speech difficulties and learning to read

[lorisparkle]

DS1 (4:8) has an expressive language problem with unusual and inconsistent use of speech sounds.

School has been very supportive and the work they have done on phonics has been very helpful. However I am getting increasingly concerned that they are still focusing too much on phonics in learning to read and not enough on sight vocab and using context / pictures. The books we are getting home are the Jolly Phonics book with either individual words and a hidden picture or Jolly Phonics 'Information Books' with no story but loads of vocab that can be sounded out.

DS1 finds these exceptionally difficult. As he does not use the right phonics in his speech unless the word is short he can not sound it out and blend it.

My question is should I speak to the teacher and really has anyone else got experience in this.

Thanks

[maxybrown]

what does his SALT say about it? It's just my DS has severe expressive speech problem - he is 3 and a half, and interestingly she has been breaking words up to help him speak - almost as if when learning to read - thoughI can imagine if he is struggling with the sounds then he is effectively dealing with 2 things.

MY DS has one t one SALT once a week - has had this since Sept and it has been very full on!

[lorisparkle]

Wow that is a lot of SALT. We have had a couple of blocks of therapy since he first saw her when he was 2 1/2. She always said it was just a delay and would get better but it is only recently that she has said that it is something more.

The work we do with SALT is just about using the sound 'f' at the beginning of words appropriately when putting two words together in speech (e.g. sad face). He can say 'face' if reminded about the 'f' at the beginning but really struggles if he has to combine it into a two word phrase. Initially he had to learn to pronounce the 'f' sound, then blend it with vowel sounds and then put it at the beginning of a word. This has taken nearly a year. It really worries me as 'f' is just one sound. How long will this take.

[maxybrown]

jeez that sounds a bit rubbish to be honest! DS has been under SALT since he was 2. He had a short expressive speech group (rubbish) but knew he needed more - he most proabbly has verbal dyspraxia but he needs constat repetitive help and it is a very slow process.

Can he form his mouth in the correct way for all the sounds? (well probably not I am presuming?)

Can you be more forceful with SALT help? How much speech does he actually have/length of sentences etc?

[cyb]

loris I help a little boy with Downs Syndrome who has expressive speech problems but we are starting to try to get him to learn with resources from DownsEd.co.uk (or .com?) who ahve lots of freebies on their site, word/picture cards for you or the school to access/ great for visual learners

[maxybrown]

where are the freebies cyb?

[lorisparkle]

He struggles to form his mouth into different shapes especially his tongue and struggles to copy what you do. His length of sentences and the amount he talks are fairly normal now (in fact it can be hard to get him to be quiet sometimes!) He is very hard to understand though. I understand him about 90% of the time, familiar people about 75% and unfamiliar about 50% although now his language is not so much about the here and now and more about his imagination, things in his memory or his plans for the future he is increasingly more difficult to understand. He uses sounds in odd ways, struggles with finding the words he wants to say (lots of er er er Mummy er er), he makes up his own rules for example replacing the 'er' at the end of words with 'es' and used to put the 'ee' sound in the middle of words and phrases.

It is such a worry. I will look at the Downs Ed stuff thank you. I read an article about helping children with Downs Syndrome learn to read and it emphasised the whole word approach with phonics as a back up.

Any other advice gratefully received

[cyb]

go to see and learn link for downloadables

[EleanorSLT]

Hi, I am a mum and an independent speech and language therapist. I think if I were you I would push for more in depth assessment and a more specific diagnosis regarding his speech, for example is it consistent or inconsistent, and is it a delay or a disorder? Following this they may be able to tell you whether he has something called developmental verbal dyspraxia or not. The therapist may need to refer your son to the NHS Trust's speech disorder specialist to get this more specific diagnosis, you could ask them whether they have a specialist in their trust or not. There is a place called the Nuffield Dyspraxia Centre (in London) that they can refer him to for free that would be able to help with diagnosis.

It is important because if your son does have an inconsistent speech disorder, then research has shown that these children respond best to regular (weekly or twice weekly in some severe cases) without breaks, and if an inconsistent speech disorder (such as developmental verbal dyspraxia)were diagnosed then you would be within your rights to ask for more frequent therapy.

I hope this helps and hasn't confused you, if you would like to message me please feel free.

Good luck,

Eleanor Harris

[lorisparkle]

Thank you very much for your message Eleanor. Our SALT is currently doing an assessment on DS1s speech so I am hoping this will answer more of my questions. It has been very frustrating getting to here. I have always felt there was more to it than just a delay and am a strong believer in early intervention.

I work in SEN and know that a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing and am wary of being an annoying middle class pushy parent who thinks they know it all because they have read it on the internet. On the other hand I also know that sometimes the only way to get things done is to be annoying and pushy!

I have considered going private but know you are outside of our area. What kind of fees would we be looking at?

[EleanorSLT]

It varies depending on the independent therapist, but fees are usually between £70 -£100 for an initial assessment and report, and between £55-£70 for 1hr therapy sessions and £30 -£45 for half hour sessions. It sounds like your NHS SALT is on the case though, and I'm sure she won't mind one bit if you mentioned your concerns to her.

You can find a local independent therapist on the www.helpwithtalking.com website by entering your postcode.

[lorisparkle]

Thanks for the info. We do seem to be getting somewhere. SHe completed her assessment today and is now analysing the results. Does not sound like verbal dyspraxia though. Thanks again.

[psiloveyou]

One of my foster children 5.10 has speech difficulties. He was a selective mute until he came to live with me at 4.4. He started to talk a few months later but as he has never spoken before his speech was (and still is, although much improved) very unclear. Teaching him to read was proving very difficult. He recently started a government funded programme at school called Reading Recovery.
What happens is he has 1-1 learning for 1 hour each day with a teacher who has attended ECAR training. It is very fast paced and also involves us doing about 30 minutes work with him every night.
The aim of the programme is to increase a childs reading levels by several years over a 12 week period.

It works best if done before a child is 6. We have seen amazing results in just the first 4 weeks. I know a lot of schools in our area (Hampshire) are training teachers. I don't know where you are but it might be worth asking at your child's school.