Speech delay - DLA

[Lilice]

My son is 4 and has speech delay. I raised the issue when he was two with his pediatrician and so far very little has been done. We were told he had to be three to be seen by a slt. All they've done is come and assess him, and give us material to work at home. His preschool are involved and also given material. I think he really needs proper 1 to 1 sessions with a slt on a weekly basis, instead of being simply assessed every 6 months or. He was finally put on the waiting list end of last year. I rang today to get an update and was told more staff had left and now the wait is 6 months. He's starting reception in September and I dont want to wait that long. He shouldn't be starting school was already a disadvantage. I cant afford to go private but that's what I have to do now. I'm thinking if applying for dla to help me with the payments. Has anyone had any success in applying and receiving dla for a child that has speech delay? I should add that he had glue ear, only discovered when he was around 2, had grommets and his hearing is normal now. He was non verbal for a while, since last year he's made progress but doesnt speak in sentences and his pronunciation is very hard to understand, even for us his parents. Any advice is welcome

We tried - had no luck. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news - DD2 had virtually no intelligible speech aged 4 1/2 to give you some idea (I could understand about 25% of it on a good day)

DLA isn't for a particular condition, it's for the care and mobility needs over and above those needed by their peers.

From www.gov.uk/disability-living-allowance-children/eligibility

"The child’s disability or health condition must mean at least one of the following apply:

• they need much more looking after than a child of the same age who does not have a disability

• they have difficulty getting about

They must have had these difficulties for at least 3 months and expect them to last for at least 6 months. If they’re terminally ill (that is, not expected to live more than 6 months), they do not need to have had these difficulties for 3 months."

These are a few things to think about if you want to proceed with the claim. I'm not trying to put you off, I'm just wondering how you are going to provide evidence for the 'much more looking after' criteria.

What you want is 1to1 weekly sessions with a SLT, yet practically, how much time would that extra care you say he needs add up to, 30 mins per week?

All they've done is come and assess him, and give us material to work at home. His preschool are involved and also given material

How much time do you spend at home daily or weekly on using the materials the SLT gave you?

Would you still use the at home practice if he had the weekly therapy you'd like?

Can you make a case that shows he needs "much more looking after" than his peers because of his speech delay?

How could you provide evidence that his speech difficulties are expected to last at least 6 months from when you apply?

@blanktimes thank you so much. This is very useful and helps me put things into perspective.

How could you provide evidence that his speech difficulties are expected to last at least 6 months from when you apply?

That's a very good point. If I don't go private I expect it to be the case but I have made the decision to go private and hope he'll make progress in the next 6 months.

My 5 year old has dla largely for her speech, she was awarded at 2.5 because she had zero communication and it was renewed on her fifth birthday for 4 years to MRC and LRM.

She does have a few other bits going on alongside her speech but her speech is v.v.hard to understand and is the primary need.

Her TA at school needs to translate her for the other kids, she has a tendency to bolt and when she is found she can't communicate to strangers to relay who she is etc.

Evidence is the key thing!