should it be up to SALT to tell my ds is falling behind at school surely you'd think the teacher would of said something!!!!

[Nointhemood]

Really pissed of as ds is 5 and in reception class at school. He's been having assessments carried out by SALT as he had a speech problem i was called in after she had been seeing him for 6 wks to discuss his progress. She then dropped a bombshell at the end saying ds was'nt meeting certain standards for his age etc and couldn't process complex information. This was then having a knock on effect with his schooling she then said it becaome apparent he had a 'developmental delay'.

At the time i had ds 2 with me screaming and i was shocked at the term thinking he was 'slow' and all sorts of learning disabllities. I came staright on here where people said she obviously worded it wrong as theres no way she could diagnose it. She didn't say he just had a 'speech and language delay' which may have sounded better or maybe I was just being stupid and didn't understand it myself. Anyway I just bolted tbh as my mind was spinning so after a clear head ive been trying to ring her for the past week to clear some issues. Turns out he does just have s and l delay and he can't process complex instructions and isn't meeting area's in school so they want to investigate further to bump him up for year 1 as he's falling behind.

Obviously now ive got a clearer idea (although not as much info as i would of liked) im going to speak to his teachers. However am i right in being annoyed that they have't spoken to me about him falling behind and giving me advice on area's i could be helping with.This is my first child and i have nothing to compare him with so reply on them to inform me as i want to help him. Feeling like a crap parent tbh.

Sorry, I don't know as my children don't go to school. But I thought I'd bump your post for you int he hope that someone else can help!

If they were investigating I don't suppose they needed you to do anything until they had finished. 6 weeks isn't really that long. It wouldn't have been a good idea to have told you he might have a problem only to discover that he didn't.

They have now identified a problem and are addressing it. That is good isn't it?

FWIW my youngest is behind his targets in school. There was no reason for this - the SENCO investigated - but he still received extra help and is now doing better. Fingers crossed your lad gets the help he needs .

I understand it's a shock to hear something like that but I think they have probably told you almost as soon as they became aware that there was a potential problem. Your ds is in reception, he hasn't been in school long (maybe he didn't even go full days until recently?) and it takes time for the teachers to assess the children, get to know them all individually etc. If the teacher felt your ds had issues, she will then have had to wait for the SALT to assess him, which would seem to have started in mid March.

Given those time scales, it really does sound like they are trying to support you and your son in a far more effective manner than many schools do. Would you not have been equally upset if they had identified potential problems to you in, say, December, without any proper investigations being carried out or any plans put in place to support your son?

Yes, I would definitely speak to the teachers to see what support they can now offer but I wouldn't go in all guns blazing. You will all need to be on the same side to help your ds. It is not your fault that he has some issues so please don't feel crap or like you are to blame, but neither is it the teacher's fault.

Yes you are 100percent correct and don't be bullied by anyone else. I was a school salt b4 a sahm and I was horrified that parents were often called into school to meet with me having no idea why they were there or who I was. IME teachers didn't have time to talk to parents or the training to discuss their concerns sensitively with parents, not their fault just the situation.
As a SALT it was my duty to discuss with parents the reasons and potential outcome of every assessment I planned to use with their child BEFORE carrying it out and schools also have this duty.
My advice would be to ask for a meeting with the SENCO and class teacher so that you can discuss their concerns and they can explain in which areas your child is behind, when they noticed, what evidence they have he is behind and what support he is receiving at the moment and how you can support him at home.
I also would say 5 is still very little and lots of kids seem to be behind when really they just have summer birthdays. For any child identified at 5 as having difficulties there is lots of time in school ahead of him to get the right input and make a difference.
Good luck, you are the mum, the expert on your child and you have a right to know what is happening every step of the way before it happens.

Agree with TurtleAnn 100%-I have found our SALT to be invaluable as a source of honest and open support-she tells it like it is even if its difficult to hear-I have found school skirt around the subject almost as if they are afraid of upsetting you-and I agree lack of time is a major problem. IME I found the direct approach of the SALT far more useful-at least I know where I and my DS stand. It also means when she said he WILL gain normal speech I believe her. I remember your post from before and I wd say I know how awful it is but speech and language delay is dealable with I promise. My DS processing was also pretty poor in the classroom-he simply couldnt discriminate instructions in a noisy environment-our SALT went into school and just gave them some strategies to help them and him cope and whilst things arent great now, he has improved hugely and he has more complex problems thatn your DS with ASD and motor dyspraxia. In Fact now his speech and language is actually the least of his problems.
Really hope your DS gets some good input and help.Definately ask to meet the SENCO and ask what strategies they propose to use to help him in the areas he struggles with

Just want to say thankyou very much i have made an appointment with ds teacher and will be asking lost of questions and asking them to keep me informed in future especially if any new arises or if i can help in any way.

OK there's a little something, I'm not sure if it applies, but there are two types (generally) of speech delays, Receptive and Expressive. With expressive, the child understand everything at the expected level for age, but cannot formulate words/sentences expected for age. Receptive is when their understanding is not at the level expected for age. It is obviously a lot more complex then that, but it is difficult to diagnose the receptive delays.