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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Speech therapy for 4 year old

18 replies

youcandance2 · 17/12/2009 14:13

This is my first time posting so hope I'm on the right thread. My 4 year old DS is waiting for a speech therapy assessment, we've been told that it will take about 9 months for the assessment. The senco at his school said it could take 18 months for him to be seen for actual speech therapy. We are thinking of paying to have him seen privately but have no idea how to choose a therapist and his school aren't able to offer any advice. Can anyone offer any advice? or has anyone got any experience of speech therapists in the Liverpool area?

OP posts:

Lauree · 17/12/2009 14:42

Hi. I can't really offer any advice, but that does sound a long time!

you could try the special needs boards as well, there's a lot of experience with SALT's over there
x

DaftApeth · 17/12/2009 14:56

You can search for a private therapist in your area using this website.

You need to find someone with experience and expertise in working with children.

I would probably wait to hear from the slt department before deciding on going privately because some areas are much quicker than that. It would also depend on how severe I felt my child's difficulties were and how much they were affecting their education.

You could also try contacting the slt department directly to get an idea of how long it would be before being offered an assessment. There should be a time limit within which you should be seen - it used to be 12 weeks, I think, when I worked.

Original poster

youcandance2 · 17/12/2009 19:58

the slt department told me it would be around 9 months for the assessment. DS has a problem with the clarity of his speech, I won't say it is a very severe problem but am concerned that it should be sorted out sooner rather than later so it doesn't cause him any problems at school. I was thinking (maybe a tad optimistically) that if we went private then the issues may have been vastly improved by the time we get the slt department appointment through

OP posts:

DaftApeth · 17/12/2009 20:46

It probably depends on how good his attention is as to whether he would be ready for therapy at this stage. Some 4yr olds find it tricky to sit and concentrate in a therapy session and so, may not be ready yet.

What sort of sound difficulties does he have and how difficult is it for him to be understood?

sybiltherednosedreindeer · 17/12/2009 20:54

At 4 my ds was virtually unintelligible his speech was so bad. The NHS speech therapy unit was overwhelmed and we were offered 4 30 minute sessions for the year. When I mentioned I was considering going private they reccommended a former colleague and urged me to do so. He had one 30 minute session every fortnight for a year and it made a huge difference. He started nursery with the teachers not being able to understand him at all, and started school being understood virtually all the time.

If you can afford it, then I would definitely do it.

Original poster

youcandance2 · 17/12/2009 20:59

DS has pretty good concentration, he doesn't seem to be aware of any issues about his speech although sometimes he does get a bit frustrated when we have difficulty understanding a word. I don't know if his lack of awareness is a good or bad thing in terms of speech therapy.We haven't identified any particular sounds he has trouble with and he is not completely unintelligible. We asked his health visitor to assess him before he started school and she said she could understand 90% of his words and didn't refer him on. He often lisps when he speaks but I don't think that that is the main problem with understanding him. Sometimes he is clearer than other times

OP posts:

Original poster

youcandance2 · 17/12/2009 21:05

sorry sybiltherednosereindeer our posts overlapped. the SLT unit here wouldn't recommend anyone and neither would the school I've had a look at the link DaftApeth gave to find a speech therapist but I suppose I just don't know how to decide who to choose! There are quite a few in our area. Maybe I should phone a few and see who I like the sound. If you go private does the speech therapist have any contact with the school?

OP posts:

DaftApeth · 17/12/2009 21:25

Yes, phone a few and ask what they charge for an initial assessment (probably fairly similar but they may charge mileage to travel to you) and what they will do and what is included in the price of the initial assessment i.e. whether liaising with the school is included, a programme of ideas to do at home (useful even if you go ahead with therapy sessions), a chat with you to go over the report.

Ask them how long they have been qualified and what experience they have.

Also, ask where they would see your ds to assess him - some would want to come to your home (is that possible?) or maybe see him in school.

By speaking to a few of them, you will get a feel for one that you like best. Having someone you get a positive 'vibe' from is important if you are contemplating giving them lots of money for your ds.

I would probably go ahead with an assessment and take it from there. You will have no obligation to use her for therapy.

Original poster

youcandance2 · 17/12/2009 21:58

thanks for the advice DaftApeth I think I'll start ringing around tomorrow. On the website you linked to most seem to do home visits so that might be the easiest option to start with. His school said they had never had anyone who had gone private before so I don't know how easy school input would be. Things will hopefully become clearer once i've spoken to a couple of therapists and ask how things normally work in this situation.

OP posts:

SleighGirl · 17/12/2009 22:00

Make sure you get his hearing tested too, I ended up having dds hearing tested privately her hearing was quite appalling yet had sailed through the NHS hearing test

ChasingSquirrels · 17/12/2009 22:07

it might be woth having look to see if any of your local children's centres have drop-in SALT sessions?

I took my nearly 4yo to one on Tuesday and was much reassured by the SALT I saw. We had 30 mins with her, she did an assessment of him, talked about the sounds he was missing, the delay in his language development, gave me ideas for things to do etc.
I had been told that the waiting list was about 12 months, however she said if it is wasn't improved alot in 4 months to go back to a drop in and I would get a quicker referral.

TotalChaos · 17/12/2009 22:11

I live in Liverpool, and used a private speech therapist - similarly had a 9 month wait for assesssment, sorry things haven't improved. My DS's problems weren't with pronunication but with understanding and expression of language. I used the website recommended by DaftApeth, used a SALT with the initial EB on there, she was very very good indeed - but specialises more in ASD type problems than pronunciation. In terms of schools - it's up to the school really as to how far they take on board private SALT recommendations or whether they allow private SALT in to observe. Assuming you want them to liaise with the school!

Original poster

youcandance2 · 17/12/2009 22:15

I'll ring the children's tomorrow to see if they have a drop in. I hadn't really thought about getting his hearing tested as although his speech is unclear he knows exactly how the word should sound so if we guess at words that sound very similar to the one he is trying to say he can hear the subtle differences (if that makes sense??) maybe I should cover all angles though?

OP posts:

TotalChaos · 17/12/2009 22:17

hearing test is bogstandard precaution for any language problem - should only take a few months for the appointment. doubt that the childrens centres will have a drop in - but maybe things have improved since my DS was a preschooler.

SleighGirl · 17/12/2009 22:18

speech can also be affected by auditory processing which is a brain function - hearing and speech is a very complicated process!!

My dd good hear the difference between what we said but not hear well enough to learn to say the sounds herself IYSWIM. I would always get hearing tested out too.

LIttleMissTickles · 17/12/2009 22:25

Hi YCD2, my DC2 has similar issues to what you describe. Her nursery teacher expressed concern that they cannot always understand her when she tells them about things out of context. We had her hearing tested privately (seeing as we have private insurance), it was just within the normal range. Had it tested again 6 months later, and it was then well within normal range, but clarity of speech had not really improved. At 3.9yrs old we then went for a private speech assessment with SALT.

It was an hour long session, and she gave excellent advice and recommendations. She also telephoned nursery teacher with advice for them. We'll be going back for another check with her in 3 or 4 months' time to evaluate progress and need for further intervention. The initial hour session was 120 pounds (London), follow-up sessions are significantly less. It felt like money well spent.

GP was not interested and recommended we wait a year or two before we did anything. I would rather do all we can as early as possible, but that's just me.

Good luck!

SleighGirl · 17/12/2009 22:32

My dd could not be understood out of context (we struggled let alone at pre-school!). Her hearing was normal in the mid frequency range, too sensitive in the lowest frequencies and poor in the highest frequencies so what she heard was distorted.

All the first sounds of s f z v she couldn't say and the others such as b & d sounded the same and she used lots of substitution when she spoke. One time we spent 10 minutes trying to work out that her word for flannel was actually rapunzel!!

She's had one lot of speech therapy (6 sessions) but also had johanssen sound therapy so now her hearing is pretty much A1, an amazing transaformation.

ChasingSquirrels · 17/12/2009 22:33

I was surprised on the drop-in SALT, but the children's centres really seem to have taken off recently.
Here (Cambs) there are about 15/20 centres within around a 10/20mile radius of the city. The SALT drop-in is only at one of these, I expected it to be packed but we were the only ones there for the SALT this week at that time.

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