SALT

[yellowrainbow]

DS is three and on a long waiting list for diagnosis. We have seen NHS salt but they aren't offering actual therapy for him, just a report and targets. He is verbal but has social communication difficulties, I'm now wondering about private SALT but not sure how it would help. Has anyone had a similar child have 1:1 sessions at this age? Or even private small group sessions (do they exist?) ? What sort of things do they do? Thank you!

We had the same experience as you as ds was the same. We’ve tried a couple of private SALTs but haven’t found one we clicked with.

If you live in a big city you might find a group, London definitely has them.

We had two lots of 6 small group sessions on the NHS. They were a bit of a nightmare as ds was very stressed during them. They mainly focussed on intensive interaction interspersed with therapist led activities that helped the children focus ie what's in the bag, sensory things like bubble blowing, making volcanoes etc.

We also did 1:1 SaLT privately for about 6 months. Again I'm not sure how much Ds got out of this, but it was good for me to learn some ideas off the therapist and to see how ds interacted.

Essentially I think ds learnt most of his language at home, particularly through watching films and tv. He also learnt through me learning/using Makaton and how to make a language rich environment. Using visuals and playing games which encouraged him to use language was the main focus.

There are books that you can use for ideas at home. Maybe try and order them from the library before you commit.

Hanen’s Talkability book is for verbal children on the spectrum.

101 games and activities for children with autism, Aspergers and SPD

101 games for social skills. Lots of these require a small group but I think there are some good ideas that can be used for play dates.

I also think the activities in The out of sync child has fun also promote social skills and co-operation, plus they help develop gross and fine motor skills etc.

Like liv we had some group sessions. These were not SALT per se but were run by specialist teachers. They were designed to promote communication and develop attention skills but they didn’t really work that well for us and I don’t think ds got a lot from them though we made a friend which was great. He mostly liked to go but would generally do his own thing. He had just turned 4 at the time.

With our private SALTs, one tried to work with him on understanding feelings. He was too immature for the level she was trying to work at IMO. The other worked on ds following a schedule of activities and developing attention span with some success but it was slow going and very repetitive and these sessions were all £50 each.

I honestly think you can do all of these things yourself if you put your mind to it and do the research/have good resources. I’m just not sure an hour once a week or once a fortnight is really that helpful, if it was several hours a week it would be different. The reality is that most of the work is done by parents in between sessions. This is just my opinion though and perhaps the right therapist (if you can find one) makes a difference. I believe the SALT who assessed Ds could have been good as she saw him about 3 times and had a good rapport with him, but who knows.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. yes it must depend so much on finding the right person. Yes I think I'll keep going trying to read up and use SALT approaches at home for now, just never seems to be enough hours in the day. He's progressing really well I think at the moment but I have little panics every now and then that I should be doing more / paying for something privately to give him the best chance.
I think seeing NHS Salt also brought home what the asd assessment will be like, reminding me of all differences he has and pointing out new ones I hadn't even noticed (using a sing song voice! Taking things on a literal level. Not problem solving)

An unrelated question: when you were going through assessment, did your husbands / partners come to all or any appointments? I assumed my dh would be, but talking recently he seemed to think otherwise! Now I'm wondering if it'd make the whole thing more stressful. Although it is quite a big deal and I think dh maybe needs to hear that. Also a lot of it is asking parents questions and it can be hard to remember all their little baby ways by yourself.

My dh did come to our assessment appointment - we only had the one in addition to the initial SALT assessments. For us it was very much needed as ds finds these situations stressful and he barely stayed in the room throughout. Dh fielded him in the play area and garden outside while I answered all the paed’s questions. Dh does try to come to most things.

Ah yes that's a good point. DS will start saying he wants to go and climbing on me which will make it hard to concentrate, so as a minimum I will just need someone to take him out and chill when necessary!

Don't expect anything from nhs salt and you won't be disappointed!
My son has private salt 1:1 when needed and group social sessions. It took a while to find the right fit for ds. We've tried individual speech therapists but have found a larger company far better. They run regular social/lego therapy groups and i have far more contact with them regarding how ds is doing. He has really benefited from the social groups and enjoys going.

I did all the appointments on my own. Dh works freelance so when he has work he can't take time off. But to be honest I'm not sure i would've wanted him there. Being in control of it all was what helped me to process everything.

We had private salt - was amazing

If you are in London I can pm the name

Yes please, we're not too far from London so you never know. Was it a bigger company or individual? Thanks

Our experience with NHS SALT was atrocious - although I think we got a duff one on the worst day as the other NHS SALTs I know are lovely and really good at what they do (just ridiculously resource-limited). In the end we found a private therapist who was amazing (nowhere near you unfortunately), but it was putting in the daily effort with the homework that really made the difference - going private but without the time set aside to consolidate the therapy sessions is a waste.

I’ve sent you a pm op

Thank you , been meaning to reply and now I can't work out how to. I did see the message though, it looked great but sadly really far from me

If anyone else wants to pm me with private recommendations feel free :)
Hertfordshire or north / central London