I had a report from speech therapist can anyone tell me what it means!

[whatisittoday]

My dd is just about to turn 7. She was referred for assessment by her old school although she is now home educated. They were worried about her social behaviour and wanted her assessed for autism.

She has no learning difficulties and her speech is good.

We had a speech therapist appointment which we were told we would need to do in order to have any other assessments and we had the report back yesterday.

It said "There are no concerns with speech and language".

"E has been reported as having fleeting eye contact and this was reflected in the session".

"E had to be continually redirected to focus on an adult led task for ten minutes".

"E was able to focus on an adult led task for 5 minutes".

"E was observed to tap the assessors leg to initiate social interaction".

There is a questionnaire for us to fill in and it says review in 4 months.

So what does it mean?

They don't think she has autism?
Is that level of attention a normal level or not? I have no idea

Thanks!

It sounds like the speech therapist is providing enough evidence to encourage that further assessment. I think at 7 you'd expect a bit more attention (without adult support) as well as more social engagement. These reports are always difficult because they focus on the negatives, but they need to be so in order to get more support for your child.

Thanks - I think she does have some problems which we are really struggling with I have no idea if these are related to autism or attention or something else though!

I don't know what I am supposed to do now.
I have this questionnaire but it doesn't say who I'm supposed to send it to it was just randomly included in the letter .

Also is she's being reviews by the speech therapist in 4 months does that mean she's not even on the waiting list for the paediatrician yet?

We have been seen by a continence nurse (as she needs medication) and this speech therapist. The original referral for autism assesment was 11 months ago - have we not even started that yet?!

It's all so confusing and upsetting

If you're unsure contact the salt and ask them. I've found it's much better to get an explanation with intonation and 2 way discussion than try and work out text!

You should probably take the report to your GP and ask for a referral for further assessment.

This is a decent report: let's break it down...

E has been reported as having fleeting eye contact and this was reflected in the session".

• not being able to hold eye contact is a classical sign of autism. But wait - it could also a sign of being shy, not being used to socialising with others, having little confidence with strange adults, being high (on sugar) and a whole load of other reasons.

"E had to be continually redirected to focus on an adult led task for ten minutes".

• not being able to hold concentration under lab conditions is difficult to find meaning in, but as worded it's an indication of drifting focus which may be indicative of various things.

"E was able to focus on an adult led task for 5 minutes".

• pointing this out seems to suggest that the s< wanted to highlight that she is able to focus for a reasonable time.

"E was observed to tap the assessors leg to initiate social interaction".

• inappropriate contact of others is again another classic sign of autism, but again nothing to worry about at this stage. without much social interaction with others (as one wouldn't get from home schooling) it's difficult to learn what's right / wrong touching. if she's used to touching your leg to get your attention, then she may have just done it with the s< out of habit as that's all she knows.

You say her last school were worried about her social behaviour - care to elaborate? This could encompass a lot of things but I think wanting her assessed for autism just for a different pattern of social behaviour as you describe it is a little over dramatic and doesn't seem like something a school would do without some sort of further justification.