Behaviour / development :Moondog or any other SALTS - could I have your opinion on my DD's Reynell results?

[lou031205]

Hi,

My DD (3.1) is having investigations since developmental delays have been picked up. She is between 6-18 months behind in the various elements of development.

She had her SALT assessment today, and the SALT used the Reynell Developmental Language Scale.

DD's Raw score was 32, developmental age 2.06, centile (?) We thought 12th, but we judged that on 3.0, forgetting that she is 3.1. I don't know how much 1 month puts the centile down by.

Can I ask your opinions (obviously influenced by your professional experience, but I am NOT asking for something I can 'rely' on. Just your opinion) about what this means for DD.

The meeting was a bit fraught at the end because DD kept running to the sink and trying to flood the room, so I couldn't really talk as indepth as I would have liked to with the SALT (who was fab, by the way!). She has offered me a follow up at some point without DD so that we can talk further, but in the mean time:

She has said that she is sure DD will need some help at school. She said that 6 months is significant at 3.0.

Can you answer:

1. In your experience, if you had to categorise it, would DD's delay be "mild", "moderate" or "severe"? I only ask to prepare myself.
2. How much help would you imagine a child with these scores at this age to need?
3. How long (if at all) would it take for a child with these delays to 'catch up', or would they always be behind?

Thank you, in advance. I am just very aware that this time next year we will only have 6 months left before she starts school. And I need to know how much I need to fight to get her support in school.

Bump

Hi TClanger!

The SALT said that she feels that she would class DD as delayed rather than disordered. She did emphasise that the range for the centiles is 16-84, so DD being on centile 12 (I presume a little lower in reality) is significant, and she said that she definitely thought she would need help at school.

She has booked an appointment next week with DD to give some strategies to help her, but there is no mention of regular sessions or anything. She said that she could phone the preschool and suggest things for them to do.

She has offered me a session without DD to talk things over, which I may well take.

I am just aware that there are only just over 6 months till summer break, and then we will need to apply for a school place.

I have no idea whether she will

a)need a statement
b)be put on school action plus or
c)left to flounder.

Option C is not one I will accept, but I know these things don't go as smoothly as at preschool

The consultant also phoned me about an hour ago, but will start a different thread about that

hello! SALT here. was she delayed in all areas fairly equally,or one area much more signifiacantly tahn the other? ie:- comprehension way above expression?
formal testing is always hard to judge by as its unfamiliar setting/unfamilar requests being asked of small children.
has your dd made staedy/rapid progress with speech? a delay of 12mths in my book is severe,but would take whole picture not just test results.
in her preschool yr she will be eligible for help fom the education department in nursery if her delays remain the same.
in an ideal workld i would be seeing your daughter regularly, visiting nursery, offering slt group provision weekly and offereing parents the hanen course. i am well aware that in some areas this is unachieable due to lack of slts/funds etc.
i did work with a child at this level a few yaers ago and after 18ths of weekly slt she "caught up" and had mild support in first year school then nothing.
gotta go now ds crying.

I'm afraid those questions are impossible to reply to without seeing the child in question and even then, there is no maGIC formula or intervention.

Assuming all else ok (ie not obvious ASD traits) it wouldn't on face of it seem much to worry about.

as I'm an interested amateur, I can only really give you my experience with DS. At 36 months DS did have ASD traits, and a delay of 12-18 months for expressive and receptive speech. He wasn't delayed in other areas than speech and social skills. Private SALT classed him as being severely delayed. 20 months down the line - I feel that he is about a year behind in terms of ability to converse but is falling within normal range with the SALT picture tests, and his social communication has improved. He is managing surprisingly well at school without support (school is small, so small classes and in a deprived area so used to low attainment at entry). So the outlook is not always as bleak as you may fear. The gap hasn't completely closed, but it's narrowed significantly.

As MD says, there is no magic formula or intervention - but the upside to that is that there is a lot that we can achieve with our kids as parents, with the right guidance at regular intervals from SALT. Small tweaks from private SALT were very helpful (had about 4 review appointments with her in the course of 18 months) -e.g. being given a very basic core vocab - being told to focus on verbs so get DS combining more - and most crucially, using PECs to get DS's sentence length up.

I think in a way it's very positive that your SALT has mentioned support in school at this age - always best to plan ahead, and good to have a professional behind you. And the Hanen programme that LittleMissChataLot mentions is excellent - I would proactively ask your SALT if they run it, rather than wait to be offered it. Never does any harm to indicate you are willing attend absolutely any course/groups.

Thank you all for your replies.

She is delayed in most areas:

12mth delays in motor skills (gross and fine)
18 mth delay in social interactive skills.
6-12 in other areas.

Vocab is good, I think, but she tends to pick up phrases we use, and then use them, copying the exact intonation and so on, but not strictly echolalia I am told because she does use those phrases in context.

Comprehension is 7 months behind actual age, according to Reynell DLS, 12th centile I am told.

SALT today felt that she is at the two-word sentence stage. Sometimes 3 words, but tends to be for things and situations she is familiar with.

Had no idea where to look for the 'boy splashing the girl' or the 'boy carrying the elephant' or the 'baby pushing the mummy'. Pointed to the wrong cat when asked to point to the sad cat, but did say "not happy" when pointing to the cat that was smiling. Couldn't put teddy next to the lorry. When asked to make teddy touch the bed, she started to touch it herself, but then corrected it and used teddy.

Her attention span is very short. She has full 1:1 at preschool, and her IEP is to do an activity for 5 minutes. She is going to be starting epilepsy meds this week for the first time too, I have been told in a phonecall from consultant.

Moondog - not sure re ASD traits. I think there is something amiss in that direction, but not blindingly obvious. Gets very fixated on things, obsessive, with big delay in social interactive skills. E.g. sits on mat at preschool because she knows it is the thing we do. But sticks out like a sore thumb because she is just sat, dazed, and all the other kids are nattering away, before the session starts.