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.

Sorry couldn't reply to your reply to me for some reason, just wanted to say thanks for answering my question!

I'm really sorry to hear the waiting list is so long in your area. That really is long, in my area it's about 3-4 months 😔 Sadly if it is verbal dyspraxia and it's this severe, he really just needs to see a therapist for a lot of specialist support. Is there any way you can afford some private input? Even if it's a session every 1-2 months with a programme you can implement?

My almost 2.5 year old says (and copies) a lot of single words and is now putting 2-3 words together correctly in context but he also still babbles a fair bit. It’s more when he’s excited or when we’re out at toddler groups etc, is this something he should have stopped by now and should I be worried?
His understanding is very good and he can follow simple instructions so I have no concerns about his hearing

@SpeechandLanguageTherapist
Very many thanks for taking the time to come on here, and to answer our individual questions. I know I appreciated that, and I'm sure everyone else does too.

My 22 month old has about 50 single words that he uses. Will also put together some three word sentences but seem to be the same repeated. Very rarely seems to be adding to his vocab. He doesn't always finish whole words. Say "chee" for cheese. He grunts and points mostly instead of talking. Should j be worried?

If he's stammering again after it resolving then I'd seek a speech and language referral, especially if overall it's been going on longer than 6 months.

Yes some adults will never communicate verbally I'm afraid. That's not to say your child won't. It really depends on the nature of their difficulties. However not being able to communicate verbally isn't the same as not being able to communicate. Hopefully your child is under SaLT and exploring appropriate AAC options?

It's rare that a tongue tie is so severe that it interferes with speech but not eating. Usually a child with such a restrictive tongue tie would have had it severed as it would cause significant feeding issues. In my whole career I've never seen a child where their speech difficulties are caused by a tongue tie. But the sounds most likely to be affected would be t and d as the child wouldn't be able to reach their tongue up to the top of their mouth.

My ds5 was on the wait list from age 3 till now and after one visit signed off on the basis his speech will improve and generally come on if he has his tonsills and adenoids removed but I really don’t understand how having his tonsills etc removed will help him speak, can you please help me understand more

All of the sounds you've listed are the last to develop in English, so your child is only very slightly delayed. There's still time for these to resolve spontaneously but you could seek private SaLT for them if you wanted. In my NHS service we wouldn't accept a referral for a child like this as the needs are so mild, but it depends on the area (big postcode lottery).

Wow that's very slow. We only went virtual during the lockdowns and have been back to face to face since summer 2021, so almost 2 years now!

I have a 4 year old with a severe speech delay. He does try to say a lot but his speech therapist says only 2 or 3 words can be understood out of context. In context it's slightly easier to understand him. He was non verbal pretty much until he was 2 1/2.
We've recently been told that he uses the back of his mouth to make his sounds and he is also making a noise before his speech.

Im basically wondering if there is a reason why? Like could it be a condition that is making him form his sounds like that or is it just something we will never know?

@freezingpompoms great question! Exactly the same experience with my two!

I know some therapists will start to work on lisps with front teeth missing, but personally I find it easier to work on when there are at least half teeth in place to help guide tongue position!

It's very hard to predict which late talkers will catch up by themselves and which won't. Personally I'd get the SaLT referral in as soon as possible. As some have said on here, it can be a long wait to be seen.

Try and reduce questions you're asking him as much as possible, especially test questions (like what is this, what noise does a dog make etc.) and instead comment on what you can see and what he's doing 😊

Do speech therapists get involved in teaching written sounds/phonics for spellings as well as the spoken sounds? My daughter's speech problems have translated into misspellings as she has got older (now 7) as she will spell words in a way she mispronounces. Would this be something speech and language therapists would work on with a child?

Thanks very much! I’ll wait then!

Thanks for doing this you've answered so many questions but missed mine.
I'd be very grateful for your thoughts on the above

I haven't got to your question yet! I'm doing them in the order they were posted. I have children... I'm popping on here and answering a few whenever I get a minute.

I'm so sorry! Please accept my apology

I found the 2-year masters very intense! It's the full degree condensed squeezed into less time, with barely any holidays (something like 2 weeks for Christmas and 3 weeks in the summer, but we had to study over those periods!) and it was a lot of work. I didn't have time to work part-time personally. Lectures were 9 to 4/5 every day, other than the days we were on placement. Then I spent my evenings and weekends writing essays and studying. It was worth it in the end because I love my job, but I have to be honest and say they were two of the moat stressful years of my life!

This is a bit delayed but it's still very early days so try not to worry too much! As I've said a few times on this thread, lots of late talkers catch up by themselves. Great that his understanding is good.

Try to avoid things like flashcards or anything that tests language as much as possible. Just lots of commenting on what's going on around you, naming things and reading stories.

If still delayed at 2.5, that's probably the best time to start thinking about a referral.

It's really hard to say without meeting a child and getting a good sense of their communication profile. Some children are just 'late talkers' and go on to catch up - we don't really know why this is. For others there is an underlying issue and it will be a more persistent problem. However by the time a child gets to 3.5 and certainly moving towards 4, it does become less likely they will just catch up by themselves without any intervention. It's a shame they haven't been seen face to face yet. Is your local NHS service still operating virtually?

Sorry, I don't work with dysphagia and couldn't even begin to comment!

@SpeechandLanguageTherapist thanks for the reply anyway!