State or private for speech disorder ???

[mummyloveslucy]

My daughter is at a nursery attached to a private school. I would love her to stay at the school as she has friends there and she loves it. The thing is, she has verbal dyspraxia which is a seveere speech disorder.
Does anyone know wether I would have to pay for extra help at the private school?
And would she get more help at a state school?
She does bennifit from small classes as she is not one to push herself forward at all.
Really greatfull for any info.

try asking a SALT? (hope some wander in soon...)
I wandered in because i have a speech impairment (rather than disorder) and went to a private school, where i got on fantastically - socially and academically, which my elder brother and sister who went to local state school reckon i wouldn't have done if i'd been at the same school as them. they thought i'd have been an easy target for the bullies (rife in the school at the time) and this was the main reason initially for me going to the independent. I got confidence speaking because the classes were so small and the whole atmosphere was so positive. Before i went there i never uttered a word in class.
don't know whether this is in any way relevant, just another angle.

Have you spoken to the school attached to her nursery? They should be able to advise you as to how things would work at that school.

TBH all schools are very different, so you need to find out what would hapen at each of your preferred schools.

You would likely have to pay for the extra help in a private school. Their usual Senco teachers will not be qualified in this area, so would need to call in a peri teacher. If there are small class sizes, the classroom teacher will be ina good position to follow the specialist's advice and put into practice the techniques advised.

It depends on the school, what learning support they can offer in-house and what you may have to source externally either on NHS or privately. Some private schools are set up for SN better than others, some can provide general one to one or small group academic support which may not be chargeable in younger age groups but not specialist, some may even steer you towards an alternative school if they feel they cannot cater for your dd's needs and it will affect her ability to access the curriculum there.

LEA run schools are obliged to liaise with the therapists and provide support, with the therpists routinely visiting , and may have specialist teachers attached even for those who are not in a dedicated unit. Our local state school has an area Speech and Language Unit attached and those without a statement in the mainstream classrooms can receive help from the teachers there.

You really need a clearer idea of the problem and likely prognosis for next year ro two in order to approach the school and see what help they can offer and how they would handle your dd's development (produce IEP, put onto School action or school action plus and what that actually means in termso fthe help they'd provide). Has the SALT done a report you can discuss with the SENCO?

gigglewitch- Thank you for that.I could see my daughter doing well at the school she's at for those reasons. At the moment she is a happy, confident little girl.(she does get frustraited though). She is also very sensitive about how she sounds. I couldn't bear the though of her being bullied in any way. The girls at the school all look out for each other it is so lovely, somthing I've never seen before at any school.

She has a report from 2 different salts but they are a bit basic. More has been discovered since they were written. I need to find out what the future is going to hold. She hasn't had SALT in ages and has made no progress recently.

Do you have private health cover?

My daughter starts school in September - she has severe speech apraxia (basically no speech at all) and uses Makaton as well as assistive communication technology.

She is going to a mainstream school that has a language resource unit, and she will have full time 1-1 and daily SALT, and a statement.

I can't imagine she would have got all that in a private school, especially as I understand even with a statement private schools can charge for additional input.

I would imagine for your daughter it would depend on what her current school could offer, and how that compares to local provision.

Definatly Sidge!, that is fantastic. Paying for extra help wouldn't be an opption for us anyway. She would have to come out.

Oh Ladymuck- No we don't have private health cover.

spot on, sidge!

it looks like a big weighing up of options and a lot of research is on the cards for mll...

Mummyloveslucy - have you started the ball rolling to apply for a statement? That should give you some ideas as to what provision might be most suitable for her.

As well as her speech problems my DD also has other physical and learning difficulties, but I am pleased that we have the opportunity for her to go to this school. She will be supported in mainstream, but have access to the specialist provision in the Language Unit, and as she gets older may be able to spend most of her school day in the LU depending on her learning needs.

This whole school lark is so stressful!

Sidge- you're right, it's very stressfull. I have to wait 2 weeks to talk to the SALT. I don't really want to get her statmented as she may well improve so much that she won't need speech therapy. If this happens, she will still have a statement that says she needs help. I'd have to look in to this. It might stop her being accepted for grammer school ect. (If that was ever on the cards, who knows).

If it's just speech and she has a way of making herself understood I would stay at the private school she knows. Like any school they vary. We chose ds2 and ds3's private school because it is inclusive and they cope very well with all sorts of SN - up to a certain level.

If she's not statemented you're going to get bugger all help for verbal dyspraxia in a state school anyway. Unless she's at the level where she needs a 1:1 to function in the classroom (and it doesn't sound as if she is)- in which case it becomes more complicated- (although there is a 1:1 who works in ds2 and ds3's school) I'd keep her where she's happy and to the verbal dyspraxia stuff daily after school.

Verbal dyspraxia varies in its severity. DS1 has it and cannot produce a single word (aged 9- except ear and eye) and probably will never speak because of it, but many children diagnosed with verbal dyspraxia are talking well by the time they're 5. You need to talk to the pros who know her really. Ask the school if they think they can cope as well.

may not be an option as your DD is already in private, but a friend of mine had her son in a state SN nursery where he was getting extra help with speeech delay. when he moved to the private school he continued to get help from the state sector - both one to one and via the staff from the old nursery working with the staff at new school. might be worth investigating

Thank you, yes it's just the speech which is the problem at the moment. She is trying so hard bless her. Her acctual language that she knows and understands is perfect for her age, if not advanced but with the speech sounds not being correct it is very hard for me to understand her somtimes. There are quite a few things she says that people understand without asking me, but not very many.
I do want her to stay at the school where she's happy and the children know her.
It would be heart breaking for her if children at a new school asked her why she can't talk properly. Kids can be very blunt.

don't worry about a statement being a mill stone round her neck for ever - LEAs are only too delighted to be able to sign children off if they no longer need the statement to be in place

and while having a statement might well stop her from being accepted by private secondary schools which would probably mean they wouldn't be the right place for her anyway, if she were academic enough to get into a grammar school then having a statement or not would make no difference

all a statement is is a way of children with extra needs getting appropriate help - it is NOT a stigma

I think if she stays at the school and still has her NHS speech therapy she will be o.k. I can help her after school and she will be in a small class.
She absoluitly loves music too, singing and dancing. The teachers have all commented on how she just "comes to life" when she hears music. She gets totally lost in it.
They have said that this may be the key to helping her with her speech. There is loads of oppertunity for her to sing / play music there which is nice too.

mimsum- I didn't know a statement could be withdrawn if needsbe. That's good. I wouldn't want her to go to any school that couldn't cater for her needs anyway. Weather that's state or private. I would say I don't want her to struggle, but she will have to. It's unfortunate but that's the way it is. She is determined though which will help. She is very sociable and eager to communicate which meens she won't give up. She is a little star really. But then I would say that!

Get a statement (if you can still where you live) - it protects your daughter's rights and gives you choices in terms of schools etc should you need it. Do not assume Health will continue to deliver SALT once Dd is 5 - here is comes through LA Children's Services (education as was) once children are school age and the caseload is huge - we get nothing like the support we did. Finally, think about finding a private speech therapist to help (does the NHS one you like have a private practice?) - the best ones have long waiting lists so you might need to plan ahead.

Sorry - bit off the point as have no experience of private schools - but I would find the school environment that can offer her the support she needs, rather than worry about upheaval at this stage. Lots of children - most maybe - are 'new' to a school at reception.

My son had slight speech delay due to glue ear and has needed speech therapy with certain sounds such as s and sh. I was told by the HV that if I kept him at private nursery school he would not get any speech therapy through the state as the speech therapists only go in to state schools round here..was not too happy to hear this.

In the end he transfered to state school at reception age and has received occasional speech therapy at school..not as much as I'd have liked but his speech is not that bad and so they have probably spent more time with the children who are struggling more with speech. I think if you stay in the private education sector you will probably have to pay for private speech therapy.

Thanks everyone, but what a nightmare! I'll have to ask her SALT wether she will still see her at her private school.
If not, I am going to train as a speech therapist.

Does anyone know how I could find out for sure? I'm not seeing the SALT for 2 weeks.

Google AFASIC who are set up for parents & professionals, they'll have the up to the minute advice. NHS Therapists can go into the private education sector probably easier than I can, as an independent go into the state system. However, NHS, waiting lists are very long. Things will get better after the recent Bercow Report see my web site www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk (under news) for more info on this. Goodd luck