Referred for SALT - what to expect?

[beckybraAAARGHstraps]

Dd (2.9) has now been referred for SALT. She didn't talk until about 2.3, and now, although she has plenty of vocab, she is really indistinct. Everything starts with 'h'. I don't think she has any problem understanding language, just with making it. She interacts really well, is very sociable, but she is just unintelligible at times. This morning she was really upset because I couldn't understand what she wanted me to do with her hair. I'm relieved that she's been referred, but I was wondering what, apart from an extremely long wait, we should expect? Any SALT veterans out there?

I'm a salt.
Yes,waiting lists are long,but what she will do in first session is take a detailed case history,then assess your child's understanding and,if she is willing to cooperate,her ability to speak and make sounds in the right places in words.

Jot down any question/examples of the things that concern you before you go-it willl be most useful..
HTH

Thanks moondog

Although I knew she needed help, and was going to ask for a referral, having it offered so promptly has left me feeling a bit worried.

We found referral (for lack of clarity) before age of nearly three impossible to get, but referral at a similar age was rapid to get - partly becauce of the wait (i.e. the referring HV and then paed knew we'd then be on the list for months before an assessmnet and more wait before any therapy).

First appt: assessment as moondog says - history, also some phonological assessment (shows lots of pictures and writes down in phonological notation (funny symbols) how DS pronounced them). This was useful to refer against 6 months later to compare how he did.

He then got put on a set of 6 weekly group sessions (after a month or so wait), to which parents could not attend. They have handouts of work to be done between sessions. He then got some individual sessions (a couple of months wait). We really worked on doing the 'homework' from the group and individual sessions at home and playgroup. After 6 months he had gone from being 'incoherent' (like you, I struggled to understand him) to 'age appropriate', and his willingness to talk to other people had grown no end. We are really pleased, and don't think so much progress would have been made without the SALT input and without us / playgroup DOING the homework so much. He is now supposed to be re-called for reassessment in approx 6 months after the last session, to check sound development is continuing OK (though I don't hold out much hope that 6 months means 6 months, prob more like 9 months).

The frustrating thing could be the wait between assessment appt and therapy sessions, but in our case it didn't feel too bad.

Best wishes.

That sounds quite positive. Thank you! I really want her to be understood. I find some people just don't talk to her because they can't understand what she says back, and I'm sure that doesn't help things at all. I'm desparate for her to be understandable when she starts school. Other children don't seem to notice at the moment, and she plays quite happily, but I'm sure that will change as they get older. And it's very frustrating for her!