Do I tell them about speech delay

[secretsquirrelmum]

My DS has been attending a preschool since September. The one he attends is a school hours one, term time, but takes from 2 yrs. He started at 2 years 2 months. He joined in the September with the other new starters. I told the staff and on starting and on his forms he has a speech delay / issues.

Since attending preschool DS has been through an NHS referral etc so it is diagnosed as a expressive speech delay, no other issues.

Once he is 3 yrs I am starting DS at another Preschool in September, at a private school.

I feel that at the current preschool they have not encouraged DS. They just say he doesn't talk. This isn't true, he can talk but they don't engage him. He is very shy, but he can speak single words in context.

So should I just tell the private preschool that he is shy. I don't really want to have the same thing happen again. I'm worried if I mention the speech delay they might just not try with him. Or does this sound nuts?

I can keep him at both. I don't like the current one, but I wondered if it's a council run one that maybe they could get extra help for him?

That does sound nuts.

You need to be honest with the new school, how can they possibly help him if they don't know what the issue is?

It just sounds like the first pre-school aren't very good (or maybe they're trying their best, but just don't have the staff to engage with him beyond a 'normal' level).

Having worked in pre School, it's very possible as a previous poster has mentioned, they will probably be just within ratio, and just not enough staff to go round, to give that 1-1..
And yes, do mention it to new Pre School.

What a load of sh*t, sounds like a rubbish pre-school!! My DD is 2.5 years and has a speech delay, quite severe actually as she is 3 in sept and still doesn't have any sentences. She had attended a school nursery since Jan on the advice of a paediatrician 2 mornings! Her key worker works with her in the morning even if she is in a group of 3/4 children! She can now sing nursery rhymes (although not all clear) and says probably 100 words (again not all clear) and its only been 4 1/2 months so depends on the nursery and the teacher xx

A decent setting should be able to support your child with a speech delay. Even if there isn't a specific 1-1 worker, it should be possible to work with a child individually and in small groups. All settings should also be able to access extra support if a child is eligible, and work with parents and outside professionals as necessary. The SALT should observe your child in the setting and set targets that can be worked on at home and preschool.

Ok sorry yes I will tell them

My irrational thinking was I wondered if the current preschool have treated him differently as they don't have high exceptions of him.

@HJWT that's great your daughter is making such good progress. I started my DS at 2 yrs, hoping for the same effect. I hope the new preschool will be better fit for him.

@hazeyjane He has just had a preschool SALT observation, so awaiting their formal recommendations. Maybe their suggestions will make it better for him this summer term. They just said he did speak a single word when they engaged him in a game, but that the staff were very surprised at this.

When my ds1 started pre school the SALT visited them and gave them copies of the information they had given me to support his speech development. They were excellent and were so thrilled to let me know that he had put 8 words together into a sentence! The pre school had an IEP for him which meant that when he started school they already had a plan in action. I would work with the new pre school.

Hiya I think you should tell them he has a speech delay so they can support and encourage him to talk. My son is 2years 7months he isn't able to talk like others his age and is on the waiting list for SALT. In the meantime the nursery he attends has a worker who has had traininv on speech therapy and so encourages him to speak and informs me of how his getting on. Any decent nursery will engage him and encourage him to talk.

Does he have possible selective Mutism on top of speech delay? It's not uncommon for children with speech delay to associate speech with anxiety and shut down verbally in some contexts. Something to watch as he transitions.

Does the current pre-school have a Senco? If yes speak to him/her asap to explain the situation. It is way too easy for a nursery or preschool to say that a child is a 'loner' or 'a bit shy' for not engaging with them. I know, first because DS2 has a speech disorder and his first nursery was shite, and his second nursery absolutely fantastic. After that experience I retrained and became a childminder, and I made a special effort to study speech development. Explain to the current nursery that his is something they can work with you to support your DS.

For your next pre-school, just have a meeting before and ask if they have experience with kids with speech delay - they will - what methods they use, how do they make an effort to interact with those kids. We had a special home-school books so I could tell the pre-school what we did at the weekend (to help them discuss various topics with him, so for example if we went to the zoo I'd let the pre-school know and they would engage with him on that topic).

DS was later diagnosed with a speech disorder and as a parent, I had to work very closely with the specialist unit providing the therapy guidelines, the speech therapists and Teacher Assistants providing the therapy every day at school, and the pre-school/school/teacher. It's not always easy and some staff didn't have a clue how to interact with DS, but I was very proactive and persistent and it paid off.

My irrational thinking was I wondered if the current preschool have treated him differently as they don't have high exceptions of him.

What should happen is that they should have "treated him differently" by making sure they put extra support in place, to help him. They should have a written plan (called different things now, under the 2014 Code of Practice) and should have been putting specific strategies in place throughout the day / session, each and every time he is in.

Yes, yes, yes to telling the new setting, and to taking in the strategies from the SaLT. That way they can crack straight on with supporting him, rather than thinking he is just shy, and letting him 'settle in' for several months before having a conversation with you about his difficulties with expressive language.

There is a Senco, but I've never met her. She is based at a sister site. I sort of expected her to want to speak or meet with me. I believe she has assessed him twice. DS' keyworker said the Senco wanted to gather evidence refer to SALT, but I did a self referral to speed it up. I suppose I should ask to meet with her !!!

The new preschool is at a private school, but using 15 free hours childcare too. Would I be correct in thinking the best route for statements or council funded help would be through the current council run preschool? I can keep him attending both, but I don't know what's for the best. It might be confusing for him. If the new one seems better I can just focus on that.

It’s highly unlikely as in near impossible to have a statement for speech delay. They are for children for much more complex need. Ds went to a state, school-based nursery that had a specialist language unit and received speech therapy there 5 days a week, either direct intervention, small groups, games, activities. Then at regular state schools specialist salt team was supervising and working together with a fab TA who was delivering speech exercises one hour a day to ds, but his speech disorder was quite severe.

It would be important that you discuss straight away with the new nursery what the situation is and what they offer in terms of language support. We were extremely lucky to have excellent provision within the state system but it’s postcode lottery, like so many other things.

Would I be correct in thinking the best route for statements or council funded help would be through the current council run preschool?

Not in my LA. The overwhelming majority of children are in PVIs (Private, voluntary and Independent settings). The Code of Practice applies across all settings. Everywhere should have a SENCo.

Agree with pp though, he won't get an EHCP for just having an expressive speech delay

@QueenBlueberries oh ok, I just assumed they were for anyone with issues. We've been told he also has problems with certain speech sounds, like vowles after a constant etc, but that could resolve it's self as he's only coming up 3. He doesn't put words together at all. He is improving slowly but not having therapy due to his age.

As far as I know there is no specialist speech units near us, but I will find out.

@BackforGood great news I will ask about Senco at the new preschool

for putting words together, start with very short sentences and repeat, repeat, repeat. I know it's a pain but it works. Do you want more milk? MORE MILK? Cold Milk? Mmmmmm milk! etc etc. It's really annoying and you will probably feel like one of 'those' loud parents, but it does work. Keep your sentences short, three -four words, and add things like More (strawberries, chocolate, whatever. More is a great word not too hard to pronounce and can be put in front of loads of stuff). Up-Down is also good - stairs, swings, etc. Good luck!

Did they put your child on any kind of support with the SALT team after the assessment? At nursery we sometimes get sent through games or sounds that are being worked with to ensure support is consistent everywhere.

A lot of the time they tend to ‘watch and wait’ with speech issues in under 3’s.

The nursery should perhaps have an IEP (individual education plan) in place to give specific support with this issue so all staff know how to help when working with her.

As for your question - yes defo tell the new nursery your concerns and the findings of the SALT referral so far. They will be able to make their own baseline assessment then to monitor progress.

Definitely say something! It’ll only help. I use to tell people my son was shy... but that leads people to believe he is rude. Once I say oh he’s speech delayed the tune changes. They don’t stop engaging him, but engage more. They HAVE to engage more when they know your child doesn’t speak well as they have to look for other communication signs/attempts.
Also they can help teach sign language and work on speech skills.