To be annoyed, re speech therapy

[99problems]

Ds (4) has been severely let down by speech therapy service in our area. We have therefore decided to pay for a private assessment of his needs. This was supposed to take place in school as he would be tired after school and she wanted to see how he interacts with other kids. I mentioned this to his teacher at parent's evening recently who said it was fine, she was aware of the situation and had also felt ds had been let down by community speech therapist.

I have just had a phone call from the school office telling me they 'can't accommodate' the private speech therapist - who is due to be assessing ds on Monday. When I asked for further details as to why not the receptionist didn't know, she said because she's a private therapist it's an issue and the teacher is still off sick so I can't ask her. Ds is working a lot with the TA with his speech and lang anyway so it would be in this time she was due to assess him - not standard lesson time.

I could cry! We have been messed around so badly already, I have saved up for this assessment as I don't want ds to suffer any more and now this. The private speech therapist can only do Monday at 4pm (if not in school hours) and ds will be knackered by then.

I wonder if it's CRB related?

Some schools have very strict policies that state a CRB has to be newly issued if the person in question isn't working for the local authority.

I was thinking something along what Worra said.

Did the local service not address your concerns?

Also wondering about CRB. Therapists we use all have this sorted, so shouldn't be the problem. Would make a quick call to SLT to find out their end of the story and then go into the school and speak to SENCO / head /whoever the relevant person is. Would not allow them to fob you off. Find school's reaction a bit strange really.

Can you not keep your DS off school on that day and the speech therapist can come and see him at home??

It is much better for him to be assessed in school (peer interaction, info from teacher is very useful).However I'm sure she can assess him at home if that is not possible.

I suggest you call and ask why the school is not willing for the therapist to come in. If they wont budge just say that unfortunately your ds will then have to be assessed at home/clinic and therefore will be absent Monday am/pm and you will provide an appointment slip if necessary.

That's awful!

We were in the same situation as regards the pathetic NHS salt provision. We paid privately and while it mostly took place at home, there were a few sessions in school... Where the speech therapist was welcomed and listened to by DD's teacher.

Oh that's a good idea I will take him off in the morning if they won't let him. Thing is teacher probably won't be there when I pick him up so may ask to speak to head, or is that OTT? Ds started school in Sep so not familiar with how to handle issues you have.

I know it would be far better for him to be seen in school, I am paying a lot for this (and really am breaking my back saving for it) so wanted the absolute best conditions for assessment.

NHS SALT have been awful - discharged him in November without telling me - complained to her manager and never heard anything back. She lied to me, contradicted herself, and never acted did speech therapy work with ds just gave nursery/TA some activities to do with him.

Private speech therapist knows a number of the staff there and goes into the local schools giving talks to teachers etc so she is familiar.

I don't think it's too much for you to go directly to the head and ask him/her what the problem is. Be nice about it and ask if there is anything you can to to help them accommodating her.

Why don't you ring the Head today and ask why? It's not OTT if the secretary can't answer your question.

But don't threaten to keep your child off as that's a bit silly because they can't change their policy overnight...if indeed it is a policy problem.

I think (if it's to do with CRB cert) the problem has probably arisen because the speech therapist doesn't work for the local authority.

Therefore they probably can't allow her into the classroom without a brand new up to date certificate...and the school can't apply for it as they don't employ her IYSWIM?

I am sorry but I think you are wasting your time (and money!) going privately. Three of mine attend SALT and yes, the waiting list can be long, however they don't actually do a lot of therapy with the child, perhaps a 45 minute session per month it will be up to you to do the work. Ask for a rereferral to another SALT, in the meantime google your sons issues and see what you can do yourself at home. If you go ahead with the assessment then you will probably be made to feel like you should book sessions and this will be extremely costly.

I have also had issues with other specialists and my experience is that you have to keep on your toes and nag remind about appointments etc. Also get your GP to hurry along any appointments.

madmum seriously? Have you ever any how much a year+ wait can affect a child's confidence, personality and behaviour if they are battling with speech issues as well as starting school?

We are STILL on the waiting list for NHS speech therapy. I have stayed on the list to see how long it takes "just in case". No nhs therapy yet, but luckily I have paid for several private sessions and not only did it help me with DD, it helped her school teachers too.

I disagree with madmum - a lot of private therapists are happy to help and advise.

OP when in mainstream my son had his NHS and private SALT visiting him in school (they often went at the same time so they could discuss him afterwards)

sorry assess and advise and not insist on extra session. We have used various private SALTs over the years for both assess and advise and ongoing hands on therapy.

The thing is not only will the assessment be affected, but any subsequent speech therapy sessions. If she isn't able to visit him in school, again it will be 4pm on a Monday, not ideal! And then the teacher will be out of the loop.

We aren't even on a waiting list ds was discharged, but a pediatrician and the teacher both agreed ds needed the support, but the NHS therapy services are spread too thinly and because ds doesn't have behavioural issues he isn't a priority. However it's a matter of time before it affects his socialising, as his and his classmate's play becomes more verbal, as it is hard to understand what ds is actually saying.

I dont think it is 'threatening' worra. The OP's ds needs to be seen by a SLT, ideally at school but if the school can not accomodate then the child should not miss out on the Ax just have it at a different venue.

Ask the school why they can't accomodate - if they don't give a reason I'd be bloody annoyed, they should give a reason. Frame the question as "is there any reason my son can't have his assessment at school?"
If they give a reason you can either: argue against it OR say "ok, but he must have his assessment so I'll get the assessment done at home and bring him in afterwards.

In terms of speech, therapy can't start early enough - and it needs someone who knows what they are doing. School and the teaching environment is socially mediated learning and poor speech is a massive problem and causes friendship problems etc. I expect your son is very tired at the end of the day as he has to concentrate so much at school it exhausts him.

My friend's child didn't get speech therapy and at 8 has the verbal skills of a 4 year old - as you can imagine the friendship problems are high as are his ability to join in any class debate - he gets so frustrated and upset, and sadly, if he had had therapy all this could have been avoided.

Don't let the school fob you off!

I would reiterate the private speech therapy point - our NHS provision is basically doing nothing for Mog, and although the SALT team went into the school in February, I have had no feedback or action plan, just a suggestion that they're going to start doing colourful semantics with her in school. Apart from the usual three PECS sessions, we also had four sessions with a dreadful speech therapist, who thankfully has since moved on, who destroyed my confidence, upset Mog, even managed to upset DS and basically did nothing to help at all. But did shriek AUTISM at us a lot.

I'd hazard a guess that school are worried that you are going to use the assessment to secure a statement of SEN for your child thereby dictating how much and what sort of support the school will be legally obliged to provide.
If I am wrong and it is CRB related which I would doubt because the SALT would be enhance CRB'd if she did any health authority work then suggest that the school ask for a list 99 check from the LEA seeing as she won't be alone with any child that can be done over the phone when the SALT arrives if push comes to shove.

I feel for you, im currently trying to get DS speech sorted before he starts school! Its so infuriating!
Surely it cant be CRB related to have anything to do with children you have to have an enhanced CRB done?

I had exactly the same situation with a private ABA therapist, basically school felt threatened, phoned me up and made a big fuss about her needing to have an appt with the HT beforehand so she could look at her CRB etc. I calmly pointed out as I would have to pay for that meeting, that wouldn't be appropriate, but my therapist would bring all the relevant documentation with her on the day and the HT could feel free to not let her in if it didn't check out.

They are putting a big red line around their 'territory'.

So, yes, you should phone the HT. (And to be fair, she might have got a garbled message and not understand the situation.) So phone her now. Is your SALT CRB checked? If so there are no grounds to refuse her access to your child at school.

That said, I'm not sure if it's important to have him assessed at school, actually. The only benefit will be a brief observation, and the actual assessment will be on a 1:1 basis. Any NHS speech assessments we've had (and there have been many) have been 1:1. So if there's any hassle from school, I would just keep him home to do the assessment at home.

It is CRB related - went to school office after school and the receptionist didn't even get off her backside to talk to me. So I rang ht. She didn't even apologise for the fact that I booked this assessment after two of the teachers told me it would be fine.

She said it's a 'safeguarding' issue, she doesn't have a CRB with this particular school or a school photo/name card. Now what!?

madmum I totally disagree. I have had to use a private speech therapist due to the lack of provision in my area. It is totally dire. My middle child is now in year 1 and speaks reasonably clearly but if I'd waited for the NHS (his assessment made him a 'priority' and we waited over 2 years for an appointment after that!) it simply would't have happened. Yes, you DO have to put work in at home but that's part of responsible parenting, surely? And yes, it is expensive but unless you're trained, you don't know the exact issues your child has. My youngest has some very 'interesting' issues with his speech - the likes of which our speech therapist (who is very experienced) says she doesn't see often. If I googled, I could get help but I couldn't get help which would help me 'exercise' his particular issues without first knowing what those issues are!

She will be supervised by the TA and won't be alone with your ds. Plenty of visitors go into schools without crb checks. I am pretty sure it isn't necessary for non regular visitors who are not alone with children. Fwiw my daughter has been visited by various independent professionals at school. I have never been told they can't come in because of crb check. They are fobbing you off. I would get hold of legal criteria and challenge head on this.

I said to her that she won't be left alone with him but she just said she can't be in a class room around other children. What legal criteria should I be seeking?