Speech therapy - worth paying for private?

[Discodolly100]

My son is 2.4 and has glue ear. His speech has taken ages to develop - he's only just started putting 2 words together. (Only said Mamma or Dadda at 18 mtns). He's coming along SLOWLY, but his pronunciation is terrible. My HV isnt concerned - they won't refer him to speech therapy until he's 2.9.
We're looking at paying privately for speech therapy which is going to cost £95 for the assessment then £50 a session. We just really want to get any "problems" diagnosed if there are any - we feel that waiting another 6 months or so is too long if there is a problem.
Has anybody else paid for private speech? Is it worth it or should we just sit tight and wait for things to develop naturally and then use the NHS service if we need to?
Not sure how the glue ear is affecting him - if at all - we're having a hearing test done in 2 weeks.Anybody had any success with speech therapy? Is there any benefit to going private other than getting seen more quickly?! Thanks

if you want him to be seen by your community based SLT's then most have an open referral system- meaning you can self refer.

I would seek NHS SLT's professional opinion before seeking private.

Also, your HV shouldn't refuse you a referral at this point- early identification/ intervention is known to be effective. If you can't self refer and want to see an SLT ask her again.

Large variety of 'normal between 18months- 2 1/2 tears old and putting 2 words together is within 'normal range at 2;04.

also pronounciation often doesn't become clear until 3 +.

another thing you could do is get the number of your early years slt service and chat things through with a therapist/ service manager-where abouts in the country are you?

just to add- the fact he has glue ear (as you know) may mean you ds would benefit from support to develop language /speech sound skills - early referral would make sense as a precaution.

as he's little direct work on his speech sounds probably wouldn't be advisable but an NHS SLT could advice you how to best support and develop his skills and monitor these for you over time to ensure progress.

Hi, I'm in Hampshire - I've spoken to my HV about my concerns lots of times and she's adament that they won't refer him until at least 2.9 years beause the range of development is so broad at this stage. I can understand that I guess. We only got a hearing test for him because we insisted on one - the doctor again dismissed it as "not a problem he'll grow out of it". Not exactly reassuring when you're concerned about speech development!

My HV and GP would not refer ds1 until he was 3, and have since discovered this is standard practice. The reason being is that before the age of 3, there is such a wide spectrum of speech that is considered "normal"
Have to say that as soon as he turned 3, things moved very quickly, and the NHS SALT has been very good. We did consider private therapy, but as ds was more familiar with the NHS SALT group sessions, we thought that would've done more harm than good (iyswim)

hmmm - I'm a bit yes and no - as on the one hand what you describe sounds OK for his age - but equally it's all too easy for parental instinct to be ignored. my DS has language delay, I knew in my heart of hearts things were amiss when he was 2.3, HV and GP fobbed me off - I would say yes, it's very much worthwhile paying for private SALT, but put the idea on ice for a couple of weeks until you have the hearing test result. you don't need frequent sessions, once you have an assessment and personalised advice for your DS then you can do the work yourself, and just see private SALT every 3 months say. Because bear in mind that even once your DS hits the magic 2.9, it could still be up to several months before he gets to the top of the list. The private SALT I saw was better than the very first NHS SALT that DS got (private SALT was very experienced with kids similar to DS). It does no harm getting a child checked out unnecessarily by SALT, as SALT will do things like watch your child play and interact with you, and ask them a few questions, and look at books and pictures - so nothing that will distress the child.

No glue ear experience, but my dd now nearly 6 had private speech therapy through school from about 4 for 9 months. She was 'fronting' ie saying pactor instead of tractor and various other non too serious issues. She was sorted out in that period. Meanwhile her little brother was copying her, so I had him assessed by the same teacher at about 2 and a quarter, and she then recommended waiting until he was at least 3 to see if he would change, with very gentle encouragement to say the right words from us (eg did you mean TRactor darling?) Sure enough the foibles had completely disappeared by then.Hope this helps...

As soon as he's 2.9, get the HV/GP to refer him. The speech therapist we see says the earlier they work with children, the better and quicker therapy works.

Ds is now 4.6yrs, and still attneds some therapy sessions. It's hard work, as speech habits have to re-learnt, but it's so rewarding

@discodolly100 -hi there, could you tell me when he started speaking ?

Hi there. Blimey this seems so long ago. He’s just turned 13! I don’t remember exactly but it did work out fine. He was just a late starter. Certainly by 3.5 he could speak and there was no adverse affects once he started school. I did see a video on Facebook yesterday of him aged 4. He still didn’t pronounce some words exactly right. It seemed like His mouth didn’t form the Correct shapes properly. But over time it’s sorted itself out. We did pay for a private speech therapy consultation in the end when he was 2. Just for reassurance. But no further sessions were needed. It was just distressing at the time because he was so behind others his age. They’re all just different!

Thank you so much for replying this. My son is 2 and jsut sounds so like yours. I do appreciate you replying. It’s so stressful when you’re going through it!

Thank you for coming back on here, when I see old threads I often think 'gosh that child must be a teenager by now and all those problems will be in the past for that family'. My DD is a little delayed in her speech (not quite 18m and lots of babble but no words). Worries my every single day! Thank you for coming to say it can all be ok ❤️