What will happen at toddler's SALT appointment?

[BernardBlack]

DS is just 2, but has zero words (other than a kind of 'wow' noise). No real animal noises, no attempts to make any recognisable word sounds. Has once or twice made 'brum' noises with his cars. He used to babble more than he does now but even then we only got as far as 'mamama' when he was upset. His understanding seems good, he can follow instructions when he chooses too! and he points at what he wants/things he's interested in and makes noises at them usually shrieks. He will drag me off the sofa and point to the fridge if he wants milk, for example. Any attempts to sit with him and try to encourage him to make sounds lead to him physically pushing you away so he can go and play, and he's not interested in hearing stories though will flip through books with you and point at the pictures. So we're not getting very far with him ourselves.

Anyway, we've self-referred to SALT this week on the advice of our childminder. The waiting list is quite long, so he may well be 2.4 before he's seen and hopefully we won't need the appointment by then! But I was wondering if anyone can tell me what they're likely to do with him, will we go there or do they come to us, etc.

Also if anyone's been in the same boat some reassuring stories would be nice!

Sorry no stories but watching this thread with interest. My son will be 2 this month and is exactly the same. He will sometimes say 'here' when he passes you something. We've been to a drop in SALT session at our childrens centre which referred him for Audiology to check his hearing (which was fine) and that's about it. Everybody is telling me not to worry but it's hard when all his little friends are chatting / counting / naming colours etc.

I know original, I was waving to a little girl in the supermarket who was clearly much younger than DS and she was saying hello really clearly to me, which was lovely but also a bit gutting! Might have a look and see in my childrens centre has a similar thing...

Yes I expect they will refer for a hearing test. If they aren't hearing certain frequencies it may appear that they can hear but they are actually missing out on the full sounds.

SALT came to us but might be different in different areas. As far as I remember she brought a simple game and picture book. The sessions are quite fun and relaxed because they want the dc to enjoy it.

She told me any communication (pointing, dragging you off the sofa etc) is good news and to be encouraged. Don't be tempted to try and make them talk. Just keep things simple, say "shoes" when you put their shoes on, "drink" when you have one etc. Once they start saying that you make it a bit more complicated and give them simple sentances "red shoes", "light on" etc.

Games like Pop Up Pirate are good because you can shout "POP!" together. Its important to take turns because they need that to have a conversation.

Also choices, "green trousers or blue trousers?" "green or blue?" and let him point to the one he wants. He may need to learn that communication is useful because he can use it to get what he wants!

Its not just about what sounds they are making but looking at their concentration, interaction etc.

My ds was making less than 20 words/sounds at 2 and was very hard to understand. He suddenly blossomed and started saying loads of words - could have been a coincidence but I think tips from SALT did help. His pronounciation is still poor but is improving all the time.

Thanks Ekorre, that's very helpful. I'm worried he won't engage with the assessment, he's very wary of new people and it takes quite a while for him to stop hiding from them! We do quite a lot of the repeating single words stuff already, may try to give him more choices but he usually just looks at us like 'what do I care?'! Am glad your DS is making progress

My DS is 22 months old and has been referred to a SALT. The first meeting was getting to know him and what the general concerns were, he also very wary of new people and likes to be by himself but this woman was good at interacting with him she used toys/bubbles and it grabbed his attention albeit it not for long. They've enrolled him on a short course with a couple of other children along side his SALT. He had already had a hearing test before the SALT appointment.

DD1 was referred at this age, and after an initial consultation was given a five day course - 45 minutes every day for a week. She used the sound card thingies (I hope someone will know the names), which encouraged use of a sound with a picture cue - for example one had a picture of a gorilla on it, and you'd go 'g, g, g...' whilst pounding your chest. This really helped her sounds - but I'm not honestly sure how much it helped her speech.

Unfortunately in our area, it is now only possible to go on the waiting list for speech therapy once the child is 2 and a half. And they tend to offer you group therapy first, as it's a shorter waiting list. I accepted this for DD2 and it was useless (although, in fairness, DD2 thoroughly enjoyed the sessions). If you get offered group therapy turn it down and wait for one-to-one SALT. I think the nature of speech delays are that they are so individual groups just don't work.