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Original poster

Free speech therapy resources

48 replies

Spudlet · 01/12/2018 18:37

I'm at my wits end here. DS is nearly 3 and has no clear words. He has been referred for speech therapy but we've been waiting for an appointment for 6 months now. We cannot afford private speech therapy - we simply cannot. His hearing is perfect, his understanding is excellent, he has glasses, he does some signing. He is being assessed for ASD.

I need to help him, he is falling further and further behind and becoming frustrated. He's started biting me because he's getting so cross.

We borrowed a babble bag from the library which helped, but it had to go back - I am trying to replicate its contents gradually, but I can't find all the bits to buy.

Are there any good, reputable blogs or sites or anything that will help me to help him? I don't know how to help him. I feel like I'm failing him because I can't help him. I worry so much about whether he'll catch up or just be left to flounder at school. He is so bright, I worry he'll be left behind.

Any pointers or even just a handhold would be wonderful.

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pigcon1 · 01/12/2018 18:47

Sure there are loads but..
Articulation station app.

10 mins daily (2x if you can manage it - diff part of day).
Sending best to you and your DS.

Original poster
Spudlet · 01/12/2018 18:50

Thank you - I will look for it now.

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Annandale · 01/12/2018 18:56

You poor thing. That's a rubbish situation.

Don't be afraid to keep ringing the department, just ask for cancellations, press for a response, anything.

Talking Point is a really good website.

If you are anywhere near a university with a speech and language therapy course, ring the department and ask if any of the students would be interested in volunteering for general play with him - or even babysitting if you can ever afford that. Or see if they have a specialist observation clinic - you might be able to get an assessment through that somehow, though I think usually they would take children who'd already been assessed Sad If you're not sure whether you have a course locally, this slightly bizarre option seems to have the correct list.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

3 year olds Families General parenting SEN
Annandale · 01/12/2018 18:57

I've seen Gina Davies present, she's a speech and language therapist specialising in autism. Have a look at her stuff and see if it strikes a chord. Very hard to do any harm with any of it even if autism turns out not to be an issue.

Original poster
Spudlet · 01/12/2018 19:07

The local university does speech therapy - it never even occurred to me to look there. I'll see what I can find. And I'll have a look for Gina Davies too, thank you.

I saw some friends with children of a similar age last night, and as we were chatting they just kept telling stories about the things their children come out with, like you do. And it was breaking my heart because DS just can't do that. Silly to compare of course, but you know how it is, sometimes it just hits you Blush

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ragged · 01/12/2018 19:43

I had 2 kids go thru SLT & another kid should have.

The first thing they do in SLT is listening skills. This you can do at home. Just trying to get the kids to learn to hear the differences in speech sounds. A big part of this is getting them to watch your mouth as you make the sounds. So they see how the mouth does it. So make eye contact when you start to speak & make sure you face forward so they can see your mouth as you make the sounds. Make sure your own speech is crisp & not too fast.

Maybe it's obvious to everyone else, but something I had to learn. And it helps. You can start doing it today.

Original poster
Spudlet · 01/12/2018 19:48

Thank you. I have noticed he watches your mouth intently now he has his glasses! I sit in front of him as he sits on the loo and we oooooh and aaaaaah and eeeeeee at each other Blush He loves singing as well, so I make up silly songs with different sounds and really exaggerate the mouth movements.

He is starting to copy, especially when he leaps on me from the sofa and makes me go oof or squeak Hmm

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ragged · 01/12/2018 19:53

Those are good signs! keep it up. He's programmed to learn this stuff, just keep giving him opportunities. Don't worry about what he says, but work on his comprehension & keeping it fun. Listening is the foundation skill.

Most SLT, when you get to it, is playing games, btw. Learning thru play.

MoMandaS · 01/12/2018 19:56

What does or doesn't he do? E.g. does he miss the ends off words? Does he use the wrong consonants?

Original poster
Spudlet · 01/12/2018 19:57

Thank you so much, I can't even tell you. Having something I can actually do and hearing from others helps so much Blush

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Littlelambpeep · 01/12/2018 19:58

I think there are a lot of postive signs. But it is awful that there is such a delay. Is he at pre school op? Maybe they could help? Terrible situation for you.

MoMandaS · 01/12/2018 19:58

We've just had what passes for a course of speech therapy with our son (also referred for ASD assessment) - if you'd like to PM me I'd be happy to share what we were taught to do to help him.

Original poster
Spudlet · 01/12/2018 20:01

So basically, he has very few words, and I would say that none are distinct. For a long time, the main sound he could make was 'd', so that features heavily. So he can say yes - he actually, what he says is 'da' - we know what he means but it's not clear. He has particular issues with 'b', and although he can do sssss, often that's closer to th, or even f, so bus is 'duth', bath (a new one tonight) is 'dath'. As he can now make the 'y' sound, we are encouraging him to say yeah rather than da, for example. 'M' sounds tend to come as 'n', and he rarely attempts those words - he's never said Mummy it similar, although he can sign it. He often prefers to sign, or even better to physically take you to what we wants and point to it.

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Original poster
Spudlet · 01/12/2018 20:03

His preschool are great but they want SLT input to tell them where to focus. They've helped a lot though, they are really proactive and a great support.

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Memom · 01/12/2018 20:03

Have you considered trying Makaton (signing Mr Tumble uses) to help with the frustration? Our daughter lost all speech at age 1 and didn't say more than 5 words aged 4 but she could sign anything using Makaton. She went from a screaming, quite violent, frustrated little girl to one who could communicate in a very short space of time. It changed our lives. She is still in the process of ASD assessments etc.but now 3 years on can speak reasonably clearly.

heather1 · 01/12/2018 20:04

Afasic is a really good Charity- they have a helpline. Google speech and language charities in the UK. There is one, I forget which, it offers a free 30 minute telephone conversation with a speech therapist.
Also use sign language - make your own up. I did this a lot with Ds when he was that age. It lessened frustration a lot.

Original poster
Spudlet · 01/12/2018 20:07

We do use Makaton and it has really helped. Frustratingly we were titled by a HV not to do so originally so we lost some time there, but we're on it now.

His glasses are also a huge thing - he got them in August and has blossomed since. His words and signs have multiplied at a rapid rate!

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Original poster
Spudlet · 01/12/2018 20:09

Thanks heather, I will look. I don't know if we'd qualify for much help as we're not skint by any means - we just can't afford the £60+ a session it seems to cost for private SLT. But the NHS service is so overstretched. Sad

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Cantchooseaname · 01/12/2018 20:11

Can you spend some time labelling some of his favourite things with pictures- so cars in box have picture of cars on it, or crisps/ snacks he likes.
He can have ‘choice board with the pictures on of things he can have. Encourage him to point to/ bring you the picture of the thing he wants, then clearly say the single word to label it. ‘Cars. You want cars.’ And immediately give them to him.
Keep choice limited til he gets hang of it, then increase as he gets it. As he becomes confident, when he brings a picture leave a slight pause, he might start to fill it.
Our local authority has an autism specialist teacher team. They work with nurseries, too- maybe give them a call and see if they can offer any support?

Original poster
Spudlet · 01/12/2018 20:14

Yes, we can do all of that. We want to reorganise the living room a bit so we can make some of his toys a little less accessible so he needs to ask us for them, perhaps.

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Cantchooseaname · 01/12/2018 20:20

Perfect!!
www.caudwellchildren.com/services/autism/
I don’t know if this charity can help.
PECS is a great system for encouraging language development.

FinnJuhl · 01/12/2018 20:29

Have a google for the Mr Tongue story. It's a silly story you read to them which encourages muscle strength and tongue articulation.

Original poster
Spudlet · 01/12/2018 20:30

PECS! I thought it was called PIX. BlushIt's been mentioned at preschool - I think they want SALT approval before they start to use it though. I can make a little version for us at home though. He already has a little photo album of all his favourite things and people, and preschool made him one for use there as well - we can do something similar for biscuits and bananas.

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FinnJuhl · 01/12/2018 20:30

Ps. I meant to say that you can download and print it for free.