Speech Therapy

[aquafunf]

Have been on waiting list for speech therapy for DD since March. She is now 3.7. Her speech has actually got worse in this time- she now has such a bad stammer it is impossible to understand much of what she has said. The NHS speech therapist has advised that she may not be seen for at least another month.
Could anyone advise whether they have gone down the private route for speech therapy either on its own or combined with NHS and whether it made any difference? (problem is not just stammering but quite a lot of sounds she cant say).
Thanks!

We have used private on and off for the last 10 years. Check out ASLTIP (google for the link). Generally it is very expensive (not for us at the moment as we have a wonderful private SALT who seems to be doing the therapy because she likes ds1).

You might be able to get regular SALT from the NHS for a stammer - but SALT is being badly hit by cuts.

The other thing might be to look for a recently graduated student. I know a lot (because I employ SALT students to help us get out and about) - none have been able to secure jobs this year - I mean none of the recently graduated students as there are no jobs being advertised at that level. Most are desperate to get some experience- while a recently graduated student cannot work with you as an official SALT (they have to complete a supervised registration year), they would be able to work with your child and deliver a programme (and in reality the supervised year is more about signing off things they do rather than supervising their sessions, they work independently during that year). If you PM me your location I could ask the recently graduated students I know whether any of their classmates live near you.....

Sorry to cut on this thread, but could you PM me about this too Jimjams? We are thinking of employing someone to play with Ds2 for an hour every day after school - was gong to advertise in the local college and get someone in their late teens ( needs to be strong!) but a SALT graduate would be even better ( well a strong SALT graduate ).

Sorry OP - we used to have a private SALT for Ds2 who was very good, but she also gave us excellent advice ( and an informal assessment) for Ds1 who was stammering at the time. In my experience they will work much more on what you want than NHS, some of whom seem to deliver a more prescribed programme. Having said that, our current SALT (school based) is excellent.

Sure sphil - I need to email my lovely girl tonight so I'll ask her whether there's anyone in your area....

Thanks!

My lovely girl can do some weekends if you are interested and she knows of someone closer to you as well so is asking her about the after school stuff.

She is miles away though! (near me)

My lovely girl I mean

Really need someone local who can come every weekday - and we cant afford to pay much, which is why I thought a sixth former would be good. The main reason is to get Ds2 off Youtube, not for any formal programme -
need someone who can bounce on the trampoline with him without needing to cross their legs and chase him about without gasping for breath.... He really does enjoy playing with other people now. My friend ( same age but a million times more sporty) was playing with him on the trampoline the other day and taught him a sequence of moves in about 30 mins. Was amazing and made us think how much he would benefit from this sort of contact every day. Its not only that Im old and knackered, its that Im always cooking etc after school.

Surfing?

Would be great if we didnt live an hour and a quarter from the nearest beach! ( Not counting Weston, which always seems flat calm)

Come and see us soon :)

aquafunf
You may find some of the research papers in this collection useful
Stuttering / Cluttering some of research papers cover many related developmental issues