Speech therapy 5 year old

[ByDreamyMintNewt]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has any help or tips they can offer...

From the age of around 3, I started having concerns about my daughter's speech. She understands everything and talks a lot, however she is 'missing' a lot of sounds and now aged 5 sounds very toddlerish when she speaks. She also has a slightly strangled sounding vocal tone, like she's talking from the back of her throat. I'd also say that she finds it hard to pick up new words and has a few strange grammatical things, like saying "them ones" which isn't something anyone else in the family says.

When I voiced my concerns to nursery (when she was 3) she got referred for hearing test, which she passed. Then on to speech therapy after that. She started session in September (when she started reception) but has only had 1 so far! She has one more in late March in the calendar, but surely this isn't enough? They left with exercises to practise and diagnosed as 'speech sound delay'. Looking into private, we simply can't afford it.

Does anybody know of anything else I can do to help her?
Is this likely something that will improve otherwise?

Thanks

My DD could understand everything we said but did need SaLT. When you speak to the SaLT next ask about the quality of your DD’s speech. If she has a strangled sound, I would want her vocal cords checking. It’s a fairly simple examination by one of the ENT Doctors.

How is she getting on at School? Have they raised any concerns?

Thank you for the reply. I will ask about her vocal cords. She also sounds quite nasal when she talks.

She's doing well at school otherwise - picking up phonics well, starting to read and write independently. I've discussed her speech with them, but as she is already receiving speech therapy I don't know if there's much more they can do. I worry about her socially as time goes on and her peers start to notice that she sounds different.