How much SALT input in your child having?

[Bookworm19]

My son is 4, diagnosed ASD, global development delay and non verbal.

I feel like I'm hitting my head against the wall with SALT. He's currently had zero input for 6 months and have said he's unlikely to have any until he's in a SEN school, despite having a Statement of SEN which identifies significant speech issues.

What input is your SN child is regards to SALT? Just wondering what is reasonable as I feel like my son is being failed

Ds was lucky to be seen twice a year up until age 8. NHS salt weren't interested in him at all. I had him discharged from the NHS and went private a few years ago. He made huge progress with his private salt in a short space of time.

He now has salt included in his ehcp and has weekly sessions with his school speech therapist.

Does your son not get DLA/PIP monies? Could the care component not be used to fund weekly SALT sessions? This is what it is there for

I think SALT is a postcode lottery. We have NHS SALT. I have a meeting with the consultant every two months and then deliver the SALT activities myself. I think this is because of LOs age and ability to take part in the sessions himself (lack of!). He also has GDD and was deaf for a significant time when he was little.

Is SALT not included in the Statement of SEN?

That sounds really poor to me. My DS had blocks of weekly 1:1 speech therapy age 3-4 before he was dx ASC age 5, he now has 2 sessions per term of SaLT input with the SaLT advising social communication strategies for his teacher to use with him.

Thanks all.
We've had endless trouble with SALT. They're useless.
And to answer a few questions:
Yes he does get DLA but it's already eaten up with other things.
Yes, it's part of his statement but nothing has been done.
School are great and doing everything they can but the therapist is refusing to come out because if covid restrictions (for all SEN kids, not just mine)
We are currently fighting for a Placement for him in a SEN school.

I'm currently dealing with a lot, and also having a bad time with suspected endometriosis but once things have settled in a week or two, I'll start emailing management of SALT department.

My DS was non-verbal until 3.5 and slow language acquisition after that . We got 1 SALT appointment every 4 months which was woefully inadequate. In the end we put in a claim for DLA which we used to pay for private SALT and private OT. DS is 7 now, has a functional range of language. Glad we went for the DLA as it allowed us to get him the support he so desperately needed.

If SALT is specified and quantified in the statement you can force the LA to provide the provision via Judicial Review.

If you are in Wales SNAP Cymru can help and if you are in NI SENAC can.

We are receiving the same as you had 2 assessments saying needs SALT and on a waiting list for a service that isn’t even running!!

We paid for private salt weekly for 18 months from 3 to school age as the nhs offer was woeful. I needed some regular support too from the professionals with it.

DS has an EHCP and started reception in September in a mainstream with speech and language resource so he now does get it all through the nhs but at school.

I'm sorry it's so frustrating, I suspect thanks to COVID the offer is even worse than when we started needing help.

NHS SALT... waited a fecking year to get "oh I dunno what you want me to do if it's verbal dyspraxia [it is!]" snarled at us. I am still furious about the attitude of that lady years later.

Private SALT we had for a year - but I got absolutely hooked on SALT related stuff and went off to retrain as one myself - so she currently gets loaned out to chat to umpteen students of the subject instead! (Nice chatty nosy as hell little person so she loves it!)

Salt in our area refuses all intervention for under 5's and won't come out at all. My son has had one nhs virtual appointment in a year with school and we were told he was single word level and they wrote a 2 line plan based on this. My son is at the 2-3 word level and his issues are based around social communication and receptive language total waste of time. Go private

Salt are useless for my 7 year old. He gets 1 x 20 minute review every 6 months from the nhs then she sets some basic tasks for school & myself to do (school don’t do these either and it’s written into his bloody ehcp!) he’s moving to special school in a fortnight so I hope things are better once he is there.

We paid private for a salt about 18 months ago, she only did what we were doing ourself so made no sense to keep her as she charged a fortune. £120 for an hours session I think it was as she charged mileage even though she was coming from a school she was working at 5 mins away 😡 plus she said with his limited attention span we may be best to revisit when he’s a bit older so I binned her off.

What things do you do at home? What sort of level is your ds speech & understanding currently at? I’ll see what I can find for you x

OP doesn't need to go private if SALT if specified and quantified in the statement of SEN. Enforcing the Statement via Judicial Review will ensure the provision is provided.

Danni if SALT is specified and quantified in the EHCP threaten Judicial Review. That usually means the LA pull their finger out, but if not SOSSEN can help with a pre-action letter.

Thanks @10brokengreenbottles Ds school are a joke, he’s leaving next week thankfully. It’s more they are set salt tasks 3 x 20 minute sessions per week his 1-1 is supposed to do them with him and when I ask ds if he’s done then he says no (he wouldn’t lie) so I did a bit of digging with school and his 1-1 didn’t have a clue what I was talking about so that was my proof they don’t adhere to it even though they say they do.

I’m so pleased he’s moving x

The school are appalling, but it is the LA who are ultimately responsible for ensuring provision in EHCPs is provided.

Hope the new school are better!