Right, back again.
We went to the LCP in March this year. Dd1 is 3 and ASD, has a sever language delay and some OT issues. We are in the middle of statementing, and know that we are up against a fight as dd1 is so placid and easy going, so have got a solicitor on board advising. She recommended that we get private assessments done, to be included in statementing advice.
The clinic is in some tucked away street in central London - a real bugger to get to if you are coming from outside London. I had to take both dds with me (dd2 was 13 months, dd1 then 3.6) and so drove in - there is an NCP just up the road which is quite handy.
The building is not user friendly at all .I don't know your situation, but I had to take my two in the buggy (road safety issues with dd1, and dd2 not walking, plus loads of coats/snacks etc to carry), and there are 3 large steps up into the building, with an entryphone and then a door release that is all but impossible to manage with wheels... Once inside, we were then told that our appt was up on the third floor - ok for us as we could unload the children, but no-one at the practice thought to ask if mobility was a problem when we booked. If it is, I suggest you mention it.
The SALT we saw was fab. She took a brief history (we had provided previous reports for her beforehand) and then got down to playing with dd1. Normal stuff - range of toys out to see what dd1 woud do with them, asked dd1 some questions to guage responses, was happy for me to ask the questions so that we could get a baseline response from dd. She listened to what we said, and took on board the phrases we used and incorporated them in to her language to make dd1 feel more at home.
We then left the room for a few minutes so that she could see how dd1 was when we left, and how she responded to langauge/instruction from her without us there. Then called us back in and we had more of a chat. She was good at trying to find stuf that dd was interested in (rather than the usual "oh, look, bubbles!" approach that most SALTs use, and was happy to work with what did interest dd1.
we then got a full report through later, which is fairly comprehensive. It does what we wanted it to, which is to recommend an ASD unit for dd1, rather than supported mainstream which is what the LEA want, but if I had wanted SALT advice for dd1, then I may have been less impressed.
It is the most comprehensive advice we have received, but it is still very generalised. having said that, the SALT did only see dd1 for one session, so she cannot be expected to give full ongoing advice. I am happy to send you a copy of the report if you want to see what I mean - CAT me, and I'll send it on.
Can't think of anyhting else right now - if you have any questions, let me know.