Please look at 3.5yo DS's SLT report and tell me what you think

[WaveorCheer]

I'm going to split it up cos it's enormous...apologies in advance.

Attention and listening

X’s attention and listening skills are reduced and variable, he appears to be more engaged at home than at Nursery, possibly due to the busy, stimulating environment at Nursery which is naturally more distracting. X is able to sit and play with toys such as wooden building blocks for a considerable length of time, however he requires adult support in order to remain engaged.

X often flits from one activity to another and can find it difficult to settle at a task even if he usually enjoys it, he can often appear to be in his own world. X sometimes appears to really want to concentrate but may find an activity too difficult or intense, he usually removes himself briefly from the activity, engages in self-stimulating behaviour such as hand flapping and then re-engages in the activity with adult support.

X is able to remain focused and motivated for short periods on activities that he does not enjoy (such as the language assessment) when it is broken down into small sections and he knows he can have a small immediate reward such as a chocolate button after each small section.

X displays some repetitive and self-stimulating behaviours, he often engages in hand flapping and makes repetitive noises, he usually does this in response to stress, change, under or over sensory stimulation. X also engages in stereotypical play such as acting out television programmes or trips on the underground, when he is engaged in these repetitive behaviours it can be difficult to gain X’s attention, although he will sometimes respond to his name. X is more likely to respond to very familiar adults such as his parents but may not respond to others’ attempts to gain his attention.

I must be honest and say I don't quite understand what we're talking about here .

I will look at those apps, thank you.

Why does it take so long, zzzzz? Is there something specific about your situation, or is this something we should be prepared for too?

I said I would post the SLT's recommended targets:

•	To understand and follow instructions containing “on” “under” “in” “next to” “behind” in a range of activities with 80% accuracy.
•	To use the pronouns “I” and “you” correctly 80% of the time during calm everyday speech.
•	To answer “who?” “what?” “where?” questions with 80% accuracy.
•	To begin to ask more “who?” “what?” “where?” questions during play activities, 80% of questions copied from an adult.
•	To pass and receive objects and toys from an adult three times before disengaging, 80% of the time.  
•	To pass or receive an object from a peer twice, with adult support, 80% of the time.

Are they? That is interesting.

The first bullet point - understanding below, behind etc - I thought he could do that reasonably well, but he completely failed to demonstrate that in the assessment, so maybe I am giving him much clearer non-verbal clues than I thought. Even so, reading those clues is positive, right?

The rest he mostly gets wrong, and passing an object 3 times is a real stretch for him. Passing an object twice with a peer is something I've only ever seen him do with his brother, and that maybe only twice.

She's done a session in nursery for us today, discussing games and activities they can do there as they are obviously well-placed to help him with the peer stuff. Then next week she's coming to ours, and will be doing similar.

Zzzzz thank you so much for all your comments. Are you able to link to the apps you referred to at all? Are they available on the iPhone/iPad? I can't seem to find anything. Apps would be brilliant, he's an absolute whizz on the tablet.

I'm an slt and I also work in autism diagnosis.

I'd say she is definitely pointing to autism. Sorry, haven't read the whole thread.

But with regards to waiting times, it varies all over the country. In some areas it's two years for the actual assessments, which is disappointing because they can be conducted and reported on within a week with the correct resources.

I work in the NHS and privately - sometimes it's lack of funding, ie not enough assessments commissioned, sometimes the assessments are commissioned but only on a year to year basis. The problem with that is the NHS can then only employ staff to conduct the assessments on a temporary contract and the right people don't apply for the job so the money is there but the staff aren't.

We are a business these days, not a care organisation. It really upsets me.