Speech problems - statement and school choices?

[MeAndPiglet]

Hello all, this is my first post so please bear with me...I know a lot of questions are asked about speech problems and there seem to be a lot of kind/experienced/knowledgable people with great advice..so please chip in with your opinions for me.
My ds is 2 and a half and has real difficulty forming words, more so the consonant parts than the vowel sounds. He has a few words he uses a lot but even they are missing the beginning consonants, like 'oh' for 'no' and 'a-ee' for 'daddy'. We are lucky enough to have been seeing a SLT for nearly a year and have seen some improvements recently, but again mostly with vowel sounds. He is a bright boy and very sociable, he has no problem initiating conversations and uses a lot of Makaton signs to those who understand him. They have now asked me about getting a statement for him specifically to get hm into a school nearby-ish that has an onsite SLT unit. Now although this might sound ungrateful I dont feel happy sending him to nursery each morning in a taxi, especially as our family has worked hard to create an environment where i can be there for my kids, walk them to school and back etc. The whole 'local school' ad community ethos is what we have sacrificed to achieve and currently do have. So my questions...1) they have said if we decline their offer of a place at the school and go with our local school they will offer only 1 weekly SLT session term time..is this the best they can really offer? Can they offer a resource to visit/help him at our school? 2) Should we get a statement for him? what are the pros and cons? 3) Am I making a mistake keeping him with his peer group rather than sending him where he would get fairly intensive SLT?
I am so clueless about it all, and have had my head in the sand thinking it would have resolved by now..its clearly not and looks like a long battle. Anyone know of a similar case and what was the outcome?
Thanks in advance.

if you decline the offer did they offer 1 SLT session a week or a term, I'm a bit confused? if it's once a week then that is actually very good tbh, obviously once a term is rather less good.... My gut reaction is that (assuming you visit and feel comfortable with it) that you should bite their hands off for the language unit place, as that's the way to get him the intensive input that will really benefit him. he will have plenty of time outside nursery hours to spend time with his peers. a statement will give legal clout to the promises of help the LEA are giving, I really don't see a downside to him having one.

Thanks..my understanding is that they would continue to offer 1 session a week. Tbh its just that he is so little to be packed off in a taxi to nursery..isnt he? seems crazy to me..I am very conflicted cos I do want the help but am trying to find a way to get the help for him at his own school..does that kind of help exist at his age? Could a statement get him a similar level of help at his own school, do you know?

I would start the process of statementing - there is no guarantee you will be successful and it is never quick. You will be able to name your preferred school on the statement but you have some time to think about that as that stage is down in the line in the process.

If SLT recommends language unit then I would need very good reasons not to follow that advice - the woefully inadequate SLT support you will get in mainstream school would do it for me (and that is with a statement - without one who knows what you will get)

I don't understand the taxi thing TBH - we walk to the local school but absolutely loads of families don't (we are in London) - people walk (or drive) miles. If it is the taxi that bothers you could you drive him? Is it too far to walk? Are there buses?

If your ds got a statement and went to a mainstream school, I imagine he would be likely to get some funding for support from a teaching assistant specifically asigned to him. It might only be for a few hours a week e.g. 5. (By the way, this is a totally random figure I picked out of the air as I've no idea how your local education authority would choose to fund a child with your difficulties). Your ds's SALT should then liase with the TA who would implement a program devised by the SALT. So while your ds may only get a weekly visit from the SALT, he should be getting daily imput with his problems from the TA.

Thanks ladies..Sinclair- ref the taxi, because I already have another young child to get to our local school, the LEA would fund a taxi and escort to pick ds up each morning and take him to school, as I couldnt be in both places..its a fair offer but I just feel he's a bit young to go off to nursery each morning without a parent.
I have had further discussions with the SLT today having gathered a bit more info, and we have decided to start the ball rolling on the statement once he is officially in our local nursery, as this needs to be driven by the school primarily. I will then e doing as you all suggest and waiting to see how the statement is worded and see if I can argue our point a bit. I'm also going to visit the specialist unit at the other school with a view to making a decision towards the end of he year. I really want to see if I can combine the best of both worlds for him...could be pie in the sky though! Thank you for taking the time to offer your advice, you are the only people I 'know' to ask iykwim!!

I think you will need to get a Statement regardless - whether he goes to the Mainstream school or the SLT unit. I was in exactly your predicament a few years ago with DS3 - he was all set to go to a SLT unit on the other side of our city. And I bottled out in the June before the September start - I couldn't send my 4 year old off in a taxi without me each morning, and couldn't have gone with him and got my other DC to school.

What happened after I refused the SLT unit is that he started Reception with 20 hours of 1-1 support per week (c/o his Statement). During the Reception year he also saw the SALT every week. He's now in Yr 2 and has progressed fantastically - much less SALT input, still not very clear (like yours, the consonants are the stumbling block), but intelligible. He has a diagnosis of Verbal Dysparaxia.

I would give the unit serious consideration, 2 families I know sent their child for nursery (one used taxi other took her twins herself leaving her other child to go into school with a friend)in both cases this intensive input was enough for them to go into their chosen school in reception (with some support).

Dyspraxia

What I was trying to say is yes, you have options and b) with a good Statement, you can get sufficient help that he should progress in Mainstream just as well. But you will have to put in a lot of "homework" as well.

The LA will send him with an escort in the taxi, if that makes a difference, and one less littlie on the school run does have it's charms tbh.

I felt much the same about a special school for dd, but it's the best place for her and she absolutely loves it. I know I'm not you, but that's how it worked out for us

not sure how appropriate this would be at nursery rather than school level, but I have heard of some areas offering split placements between SLT unit and mainstream classes at primary level.

Thanks all...tbh I agree with all of you, and thats the problem. Realistically I think I'm gonna have to find a way to accept the specialist placement if they can arrange it. heavens knows how I'm going to make the transport thing work, but by the sounds of it help is hard to come by so i should take whats offered. Part of me still hopes he might 'outgrow' this problem before I have to make the decision because i would dearly love him to go to our local school wit his sister, but I think its going to be with him for a while yet, so I want to feel I've done the best I could possibly do.

Hello I hope you see this message - I'm 32 but when I was young no-one except my twin sister could understand me as I too used to miss off the initial and last consonants of every word, so corner-shop became ornah-o! and Father Christmas was armer-itma. It sounds similar to your child. I was a bright sociable child and still am bright and sociable, it didn't effect my childhood. So I was just sending you a message to say not to worry. I had speech therapy for about a year maybe I can't remember, I remember it just confused me as in my head I was pronouncing everything correctly - full words not the gobbledegook that came out, so I didn't know what the fuss was about. Anyway once I learnt to read properly it just disappeared! Since then I haven't had any problems. Hope this will be of some comfort. Hope it all works out.

Can anyone comment on the following schools? Trinity in Rochester, Blossom House in Wimbledon, Centre Academy and The Link in Croydon for children with speech and language disorder or just as a parent of a child who attends any of these schools. I have to view these for my 13 year old son.