How old does a child has to be before a speech sound disorder can be worked on?

[genieinabottle]

And even more importantly before SALT can started to work properly on speech sounds production?

I'm very puzzled by this. DS is nearly 5 (in a couple of weeks).
He has ASD, and he has speech and lang.disorder.
He also has significant problems with his speech sounds production/phonology.

But we have been given a couple of vague possibilities for his speech sounds issues.
First we were told maybe verbal dyspraxia.
Then a few months down the line after working with DS for a few months, SALT said he has a dysarthric speech.
She also mentioned possible velo-pharengeal or soft cleft palate problems.
But added he was too young to find out for sure. And may need to be refered to a specialist SALT base outside of our area for further tests.

So in other ways they are not sure at all what it is.

Another thing is we were told he is also too young to do a specific SALT programme to address the speech sounds problems. Atm, we just do tongue, lips, mouth,(Mr. Tongue type stuff) and for us to sound out hard consonants to DS a few minutes each day, all very simple non-specific exercises.

So when do children who have problems with speech sounds get specific help with this?

Thanks.

Sorry to hear that Feedjo.

Think what I find most infuriating is not just the huge delay-DS (now 3.2) originally went to the doctors at 21 months becasue I was worried about hearing but the sheer randomness of it-getting a doctor who wasn't too busy, who liked me, liked my son's dinosaur obsession and, clearly, had a hotline to ENT (I waited two months for an initial test at my local hospital, now have to wait 2 days for suction and 'advice of future management' from the far superior teaching hospital nearby). I almost didn't take DS this morning because i'd be treated like such a troublemaker last time, and I reckon tens of other kids could have gone into that room and got nothing. And throughout this 2 very dedicated (I'm luckier than you) SaLTs have been working with one arm tied behind their back if (as seems very likely from his totally 'normal' behaviour today and perpetual heavy cold) DS just can't sodding hear.

Two doctors threw me out with advice on Calpol, one prescribed antibiotics, another began a process of monitoring which would ahve triggered referral if 6 infections in a year. In the same practice. Hundreds of kids must be failed daily in this system, and not all of us (and I barely, I'm at work on lunchbreak now) have the energy and time to keep banging on doors and researching.

My sympathies to all of you yet to meet professionals who are, well, professional.

Can I add know they say about to young when ds was at playschool and had mr tounge to do they decided that since was few dc with odd probuciatuons and stop ds feel singled out the whole session did this was from 2'9

Mind ds was odd one out anyway because he could not do them!!!

Genie,
DD1 was first referred for SALT just before 2 (no words)- our first SALT (seen at 2.4) was terrible and made DD cry and literally sh!t herself every session.

We employed a private SALT at 2.6 who thought it was verbal dyspraxia and/or severe phonological disorder and she started the nuffield dyspaxia progamme then working on specific speech sounds.

At first it was just a short part of the session (as DD struggled to make any kid of sounds voluntarily- other than whinge noise). The rest of the session worked on receptive language, turn taking etc. The treatment for both of the dx is similar, the main difference being for Verbal dyspaxia it is better not to have time off for consolidation.

we now (3.9) have about 15 consonants and 8 vowel sounds down pretty well. We are starting to link and blend them.

I cannot understand why they would say that you can't follow a specific programme at 5?! the earlier you start them, the more you can mitigate the impact (or so I've been told).

I'd get a second opinion if I were you... sounds like Ican might be worth talking to- i'll be ringing them in the morning!!

DS1 had SALT from 3, and has been working on specific sounds since then, (although his current chocolate teapot SALT tells me she doesn't have a magic wand, there is no point in therapy, and his autism is causing the speech sound problems, so that was cheery.)

He was 5 in August, so has done 2 years of speech sound work since seeing SALT initially.

Trouble with talk ? Think tight person I hope lol have done ds story about ican