Speech, language and other issues

[weasledee]

Hi,
Getting worried about my 6 year old DS and wondered if anyone has been in a similar situation....
He's been under SLT since he was 2 and has made slow but steady progress.
However he really behind his peers at school and it's beginning to worry me a lot.... He just can't grasp the idea of phonics, although he can read some smaller words. His attention span is non existent. He is very very young for his age in his actions and behaviour. He doesn't seem to have grasped what is appropriate behaviour around adults and never knows when to stop.....
I asked the question to his teacher did she think there was more going on than just the language/speech issues but she said no.... But I can't help thinking that there is.
Does this sound familiar to anyone?
At home he is a happy, helpful little boy ...

I would ask for a meeting with the class teacher and the SENCo.
Ask them to fill in a developmental profile and see how far 'behind' that puts him compared with 'expected' development for his age.

Lots of children with a diagnosis of say language problems will have any combination of problems also with attention, dyslexia, dyspraxia, social skills, poor working/auditory memory......

Schools are often reluctant to diagnose dyslexia before 7, as children develop at different speeds anyway.

Does DC have a speech therapist - have they assessed his attention, auditory memory and phonological awareness? I would ask about that? I don’t recall a specific test for attention, but they might have noticed if he has poor attention for his age, during other assessments?

Has DC had an Educational psychologist assessment recently? Schools are not keen on putting children forward for those, because visits are rationed, and there may be a long waiting list?

Can you possibly afford a private Ed psy assessment?

You should be able to self refer DC to the Occupational Therapy Service for an assessment (for dyspraxia).

Thanks for the replies! Lots of info and ideas I wasn't aware of so thank you!
Do you think I should start with the GP or push through with school instead?

You will have more factual evidence if you go to the GP, if you take along a developmental profile filled in by school (and if you feel it differs, another one filled in by you too), rather than going "cold". GPs are just that general practitioners and it may be many years since they studied anything on child development and milestones.

How did he get on with his developmental checks with the HV, pre-school ?

I knew at his 2 year check his speech as delayed but at that point there was no concern about understanding delay. He also crawled, walked etc at the right time. I don't think he has had a development plan as far as I know. We just had the speech therapy come into school and he has an IEP.
We've had another incident today, as the teacher asked to have a word after school. He wouldn't hand over a pencil to a TA and was laughing and uncooperative. He thinks he's been funny and has no understanding of when the joke is over and is time to stop, hence why he got in trouble today :(

I'm talking about a development profile not a plan - a list of things you would expect a neurotypical child to be able to do at 24months / 30m / 36m/ 42m /48m / 54m /60m /66m etc - ie 2, 2 and1/2 , 3, etc etc
Then the people completing it indicate if it is achieved and the child does it confidently / without thinking..... or if they can do it with a bit of support or if they don't do it at all, etc.
Health Visitors would call it an "Ages and Stages" checklist.
I had 2 or 3 versions when I was a school SENCo.
Even if your SENCo doesn't have any, and can't get her hands on one, she could assess him against the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage), which is what all children are assessed against until the end of Reception. I'm aware that your dc is older than Reception, but if he is developmentally delayed, then presumably that would show on a profile designed for dc who are a bit younger.

This is something that has never been mentioned to me! I will definitely enquire at school about this and see what they say, thank you.
I know it's almost an impossible question for you to answer but do u think, with your senco experience, that there could be more going with him than just "a little behind?"

Really difficult for any one of us to say.
What have you been told at previous meetings - Reception, Nursery, ?

All they say is they think his lack of attention and immature ways are all linked to his speech and language delay.... but I can't help thinking there's something else going on, but I don't know what...?

if he can't grasp phonics are the school trying any other methods/ Pupils with language issues sometimes have problems with phonics. I would suggest getting hold of a book published by Speechmark calle "Teaching Reading and Phonics to children with language and communication delay" by Charlotte Lynch. It's a practical guide full of resources. Also try "Words First Series" from Sound Learning which focuses on the first 100 high frequency words. It is divided into 3 parts: stage one covers the first 45 words all reception children are expected to learn. It has teaching resources and reading books.

Thanks for the tip, I'll look into that!

Hi there,

I have a 7 y/o DS with Dyspraxia. Delayed language and lateral lisp were his firsts real symptoms, as they are more noticeable.

I would go to your GP and ask to have his ears checked and to be referred to Paed Audiologist to look into Auditory Processing Disorder. It is very co-morbid to all sorts of LDs.

Try and get an appointment with Paeditrician through GP, not always easy, but do your research and prep your notes first, to make a convincing point.

Also, my dyspraxic child didn't miss any gross/fine motor skills milestones. So I would never have suspected.

Hi arti,
Thanks for the reply....
I mentioned a potential paediatrician appointment to docs but he was dismissive and said "my concerns were more of a school issue and they should take the lead...." not very helpful...
Might be worth a revisit....
Since my first post, my DS has failed his phonics screening test, no surprises there :(
Can I ask what they symptoms are of The dyspraxia your DS has?
Thanks.....

GP and school tried to fob me off for a while when my DS was 6. I had to do masses of research and dig my heels in.

If you come prepared with a list of clear symptoms with the GP, you might be able to pass the barrier and get through to Paed.

My DS didn't really have obvious DCD traits. He crawled, walked early, he was very good at building Lego from young age.

The main sign was handwriting, and then coordination, catching balls.

His reading was late, so for quite a while I though he was dyslexic (which is not), DCD children often take more time than peers to acquire some skills.

He has attention issues, but they come from his DCD and his Auditory Processing Disorder.

You might to look into APD. Does your DS hear well when there is a background noise?

www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/auditory-processing-disorder/understanding-auditory-processing-disorder#item3

APD comes with 5 Learning Difficulties: Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD, ASD, Language Disorder.

How was his phonics screening result?

Is he behind compared to his peers? Is he bright yet seems to struggle?

Because he's not 7 yet, school won't do anything, and even after because Ed Psych hours are very limited and offered to kids with severe learning issues.

But, you can start looking into the making sense of his weaknesses, and make a note of them.

There is a screening for dyslexia for children under 7 that can be done with a specialist Dyslexia tutor. If you search the Patoss tutor index, you might find someone in your region: www.patoss-dyslexia.org/Tutor-Index-Landing

When contacting a tutor, you might want to ask if they can do the screening, as I'm not sure if they all do it.