Support for speech delay?

[HHH3]

DS2 (2.9) had his first CDC appt today. The paed seemed quite sure that his only problem is his speech delay. She felt that cognitively he's probably ahead of his age and that his understanding is good. But his speech is significantly behind and the gap between him and his peers is still growing.

I'm coming to the realisation that this probably isn't going to be sorted out quickly (or possibly ever). So that leaves me starting to wonder about the future and what support he might need.

We're about to move house and he'll be starting a new nursery. I'm wondering about broaching the subject of an EHCP for him (he already has an IEP at his current nursery). Is that something I could get for 'just' speech? And should I be looking at some sort of speech unit for next September?

I'm a bit lost tbh. I just want to do the best I can to help and support him but I'm not actually sure what to do. Any ideas?

Anyone?

What does the senco at nursery think? Have they mentioned what the options may be?

I know that previously you felt there was 'something' going on, did the paed have any thoughts about your suspicions?

What is the plan re expressive speech at the moment? How are they hoping he will progress with speech? Does he use sign? Visual images? If he has any words, are they clear, or does he seem to have oro motor problems (forming the words)?

Sorry, lots of questions and probably not much help!

At his current nursery they really can't be bothered tbh. They do makaton and aren't interested in learning his signs. The new nursery I think will be a lot more open to suggestions. So if I broach the subject of an EHCP I think they'd be open to that. I'm just not sure whether that's the right route to go down or if he'd even get one on speech alone.

I still do think there's something else going on. He'll have another cdc appt in 6 months so I'm just going to see what happens between now and then - how he develops and whether his new nursery have any thoughts.

He's had 2 lots of group SALT and made no progress at all between them. Now waiting for individual SALT but the wait is at least 6 months. In the meantime I'm going to look into private SALT.

I've been given no feedback on how they're hoping he'll progress with speech.

He signs but the vast majority of these aren't accurate (along with some he's made up himself) so it's only me that understands him.

He has a few words that other people understand. He has a handful of other words that are so unlike what they're supposed to sound like that unless you know him and the context you haven't got a chance of understanding. I've been told that he has no oro motor problems.

No worries about lots of questions. I don't mind - it helps put the thoughts in my head into some sort of order!

So why do they think he will only get worse? From what I know ( only what my slt has told me). It becomes disordered language around seven. Before then it's more a delay. I could be way off. But it seems to young to be so bleak.

Did they do any formal assessments? Celf?

I know some will disagree but going private was the one thing I should have sooner. The nhs is so underfunded it's bordering useless in this area.

Find a good salt ( www.helpwithtalking.com/Default.aspx )

Ask if your private slt will assess ( beware some tests can't be repeated so check if the nhs one did) this need not be expensive as they charge about £60 a hour so mine cost me £150 and £120 for reass ment a year later.

When I did this my sons six month delay on the nhs was three year delay. He was five.

Ask what the slt recommends and ask for some print outs. Then you can do things yourself.

My son has a receptive and expressive disorder but I don't believe he has to keep falling further behind. It will never go away ( as it's a disorder not a delay) but he can learn to work around it.

EHCP - you'd need a EP to assess him. Ask your nursery to call in their improvement office ( all nurseries have one it's how they prove they can implement the EYS for funding). They can find out how to get a EP in.

Getting a EHCP for speech alone might not be easy, but it's possible. However he shouldn't need one to get help.

In reality it's not that simple as I couldn't get help with a statement. Getting that was and still is very painful. It could be worth applying as that should fire up the LA to assess. But I'm not sure I would do my appeals again.

Sorry rambling, it's late. But lots you do.

Get a second indi opinion.
Go private ( don't tell nhs and stay on nhs books! Never discharge yourself)
Ask to get improvement officer in to assess or call in EP to assess
If your feeling nothing else is working apply for EHCP assessment as it does fire people up
Be careful where you invest your time - ie where do you draw the line with chasing a ehcp

Appealing sounds easy on here - it isn't. Yes people do win. It's still very hard.

They don't think he'll get worse but did raise the possibility that he'll never fully catch up. The gap between him and his peers is definitely growing at the moment now.

The paed did a lot of games to assess him in general but afaik he's never had any assessments specifically for speech.

Thanks for the link - will start contacting some private SALTs today. Don't worry - I won't be discharging him from NHS SALT!

And I'll have a proper talk with his new nursery once he's started to talk about an EHCP and go from there.

I have found private SALTs variable - so try to get a recommendation if possible.

It sounds as though your sons expressive speech is delayed (rather than disordered) so it seems wrong to have said he may not catch up, especially at 2.9!

When ds started preschool I made a book with (badly scrawled) drawings of his signs, so that he could be understood - but they were told to model the correct sign back to him (as we would model correct speech) - some of the signs he does correctly now and others are just stuck as Hazeyboy signs, a bit like kids having odd words for things!!

It is difficult because I think a lot of the advice for speech delay is pretty generic - about encouraging good communication and giving a child a means to communicate whilst speech develops (ie Makaton, visual images etc).

SALT exercises become more specific if there is actual speech to work with.

Fingers crossed the new nursery can get on board with it all.

Would you be able to explain the difference between delayed and disordered please?

I think I have been lucky with my private slt. Both work /worked for the nhs in all kinds of settings including asd schools.

For my non verbal and verbal son they have given me info that helped me carry on without therapy if I choose.

Both did come recommended. I guess I was lucky there

Hi we managed to get an ehcp for ds while in (school) nursery. It is very difficult as it is so play based that they cannot really demonstrate that he cannot join in and progress. I was advised to wait a few years and his speech delay would start to affect all his learning so then I would get an ehcp. However I refused to sit back and watch him fail and was very worried about how he would cope in reception so applied for ehcp myself when he was 31/2. Nursery finally came on board and said they could not meet his needs (you need them to demonstrate that they are already giving him a lot of extra support but he is still making little/no progress). We had report from SALT, OT and paediatrician as well. The difference for us was that ds has very poor understanding and so failed most of the tasks she gave him, but I think he just didn't understand what he had to do. He is starting reception this week in a speech and language unit and I am so glad. Good luck, keep all notes and reports and be prepared to fight if you need to. These infant speech and language units exist for a reason, so even though it is hard to get an ehcp at this age for this, do persevere if you think this is what you need. I would wait until the year before he starts school, though, as you need to be really clear about where you would like him to go and be a bit clearer about exactly what his strengths and weaknesses are going to be. Good luck.