, and those experiences were 'training' my expectation and work ethic should I have progressed to a more senior position.

I moved from that into a job that required me to account for every hour and assign it to a budget that required signing off by the budget holder. There were of course problems with that system too, but boy was I productive, and with significantly increased job satisfaction.

I am stuck in a loop of meetings at work at the moment. I hate meetings, I have the concentration span of goldfish and start doodling or looking at the patterns on the carpet within about 3 minutes.

Oh and dreaming of campfires on the beach

One has to laugh or one would weep.
If any consolation, I think endemic in other areas too.
My dh works in international development.
There are striking parallels with the SEN industry ,not least the fact that the illusion of activity is far more important than measurable activity and outcomes themselves.

Let's not start on reports about reports (all of which start with 'X is a delightful little boy/girl')

I once had a job that involved going to meetings about meetings.

My favourite set was when we were organising a pre-pre-feasibility committee to turn a section of a library into a community space. The whole project cost millions and it was nearly all spent on tea before being disbanded.

Meetings about meetings are the best of all.....!

So annoying to cock up an emoticon.

I have a friend who used to work for one of the big supermarkets. She told me all meetings took place standing and on the shop floor. That kept them focussed and brief. I would love to see some of that attitude in the NHS and LEA. I am aware of plenty of folk who believe that going to meetings is their job.

{hmm]

Love the beach in February. Wish I was there.

Moondog, what you say about assessments is so true. Like meetings which are, of course, the antidote to everything!

Are you doing CELF yourself?!
I assume not but you do need some more input from outside I think.

Don't knock the beach in February.
You tend to get it all to yourself.
We've spent the last three days on the beach, building and digging and making fires.
Excellent fun.

Have fun

No outside help. Have requested and am in the process of doing assessment of where he is now. Half way through CELF. SALT says definitely severe language disorder but need to see profile of that disorder.

Thank you star , yes an illusion. It's like running towards a mirage in the desert eh?

Must go as have promised the beach to ds for all his hard work at SALT this week and he is going to explode with frustration.

Beach in February . One wonders who's in charge here.