Do I need to refer my son?

[peetieswie]

The childminder has said they'd like to refer my son to speech and language. He's very shy so I wonder if it's more that, but also his pronunciation is quite hard for strangers. He will be 3 in April.

He says long sentences without having to think about it. He knows hundreds of words.

He says things like 'she's showing it a me' instead of to me.
He pronounces Ls as Ws sometimes, like saying 'I want to go in the wounge' instead of lounge
He can use pronouns like 'you' 'me' and names, and identify that I am both Mummy and Lucy.

I think he is getting clearer every day but they said they and the other children are struggling to understand him. I am thinking I will do a referral but should I be worried?

I doubt from what you have said that he needs a SALT referral at this age. Waiting lists will be long and many children referred at this age will be non verbal or using single words.
Sounds fine to me. Maybe he’s not using as much language at the CM as at home but she could put strategies in place for that.

Thanks, I agree. I felt like he'd only need one if he was barely speaking. He's so chatty and although not totally clear, still attempting complex words and copying things I say.

I had this with one of mine. Health visitor referred, after a long wait she saw the speech therapist who went through assessment, turned to me and said, "why are you here?" I said I had no idea, ask the HV.

He sounds fine to me but if it will reassure you then do it but be prepared for a wait.

He sounds like he’s doing well. It’s a shame she worried you. I’m a retired teacher btw specialising in EYFS/ SEN Advisory teacher.

Thanks. I feel a bit judged if I do nothing. The childminder sent me details or a drop in session with speech and language therapists. It's when my baby normally naps so a bit inconvenient but think I'll take toddler and hopefully they'll say he's fine.

Hi, I'm a speech therapist and everything you've said sounds age appropriate. We wouldn't work on l going to w (gliding) until he was at least 4. Just keep modeling the words to him, but don't ask him to say it back to you. So if he says 'I wove you' just say back 'I love you too' with a slight emphasis on the 'l'

When my son started nursery, I told the staff at look around/induction day that his speech was very poor - I could understand everything but others couldn’t. They said ah he’ll be fine, well understand him, we’ve seen it all before. 2 weeks in they pulled me in and told me they were referring him to SALT 😂😂

Like yours, my son was very shy, youngest of 4 dc, his siblings understood him perfectly and did everything for him. And that was the crux of it. Within only a few weeks of SALT, and me literally sitting face to face with ds, him watching and mimicking my lips on sounds he struggled with, he was talking normally! I felt sooo guilty! I should have realised why he wasn’t talking properly, but I guess life was hectic with 4 dc 🤷‍♀️

This is only my personal experience, and obviously every situation is different. I wish you both well and good luck 😊

Nursery did a referral for my daughter. She was chatty but her pronunciation was hard to understand. We were shocked when they raised it as we could understand her as we were just used to it and assumed it was right for her age. She did go on to have NHS speech therapy and was diagnosed with a severe phonological disorder. Her reception teacher really struggled to understand her but it did improve.

That thing with L sounds is very very common. It doesn't necessarily mean they need language therapy. It's one of the hardest sounds to pronounce. Many children will say it like W or just omit the sound all together so say 'ounge'. for 'lounge'.

The therapy might be helpful though. I can't see it doing any harm just to stop the mispronunciation becoming ingrained.

Thanks for responses. I'll take him to the drop in session and see what they say. Seems it may be useful. From comments, he's either totally normal, or has a severe phonological disorder 🙈😬

Just to update, I took him to the speech and language drop in. They said they weren't concerned and didn't recommend any further testing or intervention. Childminders dropped it after that.