Had written SALT report through, time to take my head out of the sand.

[mummytosteven]

A very depressing read it was too. Hopefully a little more negative than >S's true abilities - e.g. "S is beginning to search for objects out of >sight, showing that he has the beginnings of object permanence". Conclusion >was "Although his communication is continually developing, S has very >delayed understanding and use of language for his age. There are potential >oncerns about his social interaction at this stage, but this should be >properly investigated by a multi discplinary team in due course, preferably >before he reaches school age".

so from being very positive at the >assessment, feeling he didn't need any further professional involvement, >and she didn't think he was on the spectrum, her views seem to have altered >somewhat. Oh nuts.Time to take my head out of the sand and ask HV or GP for >a paed referral now.>

Hi MTS.
As a salt myself,let me tell you we have to be honest and sometimes spell stuff out in a way that means that the child will gain the support he needs.

How old is your son?

just turned 3 a fortnight ago.

one of the problem areas is joint attention; any idea how I could work on that with him?

Can you set maybe 20-30 mins a night to undivided attention?

Stories,dominoes,snap,gluing,cutting stuff out?
Maybe with a little reward at the end for sticking it out?
The longer you can get him interested in something and seeing it thorugh from start to finish,the better.

Have you seen the ICAN website? I'll link....

thanks moondog, that's helpful. I suspect would have to stick to 15-20 minutes at first, something like playdo or cards would I hope do the trick.

Here

AFASIC also good...

thanks for the link

Here also. Go to publications.Lots of useful info. to download

Yes,good idea.
Little and often is the key.
Don;t charge in wanting to get him 'working' for hours.
A little session with you where he starts (and finishes) a task,however small,is a great start.
Can be as simple as putting all the dirty clothes in the washing machine or tidying his toys.

thanks again, downloadable free information is always useful.

I've got the "It takes two to talk" Hanen book, that seems to have lots of helpful suggestions, and I'm looking to go on a Hanen "More than words" course - it's the more than words course because that's the only one I can access in the near future via Surestart, I can't access SALT dept courses until S has seen the SALT in approx 10 months time!

how long is his joint attention now? Sometimes with ds1 we do a task of only 2 minutes (matching/imitation etc) then it's down from the table - play outside at the moment (4 jumps off the playhouse roof- signing for jump each time), then back to the table. He rarely manages 15 mins of directed joint attention (sometimes, but rarely).

A lot of parents find Hanen very helpful.
Not ideal but you could pay for a couple of private salt sessions if you want specific guidance/ideas.

i think we sometimes forget that what seems very obvious to us isn't always to parents.

Have you considered signing?
I can do you a link for two lovely dvds made by someone who really knows her stuff.Fun and useful for all kids but v v useful for kids with communication disorders especially.

Gess - I would imagine on a good day doing something S really likes about 10-15 minutes.... Will have to actually time this in case I am being hideously over optimistc . I feel I have been living in la la land for so long, naively assuming things would right themselves as per the ever helpful HV/GP.

Properly certified salts who work privately

Ignore reference to babies.All little kids love it.

10-15 mins is fine!!
Littel and often.
Keep repeating it.

The Hanen More Than Words course (which I'm doing at the moment) has lots of stuff about joint attention. If you aren't going to go on the course in the near future I would recommend trying to get hold of a copy of the book that goes with it.

moondog - this SALT report was arranged privately. Liverpool are very very unwilling for children under 3 to be referred (and they will NOT allow parents to refer) , so I have only just got him referred and there is a likely 10 month wait. I have asked the private lady to clarify a few things, obviously I have more queries than I thought.

thanks for the info MD and susieq, a great idea about DVDs, don't think I could face a signing class with lots of young babies whose parents are taking them there for a head start on communication.

How's his imitation (I ask because we spent ages trying to get ds1 to sign when he couldn't imitate - a complete waste of time- he needed PECS, as no imitation skills are needed to learn PECS).

His imitation is good Gess so spose signing would be OK from that POV.

oh yes, go for it! The Dave Benson Philips Makaton nursery rhymes DVD is great as well.

Gess - in case this is leading up to an ASD diagnosis, what sort of early intervention should I be getting a basic idea about, on top of speech/joint attention stuff.

MTS,I am staggered.
Children under 3 can't be referred?????
This is absolutely scandalous.
I can't believe it.
How the hell else are we to work in a proactive way??
This is when they need to be seen!

I've seen children as oyung as 7 months.

I presume you are complaining long and hard???

they can be, but there is VERY strict gatekeeping by HV. For a child to be referred at 2.5, they would have to only have 7 or 8 single words. As DS had more, they wouldn't refer him.

Bloody ridiculous (but you know that already.)
Have you dropped in at your MP's surgery?
The only way to get more SALT provision is to moan,long and hard.

And as a general rule,HVs know very little about communication difficulties so if they are gatekeeping,then God help your area.