What (and how) do I push for next?

[HHH3]

Will try to keep this as short as poss!

DS2 has just turned 3. Just before his 2nd birthday I took him to a SALT drop in and did a self referral. He then had a block of group SALT in April/May and another in August. These didn't help at all. I knew they wouldn't but had to take him or he'd have been discharged.

In October we moved to a different area and in November he was finally assessed individually (because we were new in the area). This resulted in 4x 15mins of SALT at nursery. I also asked the SALT to write a report as I had nothing on paper.

Got that report the other day and it says that his understanding is age appropriate, his expressive language is delayed and his articulation is disordered (none of that is a surprise to me). A line in the report that sums him up perfectly is 'miniH's speech is unintelligible without contextual clues'.

Having spoken to the SALT briefly on the phone a couple of times she seems to be thinking about 'intensive individual therapy' in the Spring. She also mentioned an EHCP at one point. I need to find a new nursery for him to start in September so I think an EHCP is a very good idea.

I guess I'm wondering how much it'd be reasonable for me to push for. Waiting til Spring seems a long way away when he is pretty much unintelligible (and even I struggle to understand him at times). At the moment he's a very happy, confident little boy but I'm aware that language will become more and more important for making and building friendships and I'm worried about the effect this could have on him. So do I push for something earlier (although I know that SALT is massively stretched). And do I also push for an EHCP?

Sorry - that was much longer than I thought!

But just to add that I'm currently paying for private SALT but I can't do that long term due to cost.

Thanks zzzzz. We do plenty of things that require interaction and he's at nursery 15hrs per week. Despite his speech problems he's always talking! Sadly most of it is unintelligible

Interesting what you found with SALT. If they can do that I'd be really pleased. This isn't going to be resolved in the short term so any help like that would be really welcome.

Would you mind me asking in what ways they helped? I'm not really sure what I should be asking/pushing for.

OP, if his understanding is fine and his main problem is the articulation, then you will probably need very intense Salt to get that going. interaction stuff won't really solve his inability to make sounds.

Have you applied for DLA? he probably needs lot more support than a child without these difficulties. DLA would help you to fund private therapy.

we use dla to fund therapy as the NHD has been nothing but a major let down.

google cerebra DLA guide. it is a must and will help you hugely to complete this form.

also, you can apply for an EHCP yourself. Don't wait for school/nursery to do it.
IPSEA have model letter how to request and assessment for an EHCP.

another option as you are being passed from pillar to post and spring is far away and you have a child whose speech is not intelligible and you have wasted time in group sessions is a complaint to PALS. I did that ilin similar circumstances and we started therapy with a week of sending my PALS complaint.

Thanks choc. Yes, I've applied for DLA. Unfortunately I needed to get the form in before the deadline and didn't receive the SALT's report until after that. But if he gets DLA then that will definitely be used for SALT.

I'm going to see what the SALT says in January about an EHCP. If she thinks it should wait then I'll start the process myself. Not sure if I'll be taken seriously though as, apart from that report, I have nothing on paper.

I hadn't thought of a complaint but it's worth considering. I'm angry that almost a year was wasted when I was telling them I felt there was a lot more to it than being a bit delayed. But to be fair once we'd moved and came under another area they were quick to assess him and start something individual (albeit 4x 15mins).

you can still send your reports in to the DWP if it supports your case. I did that too.

Oh, I didn't know that. Thank-you.