To be fed up with speech and language therapy

[MisterPip]

Dd sees a number of nhs services, all busy, but salt are frustrating!

Most recent two weeks notice to go to a parent session, in which they will give you the dates for therapy... Which turn out to be the following three weeks middle of the working day. I doubt many people can book short notice time off for weekly sessions. Last time I had to say no, 1 weeks notice for five weeks of sessions at midday, so no chance of going in late or leaving early, needed whole day off. So she simply never had the therapy. It's like the secret service, meet at x and await further instructions, non attendance for any reason means discharge.

My work are good, but she's seen at multiple clinics and therapies. I end up feeling guilty. But I work out of necessity!

Her language is assessed at 12 months, she's a month off three, but again I can't coordinate child are for others and time off at short notice.

Every other clinic allows some level of working with parents, or at least three months notice. Salt are both disorganised and frankly the only service I find useless. I get insight such as 'look at her when you talk' or 'limit TV' from a student who looks blank if I ask anything off script. If I meet say the epilepsy nurse or hearing support they sen to actively want to work out the box.

I know I'm ranting, but is it just my area? Or is this what salt is?

I have had the opposite experience to you. I find them really helpful. Mind you, I'm a sahm so able to attend without restrictions really.

You're not alone. They said my son wouldn't benefit from some group therapy as well but made the times at nine and quarter to three. I struggle to get a babysitter for my one year old at eight in the morning and I need to be back by three to pick up my eldest. Silly times.

It's hard big at the same time they only have limited time available and can't cater for everyone especially when things are taking place over a while.

Tbh it's part of the reason I moved to agency work to give the flexibilty because I couldn't be everywhere at once

I found them terrible too. DS2 was assessed as needing help, (after 2 years of me fighting for it). They assigned him to the group sessions therapy, but never assigned him a group because there 'were no other children that had problems with the same sounds he did'. So he didn't get anything at all.

After more jumping and down from me, we finally got some exercises and material sent to the school and in the end that was the only therapy he received...

They do EVERYTHING they can to make sure you fall off their books IMO.

I understand the frustrations as a parent honestly but as a professional I think YAB a BIT U. Its like a colleague explained the other day, we are always being told we are inflexible and should be catering to working parents more, which to an extent I agree with, but how come parents are able to take their kids for their injections/health checks without demanding the doctor see them on a day they dont have work?

I'd understand fixed appointment, but honestly what is the justification for giving very little notice or even worse withholding dates from parents even when they are set? I pushed on the phone to find out when sessions were, they were planning to tell parents on a Friday a block of therapy started the following Tuesday. I see no logic in that

I feel for you. It is one of the reasons I had to give up work.
Is there only one venue for the sessions. I live in a rural area and HC professionals were often in different parts of the county on different days, so I was sometimes able to drive further but get an appointment on my day off (I only worked part time after having DD) to save using up all my annual leave to get to appointments.

I feel your frustration but it sounds Iike a difficult situation.
In the interests of balance for anyon reading this and about to embark on SALT we had the opposite situation with DS. They were flexible accommodating and really dedicated to him. He is now not having sessions as his stammer has resolved (entirely thanks to SALT) but if we ever have recurrences then we can just phone and will get an appt no need to new referral. His therapist was dedicated, professional and had a real affection for DS and it's changed him from a shy boy struggling to express all of his ideas to a confident chatterbox doing well at school. We owe it to the SALT who helped DS be the boy he always was inside.
I wish that you could have the same experience.

I've been involved with SALT for 14 years - and yes NHS SALT is generally crap.

Have had some great SALTS over the years but have had to pay them or barter services to get them.

It was better for a short time a few years ago but is now really crap again.

My experience of nhs salt is if it can't be fixed in 6 weeks, forget it.

If you can access SALT via education it is usually better (although even that is ropey now - just waited 7 months to see a SALT whose office is on the same corridor as ds1's classroom - despite ds1 being in crisis & every multiagency having every other professional saying 'we need SALT. Oh we still need SALT. Oh yes another month has gone by & things are spiralling out of control but yep we still need SALT')

One of the reasons why (along with a lack of appropriate child care) I've been unable to work, having 3 kids with multiple complex needs including ASD. I've not just found this with SALT but also CDC, CAMHS, OT, physio...

The experience that I had when dd2 saw SALT and now ds sees SALT was vast - it is the same department, but their difficulties are very different.

Dd2 had a very marked stammer, she had weekly speech therapy, in the home, very flexible, SALT's mobile number if ever I wanted to chat. Great follow up when her stammer was resolved (with flare ups)

Ds is disabled an involved with a number of different departments, he is non verbal, had feeding difficulties causing him to aspirate - we waited months to be seen in the first place, have had no consistency, with several different SALTs (some good, some bloody awful) - assessments haven't been done, targets haven't been set, it takes weeks to get a phone call back. School have complained, because they have no support with his talker (he uses an AAC device). We ended up organising our own Makaton courses, and have pretty much worked on our own. He last saw a SALT 6 months ago, before he was issued his talker, and she didn't even tell me that she was coming in to see ds.

It is very frustrating, because I see a similar problem with my work (which is with children) - if targets are easy to set, and meet then we see a lot of the SALT service, but when it is more complex, us and the parents seem to have to fight for any sort of consistent input.

That's interesting hazey, when I'm at the CDC I see stammering groups etc displayed, but others parents I know whose children are less straightforward have similar experience to me. My dad's sounds are pretty good, she talks jargon or nonsense word strings with confidence, yet her understanding is barely key word level and her language is of little functional use. It's all chatterbox, speech sounds and confidence building. The latest one has a behaviour focus, dd is well behaved, except if she doesn't understand. If you sign or gesture she complies.

Other depts are ok, CDC about two months notice, others similar or longer. Hearing and nursing are amazing

Oh and dd took 13 months and referrals from hearing support, epilepsy, nursery, com pead, hospital pead, gp and hv before salt stopped doing the "we will call you back" lie. People meeting her often ask about referral pretty quick

When DS had SALT input at home (before he started School), I found that the individual therapist who came was willing to get her diary out and match up with mine so we could agree a date for his next session. It worked really well.

With DS2 it was more difficult, but I found out that the SALT team ran an 'open clinic' as part of a local Sure Start group. Nobody told me this, and I had never heard of the Sure Start group. I found out completely by chance when I was in the same building for some training with work. I bumped into the SALT and she told me what she was doing there.

Honestly, why would they withhold that information? Just odd. It was a regular fortnighly drop in, where anyone could go

Personally I would rather get an appointment at short notice than have to wait for one for ages!

Yes proffessionals should have some flexibilty but so should parents. With anything group based that flexibilty is harder as they match children with similar needs so it can't really be flexible.

Totally agree, frustrating to deal with, quick to try and get you off their books and don't get me started on the quality of their resources. I understand they operate on a shoestring but I would have more pride in my profession to allow crappy photocopied sheets with pictures circa 1974 and broken, dirty toys to be used in my therapy sessions.

I should probably say. Dd is down for 1:1 therapy, not group, I'm not expecting them to fit groups round me!

I work in sen in education and I'm master of a shoestring budget, but I have pride in mine! Luckily with my job I'm familiar with your standard salt advice so I think I do alright by dd, I just feel it's getting to the point of more specialist inputt, or an assessment that is useful

how come parents are able to take their kids for their injections/health checks without demanding the doctor see them on a day they dont have work?

Because I get the appointment a month or more in advance, and it's always been before 10:30 on a Thursday morning, happens occasionally not weekly ...
And if we can't go that week (actual example: DD1 was in hospital for an operation) they're helpful about re-arrangi.ng

Yanbu

my experience has been a waste of time. they keep doing "assessments" yet I've never had a report despite being told I'd he posted one. each "session" seems to be me basically repeating what I told them.the time before, no actual therapy and a few suggestions of what to do at home

everything's been so erratic and far apart that results if the assessments are probably void how anyway.

and given they can't even remember what setting she was at bow the hell do I know they are even looking at the right child

I found the same as devillishpyjamas that accessing SALT in education is better. Both DD's have needed SALT - DD2 saw a Salt at the CDC from ages 2-4 and I really found they just wanted her off their clinics. Fortunately, with a lot of time and support from us and later her nursery things did improve.

DD1 has a terrible stammer and I can't fault the help we have had from the SALT. She was referred at the age of 6 and was assessed in a clinic and they then saw her in school. I think it is better for her to see them in school as they can link with her class teacher and things are implemented at home and school consistently.

Yes I understand what you mean YBR but there as another poster upthread said needs to be a bit of flexibility from all. And fwiw I feel doctors should accomodate out of work hours my point is for other agencies at times there is an expectation for them to bend over backwards

When my dd was small and had speech problems ,we were awarded DLA for a period of time. As we waited so long for spech therapy we were going to use the money to pay privately. In the end we got the speech therapy and didn't need to go private, but could this be an option for you? Then you could arrnage it at a time convenient for you.

Oh someone (is it cerebra?) gives a voucher for private SALT. Might be worth looking into.

NHS SALT for complex conditions is just hopeless. I don't know why the NHS even pretends it provides a service to complex kids, it just doesn't.