Speech Therapy in school

[DiscoBabe]

My ds will shortly be starting full time school and i was just wondering if anyone can tell me how speech therapy is carried out within a school setting?

My speech therapist has only said that they contact the school approx once a term to check progress and change the work if necessary, that the school are always able to contact them if the work needs changing before these checks.

When i asked my ds' nursery teacher she wasn't sure how its carried out within the school so just wondering if anyone can shed any light? TIA

I think your best bet is to speak to the school senco as schools can work differently. The chances are your ds will be taken out of class in a small group, as others may have the same difficulties, and they will work on a program set by the SALT. How often this would be and how qualified the person delivering the program is, how will progress be measured etc are questions you should be thinking of asking. As your ds will be on school action plus he should have an IEP (if he doesn't already) to set targets and measure progress, this should be a SMART IEP.

Is it ms or ss? My ds is at a ss- speech therapist comes in and works individually or in groups ,then sometimes work is given for the TA s to deliver on a daily/weekly basis

My DS will be starting school in September. From what I understand, it will work like you describe, the SALT will go in once a term but his TA will do the wrk with him on a daily basis.

I dont really mind as our SALT is useless.

agree with Mario - ds' school gets termly visits from clueless SALT who gives 'advice' to TA but nothing comes of it, we have no objectives or targets other than ones we set ourselves.

They will do very little at school re SALT and I would look into Statementing if SALT needs to continue at school. SALT ideally needs to be written into Parts 2 and 3 of this particular legal document.

Have experienced this kind of SALT input in the past. Was a complete waste of everyone's time and ds got nowhere. Huge difference very quickly when we paid to see a SALT privately. Now has a statement - so 45 minutes individual attention each, daily programe etc...

each week that is!

Wow, ok, many thanks for the replies!

Its a mainstream school.

The school have not mentioned school action or IEP's. This is something i need to bring up with them before ds starts full time. I intend on asking for a meeting with his current nursery teacher and his reception teacher before he starts to discuss a few issues i have concerns over. I'm just waiting until the next school report which will be in march time to see how they feel he is progressing in several areas. We also have an appointment with OT next wk so i want to see what the outcome from this is too.

I have received conflicting information on whether my ds should have an IEP or SA+ in place off both parents of sn children and off teachers. Are they both the same?
What is a SMART IEP? I was under the impression you can't get a child statemented purely for SLT needs?

Really appreciate the help as i'm a bit lost with all this at the moment.

Discobabe,

As your son has already had outside agency involvement i.e the SALT and OT he should already be on School Action Plus. There should also be an Individual Education Plan re him (IEP, also known on here as Individual Empty Promise because it can easily become that) and this should be gone through termly and also with you present.

A poorly written IEP however, is not worth the paper its written on. Targets should be SMART ones.

SA plus sounds fine in theory but in practice it is a different story. It is not legally binding and support/scope therefore for it is limited.

The only criteria for a Statement is need; I would seriously consider applying for a Statement for your son asap particularly if ongoing speech therapy is needed. You do not need school's permission to apply for such a document and you are better off making such a request yourself.

Have a look at IPSEA's website www.ipsea.org.uk as this has lots of information on it.

You are your child's best - and only - advocate.

SMART stands for:-

?Specific
?Measurable
?Achievable
?Relevant
?Time Limited

Thank you

If it helps my sons salt told me children do get statments for speech and language issues only. Be prepared to fight though, and if you are going to apply for a statutory assessment (this is where the LEA decide whether or not to statement) then do it as soon as possible. it will take at least 6 months for when you ask until a statement would be in place.

How severe does their speech need to be to make it likely for them to get a statement? (after a fight!) Would the SALT be a good person to ask about whether he needs to ideally be statemented?

SALT may just tow the party line here and say that child does not require a Statement. Do not listen to this; you know your child best of all. Only criteria for statement too is need (I write that as many LEAs come up with all sorts of illegal criteria and blanket policies to refuse statements).

I would put in a request for a Statement asap and appeal their crass decision in the event they say not.