Speech & Language Therapy - 2 year old

[Henrihetta]

DS (2y 3 months) has a speech delay, which was noted by a visit from the council SEN lady on a visit at nursery. We were aware he isn't as advanced as some his age & we spend a lot of time with him at home, helping him learn new words and it definitely is helping, he is able to say singular words and says them of his own accord when he sees something like a car or a tree. He can count to 10 and knows some of his colours, he can say around 60 words. We and his nursery have noticed an improvement in his speech in the last month.

He has been referred for speech and language therapy on the NHS, which i’m aware has a very long wait list. We are thinking should we send him for private speech therapy now, or wait until he's perhaps 2.5 or closer to 3?

Any advice would be helpful!

To add to the above, he may catch up himself. Im not sure if he needs any therapy?

‘Speech’ usually refers to the speech sounds. Do you mean language delay? From what you’ve describe he doesn’t sound that delayed. Does he have behavioural or social traits that the nursery are worried about?

@NoBodyIdRatherBeYes it is more the language. No the nursery are not worried, but they had a SEN lady at the nursery from the council come and she noted a language delay & referred him

SALT in our area is dire in terms of waiting lists- its been a year since our DC was referred (has significant delays) and in that time we had an early intervention session (not run by SALT therapists), one phone call with the actual therapist who went to see our DC at nursery and now we are waiting for a home visit for her to go on through what interventions she recommends we do at home and nursery. All spaced about 4 months apart.
If we had the money we would go private, I'm weighing up just putting it on a credit card. My colleague has used private SALT for their son who is 6 and says he has come on loads since starting

Should note the actual SALT therapist sounds lovely and this is a reflection on their lack of capacity not what they do !

I wouldn’t be too worried. More than likely he will have a burst soon and catch up. He should be right on the edge of staring short sentences, which usually happens around the 50 word mark. My advice is make lots of comments in play (not questions). Use very short sentences such as - ‘blue car’ ‘wow it’s fast’ ‘uh oh crash!’ Talk about the things he is doing and be super animated.