Any SALTs out there? Worried mum could really do with some advice...

[dinkystinky]

Apologies in advance - this is long.

DS1 is 4 and nearly 2 months. For a while now I've been worried about his speaking which can be unintelligible at times as he mixes noises up (t/k, d/g, j/g) - not great that his christian name begins with one of the sounds he cant do. I raised the issue when he was 3 and was told not to worry about it. Raised it again with a different GP when he was 3 and half and got a referral via NHS to speech therapy - about 4 months went by and still hadnt heard anything so forked out alot of money to hire a private speech therapist to come see DS1. She came and met him - and they instantly got on really well - and assessed him and it turns out that he makes noises from the back of his mouth rather than the front which is why he cant make these noises. We booked her for a batch of six sessions and she focused on differentiating between t/k for DS1 - he really enjoyed the sessions and looked forward to them, and enjoyed practicing between sessions with the fun exercises she had given us -but while he made some progress he still cant make a consistent t noise. As he was starting to lose interest, but still trying so hard, and we dont want to give an otherwise confident happy child a complex we decided to give it a break over the summer holidays.

So, out of the blue for today we finally got the NHS speech therapy appointment - I booked off time at work at the last minute and took DS1 along and it was awful. The therapist made a really big thing of how DS1 couldnt make certain sounds and how she was really going to help him (and I could tell from his body language and how he responded to her and her tests he really wasnt enjoying it) and made him play a couple of games with her on t/k noises that really frustrated him as he simply couldnt make the t noises the games needed. He couldnt wait to get out of there. She also was talking about his difficulties over him including needing to get the SENCO at the school he'll be going to from September involved (whereas the private speech therapist said it might be premature to do so) which left me feeling rather uncomfortable - and left DS1 who is a bright child and understood most of what she said very quiet and withdrawn afterwards.

Both therapists have said they're happy to work alongside each other - but I get the feeling that DS1 will enjoy working with the private therapist alot more. So my questions are

• was the NHS speech therapists approach a standard NHS one and a correct one? I'm worried it will dent his confidence and upset him if we continue sessions like today with her.
• am I right to think he'll get more out of sessions with the therapist he connects with more?

Any advice or thoughts really would be much appreciated as am sat here quiet disheartened and sad for my lovely little man.

Yes, you are right he will get more from the therapist he connects with.
It is very appropriate to contact the school and discuss approaches with the SENCo, and BOTH therapists should be involved in this discussion. If you can afford it, pay to get the private therapist to meet with the SENCo and discuss her approach and send her reports to the NHS therapist.
Your NHS therapist sounds young or not long qualified to me. This is not a bad thing as she will be receiving lots of supervision from a much more experienced therapist, but encourgaing her to liaise with the private therapist will help alot.
For your own peace of mind you could look at Caroline Bowen's website, she is a goddess amoung SaLT's when it comes to speech impairment and has a comprehensive website with lots of information, therapy advice and things you can do at home. Your private therapist should have given you some homework for the holiday, low pressure stuff like modelling the correct sounds and praising attempts, possibly making some posters finding objects that start with target sounds. A break from the pressure of therapy is good but totally ceasing work isn't something I would recommend for a break as long as the summer hols, 2-weeks max for a total break.
Good luck x

Thanks TurtleAnn - what surprised me is that the NHS therapist appeared to be mid-forties and was telling me about her many years of experience in dealing with children with speech impediments. I'd have been less surprised at her approach if she was younger/being supervised. Will definitely look to get the therapists to both meet/speak with the SENCo when DS1 actually starts at primary school properly (he's in his last week at the pre-school at present).

We are doing low pressure stuff with DS1 (lots of making up stories with ts in, praising when he says a word really well with a noise he has difficulty making) over the holidays but not just repeating t t t noises over and over again.

I will definitely look at the Caroline Bowen website.

Thanks again.