How could SaLT help ds?

[badgerparade]

Ds (12) has very complex needs but has only just got a dx of HFA with PDA. The Senco often mentions problems with his understanding of language but he has never been seen by a SaLT. I have now requested a referral and after reading an article on SPLD realise that this sounds very like the difficulties he has. What would a SaLT be able to do to help him? I believe that because of his age and lack of any interventions previously he is likely to need intensive input now. Is that likely?

[Ineedalife]

I agree and I think that teacher sometimes forget even the most simple things like always saying a child's name before giving an instruction so that they know the instruction is for them.

Dd3 is high functioning and her new teacher doesnt get that she is struggling at all.

Dd1 used to get really stressed when teachers said things to the whole class that she felt was a personal attack on her.

The lack of understanding can cause behaviour issues too so you might be able to solve some of those too when you know exactly what areas of language he is struggling with.

[badgerparade]

Thanks Porridge and Ineeda.
Yes, I do think that he has difficulties in understanding and following instructions so any help would be useful. Because he is high-functioning with behavioural difficulties it is easy for some teachers to think that he is choosing not to do some things when I don't think this is always the case .

[Ineedalife]

I agree with porridge, I think that the SALT could identify areas of difficulty.

Dd3 has very good speech and can talk the legs off a table but she has lots of issues with higher language skills.

She needs support in some areas of literacy eg, inference. She has trouble with conversation sharing and of course sarcasm and idioms are tricky for her too.

Having it in writing means that everybody is aware of the issues and anyone who doesnt listen can get the report shoved under their nose.

I would go for it and let the SALT assess your Ds any intervention which comes out of it can only be a good thing.

Good luck

[porridgelover]

I dont know if this would help.
My DS has a diagnosis of HFA; he also has neurological issues (I feel). He has very poor movement patterns, slow to gain gross and fine motor skills yadda yadda.
The benefit to me and to school in having a SaLT ax was that they showed that, while he has exceptional language skills, he understands less than he says.
So he can talk forever, but its a way of masking his difficulties with understanding social interactions. This is important for his reading, maths skill acquisition etc

Knowing this has helped me in talking to him, to spend time ensuring that he understands what is actually going on. I can have an almost adult level conversation about gravity, vacuums, history, government systems etc. But I need to converse at toddler level about social rules and expectations.