I'm a paediatric speech and language therapist... AMA!

[SpeechandLanguageTherapist]

12 years NHS experience working with children aged 18 months to 18 years.

Acutely aware that actually being able to speak to an NHS therapist these days is getting harder and harder.

Happy to answer anything I feel able to - I've worked with most areas of need over the years, but if not in my remit I'll say I'm not sure 😊 Maybe someone else who has more experience will be able to answer instead.

Another one about toddlers with additional languages :)

My DD (3.5 years old) speaks well for her age but I find that her vocab and sentence structure is not as good as those of some of her peers (in English).

So I wonder if it's due to the fact that I speak a foreign language to her 60% of the time? (My mother tongue..)
She doesn't speak the foreign language at all but understands most of it.

I want to persevere, as I firmly believe in the benefits of bilingualism, but it's such hard work, and the benefits are almost invisible at this stage...

What do you think about all this and is it normal?

DS 10 still doesn't pronounce L properly (uses a W sounds instead) he can make the L sound but doesn't. Will it rectify naturally? Thank you so much

Why did you choose paediatric instead of adult speech therapy? How did you know which type you preferred?

Oh and his R sound is off to, he sometimes is at Jonathan Ross levels other times not so bad.

How easy is it to unlearn an incorrect way of speech. My son had a massive speech delay which coincided with covid so never got to see a speech therapist. He is 6 almost 7 and has issues with his 'r" sounds but it's mostly his "s" sounds which actually come through his nose. Any ideas of things we can work on to correct this. Thanks 😊

I've been so deeply shocked at how minimal the support is for my non verbal autistic child who is 4. We have two short blocks a year where the SLT just tells me to do everything we are already doing. Do you think it's just a case of patience, can experts actually help in this case? Or would it only help if we say someone much more often? What can be achieved by such little contact?

Ohhh - would love your opinion on my child. Has moderate to severe hearing loss in one ear - doesn't hear the high and low sounds. Doesn't enunciate all sounds with a bit of a "lazy tounge" (as mentioned as a pre-schooler pre diagnosis), especially r's. Child is now 10 - would speech therapy benefit?

Obviously under NHS for hearing but SLT is hard to get and not sure it's severe enough to justify under current climate. Lucky to be able to afford private just haven't wanted to rock boat as child happy, would hate for them to be conscious later in life and not stepped in earlier!

Thanks - sounds like a rewarding job

How should a parent support a child with a developmental language disorder?

What do I need to ask/understand to help him?

Are there any resources/books you’d recommend ?

I'm a HCP so have a keen interest in the MDT. What percentage of children with language delay turn out to have a learning Disability? What percentage of language delay is down to neglect ?.

Thank you

Can there be a generic cause to SAL needs? I had SALT as a child and both of my children did too. We all have a very good level of intelligence and comprehension but it was the actual clarity of our speech that was an issue. We spoke and read loads to our children, and despite feeling paranoid that maybe my children were picking up my bad speech, I’m told I speak normally.

Are there just some families where clarity of speech comes later than usual. Both my children now are above average in their speech and use of language- yet at 4 were not able to be understood by adults they didn’t know.

There are a number of sounds my 3 year old cannot make. Any video that help show bridge sounds to get to the actual sounds?

Has your child had assessment for learning disabilities? Have pictorial options been offered as well as spoken language? Has anyone told you about makaton?

How hard is it to get accepted on a speech and language assistant apprenticeship? Is this route just as competitive as applying for a degree and doing the full qualification?

@PaPaturday the 'j' sound is just d-y together. For example 'd..yam' for jam. It's just that we say it faster. You could try working on j words like this for a while, slow it down and see if it helps at all.

Do you think lazy language such as teaching babies to say "ta" rather than thank you leads to language development problems.

Also how many children with significant ear problems but clear language despite it, are overlooked?

How do your prepare patients/parents for the sudden drop in service when they enter adult services when there is no longer maintenance therapy and only goal related input?

26 month year old easily has over 300 words and can say up to 7 word sentences but struggles with answering questions other than yes and no questions
eg.

what did you have for lunch at nursery today?
yes!!
did you have spaghetti
yes! I love spaghetti! I had spaghetti at lunch.

age appropriate?

Sorry I'm a first time mum here. My daughter will be 1 next week and she kind of babbles, noisily squeals, grunts etc but has shown no interest in attempting to repeat words (dada, mama etc). She will look at me when I say "can you say.....) but then just looks away or makes a random noise. She can understand these words but is the normal? And if it isn't, is there anything else I can do to encourage her? I talk to her all day long

5-y-o grandchild, who seems fairly bright, was born with cleft lip, jaw and palate. GC has had three ops to repair lip and palate; because of concerns over hearing, grommets were also fitted. Third op and grommets were delayed because of Covid; speech therapy was postponed until after third op. GC now has speech skills that lag well behind language skills, and does not seem to have close school friends.

(Even mum cannot always make out what is being said, and this is in part because GC wants to use big words and complex sentence structures.)

With such a history, how much professional input do you think is needed? GC now has fairly frequent appointments with speech therapist attached to cleft team, but each visit results in loss of at least half a school day. I wd be happy to pay for private therapy, if appropriate therapist cd be found. Might such a speech therapist be willing and able to see child in school?

Advice, please..

@Rosiefifi
I know you're trying to be helpful but this is really patronising. Of course we understand about picture usage and makaton. My son was diagnosed at two years old. He is learning to use an AAC.

My point was that not of this has been achieved by any support from the local authority, it's been extensive reading and homework by us.

How long would you expect it would take for a child to catch up after grommets surgery? He's turned 3 late last year, had grommets put in at 2yrs 7month. Speech has picked up but I'd say he's still about a year behind peers. He's attending SALT weekly, just hoping he picks up before school starts next year

Also, in your expensive can glue ear mimic autism? There were a few concerns which have now largely disappeared as his speech and general responsiveness have improved but just wondering if glue ear is sometimes mixed up with autism

My 7 year old is bilingual but can't say sounds in one language and it's really causing friendship issues in school.

Like 'loff ness' instead of Loch Ness.

'Ish' instead of 'ich'.

Vaaarzen instead of raaasern

(German and English)

Is this a bilingualism issue which will solve itself or should I be worried?
Getting a SALT here is hard and I wondered if I am over-worrying.
Thanks so much!

Hi, I'm not sure if this is actually a speech area or an autism area but my ds is 5 next month and has autism. He's non verbal but he does occasionally learn a word and pronounces it very much as a baby learning a word, says it for a month or 2 and then never says it again. Do you know why he 'loses' his words?

Also sorry to bombard you but every few months he gets 6 sessions with a speech and language therapist and they always encourage macaton (never progressed past more, stop) He doesn't really focus so I don't think he really takes it in and I feel terrible but I have an awful memory so I'm not very good at learning the signs myself but it's always recommended.
Do you think that's the only way to go or do you find some children do still progress without it? Thanks for your help appreciate you taking the time

My just turned 4 year old is severely speech delayed and has been on the NHS waiting list for almost 2 years. He is almost entirely non verbal. We have yet to be seen at all, not even for an initial assessment. The GP has so far refused to refer him to a paediatrician as he doesn't tick any other boxes for asd. Preschool has also put in a referral which doesn't seem to have sped things up. Out of desperation we have seen a private therapist who suspects verbal dyspraxia, but private therapy is probably not going to be a long term option for us. What else can we be doing to access help?