Any speech and language therapists about ?

[Soffy]

My 10 year old son has just been diagnosed with a severe receptive language disorder. It comes after a 2 year battle with the school to deal with his increasing difficulties in school. He is 2 to 3 years behind across all topics. Over had a few days to process the results and everyone keeps implying that we should have known. I can honestly say I have never heard of receptive language disorder so although I knew it was more than dyslexia (his original diagnosis) we didn't know what it was. If there are any speech and language therapists here would you mind telling me what causes receptive language disorder ? What will his long term issues be?The school are now talking about autism which I cant see myself , but is that always the case with receptive language disorder ? They are talking about a special school but i just dont know. He was doing ok until about 2 years ago and is now getting further behind.

Hello I'm an SLT in primary schools. Receptive language disorder does not have a cause as such but is more frequently found with boys. I assume the autism assessment they are suggesting is possibly to check out all possibilities as he will need an Education Health and Care plan to access the best support at secondary level and the more info they have for that the better, the two conditions are not necessarily related. My next step would be to provide strategies for school to support your son and then see how he responds to this before making too many assumptions about future provision. Hope that makes sense!

Thank you. An EHCP and a special speech and language school have been mentioned . Is it normal to be diagnosed so late? I feel so bad that we missed it,especially as it's so severe. Will he always have these issues? I feel like I'm having to accept a different future for him than I envisaged. His brother did well at Gcses, but I dont even know if that's an option.

How he responds to support will help to clarify things. If there is a specialist provision for speech and language where you are he will be able to access GCSEs there with the right support. I don't think you would necessarily spot his difficulties in everyday talking, some children are brilliant at developing coping strategies and assessments look at detailed parts of grammar etc. that don't always show up in everyday life. Language disorders are quite unusual and their cause remains unclear, please don't blame yourself in any way.

Are there other difficulties mentioned?

Receptive Language is understanding of spoken language.

Expressive Language is talking (vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, narrative).

It would be unusual to have an difficulty with understanding without having a difficulty with talking too (understanding comes before talking).

It may be that his attention levels are impacting his ability to understand and process language, which is why they might be looking into other things.

Language disorder can be a diagnosis by itself (in which case it it called Developmental Language Disorder) or it can be associated with other conditions (Autism, ADHD, learning difficulties...)

Autism would include differences in his social skills, inferencing, ability to understand and respond in social situations.

Have a look at RADLD which has some info on longer term outcomes, support needed etc.

I would say it is unusual to be diagnosed so late... if it is "just" language disorder.

My daughter has expressive and receptive language disorder, auditory processing disorder, issues with executive function skills and autistic traits.

She has an EHCP and is in mainstream school with lots of support. She sees SALT weekly which is invaluable.

My son is 5 and is severely behind on speech and was diagnosed with a language disorder but now it's gone down the autism pathway. Definitely push for an ehcp, it is invaluable though the process to get one is long and at times soul destroying

Thank you all. I suspect ADHD rather than autism. He struggles with attention and focus but is very well behaved which I think masks alot.

What do you mean 'crumbsthatsquick' ?

I think Crumbs means that it's highly unlikely to be just language disorder if he's got to 10 without anything being diagnosed.
My DS is 10 and has had issues with language and is under SLT, but we've known that since he was 2.

I suspect ADHD rather than autism. He struggles with attention and focus but is very well behaved which I think masks alot.
Look into the different types of ADHD (hyperactive, inattentive and mix types.)

Soffy I've nothing useful to add except that I feel your pain.

It's not your fault. The system in place to identify dc needs via a school is not fit for purpose. Schools often have no idea what autism is how to cope with it, recognise it. Many schools are ignorant of the range of ld any dc may have and how to help the dc with them. There are no educational psychologists, schools are reluctant to call them in. SENCO are often literally a coordinator who simply fills out forms and makes phone calls rather than has any knowledge or ability of any learning difficulties or disabilities.

There is no transparency or help for parents either. We don't even know that schools don't know.

What I would expect to Happen is teachers would notice at some point or tas, that a child is displaying signs of '' whatever '', they would recognise this because they would have some basic training in these things. Then discuss with dp. Then look at the next steps. Does ep need to be called etc. Ed psyc comes out, does assessment. Says... The ld are mild, try this and that and this and support in school I'll come and assess progress in a year.

The Ed psyc says.. This child needs an echp. I'll refer to local authority with my report.

Local authority issues one bringing in any other experts as needed to form it.

Thank you all. He has some issues with expressive language but apparently it is much better than his receptive language. He cant remember sequences like the order of the months of the year. He cant remember his times tables and concepts are really difficult for him, so he finds maths impossible. The school have never raised an issue with me but we approached them 2 years ago with our concerns. We had him seen privately for a diagnosis of dyslexia and or was a SpLd tutor who I randomly met at a wedding who pointed me to a speech and language therapist. So we arranged a private report and thats when he was diagnosed. I had to wait 4 months to get an appointment as she is so good. The recent report has been like a rocket up the bum for the school.

I totally agree with the previous poster. The school are clueless. If I have one more TA come up to me and say "he was fine' when they had him I will scream. The fact he has always been in their intervention groups from the day he walked in to the school should have set alarm bells ringing. But they dont look at the whole puzzle, it's just a piece by piece approach. I am containing my anger to the school as it wont help.

Now that I know, i can see it. He has poor organisation skills, he definitely struggles with inference and jokes and the SLT said his social initiation skills were below average. That all suggests autism in my untrained view. But he uses eye contact , non verbal cues and is quite social as well. However, his friendship group is very small and contained. He doesnt mind change , but I am aware that he has sensory issues around food. So perhaps autistic traits rather than ASD.

I just feel like the worse parent.

soffy please don't feel bad. Children do go under the radar sometimes. My ds is 15 and was diagnosed with autism at the end of last year. His communication difficulties are very obvious too. His speech and language report says he has significant needs in the areas of social communication and interaction. I can't understand how we got to his mid teens without a diagnosis and his schools not flagging it up before now.

It sounds like you are doing well with pushing the school. Unfortunately you are just going to have to keep fighting them and the system. Getting support for our children with SEN is a battle. Do try the special needs boards on here, others will understand 💐.

Don't feel bad. Yes, it is unusual to go under the radar for so long, most children with DLD I work with are diagnosed at a young age. However, I know children who were plodding along at school, but who started to struggle later on and where only then diagnosed. But school could've picked up on this by now, especially as you've voiced concerns in the past.

I do wonder though if it's just a receptive LD. It sounds like he has trouble with automation (tables, sequences and the like), which could also be part of the dyslaxia (I'm not a dyslexia specialist), and the same for poor organisational skills.

I would push for further investigations really. I see some red flags for ASD and ADHD here, and I think it's worth pushing for further diagnosis as I find it quite hard to believe it's just receptive language. Not saying it's impossible, but it'd be rare

Sorry to hear that Punksutawney Its auute shocking that the system relies on teachers reporting their concerns to SENCOs so the child can be tested , but they're not trained in what to look for . I am sure DS got missed because he's well behaved.

soffy yes it's very easy to ignore the quiet child who doesn't ever cause a fuss.

when Ds was in year 9 we first approached the school with our concerns regarding autism. The Senco initially said 'no problems at all'. We pushed a little and she agreed to talk to his teachers. Many of them then reported that they thought there were issues, nobody had actually said anything to the Senco before then. What makes it worse is that Ds's reception teacher told us that he was 'different' when he was 4, she didn't offer any advice or tell us to see the Senco, so we didn't do anything. Ds is also well behaved in school so it was easy to ignore his significant communication difficulties. He fell apart when he hit secondary.

If I'm honest at the moment the diagnosis has not brought him anymore support but he is managing academically so his school find it easy to ignore his communication, emotional and mental health needs.

Dyspraxia/dyscalculia spring to mind from some of what you've said.

Wouldn't any one think that recognising flags of x difficulties would be part of the most basic training for teachers!
And that SENCO should have proper training?

You might be better investing in an Educational Psychology assessment. Very difficult to access via school, but if you can pay privately it’s worth it.

The school said he will be seen by an EP once the EHCP assessment happens. The DLD website was very helpful, so thank you to whoever suggested that earlier.

That’s the wrong way around in my experience. The Ed Psych information helps to write within the EHCP document what the child needs and what strategies should be used. It also helps evidence the need for an EHCP, which is useful if the LEA refuse to do a EHCNA.

Ok, maybe we need to talk to the person who diagnosed his dyslexia a few years ago then and get them to come back.

The school will have funding for a certain number of EP hours per term. They usually have to prioritise the children who are seen but I would say your son is a definite priority given the input of an EP is vital for the EHCP, the time an EHCP application will take (school have to provide evidence they have supported your son using their own resources for some time and depending on how switched on the SENCo is this can take a while) and the fact that secondary choices are imminent for you. It seems unfair you should have to pay for your own EP assessment.

Generally an EP will want to know what the school has done to support a child, before they make a full assessment. That assessment forms part of the evidence to send to the local authority when an EHCP is requested. The school will be expected to act on the strategies suggested by the EP.