Moondog - quick opinion please (pretty please)

[BuffysMum]

dd aged 4.5 can speak well enough to do okay in the speech assessment she was given at about 3.5, has in the past had one batch of speech therapy as said things like gog for dog and gonkey for donkey. Has ongoing glue ear issues but not constantly bad enough hearing to get grommits.

Problem is when she starts speaking in sentances her speech can be very difficult for us as parents to understand. She finds it difficult switching between front of mouth & back of throat sounds. Obviously this is a huge problem in sentenances but this is not how she gets assessed.

Her reception teacher back in Oct says yes she does need to be on SEN list I am not being neorotic but do I ask for another speech assessment and keep pushing etc because she is always going to pass as individuals words are mostly okay for her age but Iknow by the time she is 6 she is going to be behind with the more tricky sounds but they don't normally do anything until they are already 6. She is very young for her age and I think the difference is slowly getting bigger and she is getting further behind.

Am I making sense at all? Any advice/tips. TIA

bump!

I'm not a speech therapist, but DD1 has been referred for SALT and OT, as she is dyspraxic, and we are already working w/her nursery concerning her needs. She is 3.6 and mumbles.

I'd start squeaking the wheel!

How do you mean that she is not assessed in sentences?
Salts would be looking at connected speech and not just words in isolation.

It isn't uncommon for a 4.5 year old to have disordered speech.This alone isn't a reason to pt someone on an SEN register. Are there other problems?

Push for another salt assessment.Teachers are in no position to comment on these aspects of a child's development.
If there is a big waiting list,might be worth going private for a one off assesssmnet if money not a problem. Should cost about £100.

Her first speech assessment I think she was 3.5 they asked her what things were in a book ie individual things like dog, house, stick etc etc etc, tbh she would hardly have said anymore as her speech was generally delayed and she doesn't like new people/experiences. So nnow with the improvements we have worked on in isolation the words are pronounced correctly but in sentences it becomes more pronounced.

I told the school before she started that I was concerned about her hearing and speech (she failed her 3rd test which was in the summer - that was awful I was nearly in tears realising how bad it must be some times- but passed her next one) so they've been supportive in getting her in the system but they are concentrating on her hearing and the waiting list for speech seems never ending.

It seems a bit chicken in the egg - she gets glue ear, her brain then has to relearn to hear properly, she gets glue ear etc etc in the meantime she does not seem to realise that she says words incorrectly I feel like at some point I am going to have to teach her 50% of the first 500 words she has learnt.

Part of me thinks she will get there another part of me thinks as a summer baby she is just getting further behind she often gets the wrong end of the stick and working out what she is trying to explain takes a lot of guess work not because of her poor speech she just generally seems to find it hard to express what is going on in a way that others understand.

Anyway I will check out what is happening with the SALT and if need be will get a private assessment. At what age do you do assessment in sentences not individual words? I'm in Surrey btw

Buffy,what you describe is very common but rest assured,most kids to catch up and the best thing to do is to be aware of the fluctuating hear loss that comes with glue ear and take steps to remedy this (eg place child in front of the class,look at her when you speak)

I don't do this sort of work any more ( I mostly deal with non verbal people with severe learning disabilities) but at this stage,connected speech would be assessed as naturally many people can say words well in isolation but not so well when talking normally.

If you want to find a private salt,the best register for approved salts is this

Look for somoene near you who specialises in
Phonology (speech sounds and patterns)

Thanks - problem with her hearing is that they only run the clinic once per month when the consultant is there who would then put her on the list for grommits so I'm supposed to realise when it is bad and then ring up and if they have an appointment on that day of the month get one???????? We go every 3 months and we're staying at the hospital rather than referred to community because of the speech issue. She sits at the front of the class and we try to make sure she has heard us but you can never rule out selective deafness or if it's just the time lag.

2 weeks until next hearing test - it was awful Dec & Jan but no doubt it will be fine in 2 weeks time grr.

Thanks for your help I shall try to stay chilled.