Disasterous SALT session today - made me cry :(

[lou031205]

Following DD's SAL assessment last week, we were invited to come back today for a session so the SALT could suggest and demonstrate methods to increase DDs sentence length and understanding.

Last week DD had been fairly subdued, and only started to become 'her' towards the end of the assessment.

Today, no such warm up needed. She was uncooperative (SALT said "DD1, can you do this with me" - DD1 "NO, no want to"). She got obsessed by the taps, and when the SALT asked her to feed teddy a cup of tea, she went into meltdown because 'the cup was dirty', so I had to wash a perfectly clean toy cup before she would pretend it had tea in it.

She ran off to the taps every 30-45 seconds, and shouted "don't care" "stop" etc. She banged her head on a table, calmed down with cuddles, then threw a tantrum because she was asked to sit down, and fell back and hit a chair with her head. I sat her on my knee, calmed her down, then she deliberately bit her finger, and started crying that it hurt (my response at this stage was "YES, you have just bitten it!").

She insisted that she needed a poo. First time I took her to the toilet she did a wee. Then I took her back to the room. She immediately started crying "poo coming. HELP! Poo coming". So took her back towards the toilets. She bolted up the stairs towards the health visitors' offices. She then ran up and down the corridors.

The only time that she spent engaging with the SALT was when the SALT followed her to a toy she had found, and joined in with DD. Perhaps 3 minutes.

So 50 minutes of SALT session, and 3 minutes of useful interaction.

The SALT said that she won't see DD at the annexe any more, because it isn't a safe environment for her. But she has offered to go to her preschool.

We talked about her behaviour, and she said that there are 3 elements to understanding language:
-Understanding the words themselves - i.e. the explanation of why you shouldn't do x.
-Understanding the tone/concept - i.e. 'no' means 'don't'.
-Being able to use the words you hear to modify your behaviour.

She feels that DD understands what 'NO' means, but that she can't use the 'NO' to modify her behaviour. She thinks that the impulses to turn on the taps/ escape, etc. are just too strong.

She will write a report and then give preschool & I a copy to make suggestions of things to do, such as Makaton. She is also going to check out when the next course is.

I feel so stupid. What did I expect, a magic wand?

I just couldn't believe that in the space of 50 minutes DD could be so wound up, and I know that SALTs have so much on. I was just gutted.

The rest of the day was filled with screaming, tantrums, hysterical cries of "fright", and crying in general.

Sorry to rant. It just struck me how difficult DD finds it to do anything that isn't on her own agenda.

Sorry the appointment was so grim. Don't worry about their only being 3 minutes of useful time - as long as SALT can tell you what to do, you can work on DD when surroundings are less tricky. The main benefit of seeing SALT IME is learning what to do next, what is the next gap to plug so to speak - it's mostly down to us parents to do the work.

I'm sorry you've had a hard day and the appoitnment didn't go as you would have liked. As painful as it was, its probably given the SALT good insight and may mean that she can suggest some suitable strategies that your DD may respond to.

I hope you all have a better day tomorrow.

Perhaps I had just misunderstood the idea of the session. I thought she was going to be 'showing' me what I should be doing with DD. Instead, she was watching me spectacularly fail to control DD, and we had snatched sentences in between.

We had some similar experiences of SALT sessions in our local health centre - too much new equipment and toys so ds was too distracted. Eventually the SALT came to our house instead and was much more successful (apart from the time he peed himself mid appointment). At least she has some suggestions and now knows that the annexe is not the best place to see your dd.

when you feel calmer, phone her up when DD isn't around to talk through what next - whether she can send you out some resources/exercises to work on in advance of the next appointment.

For what it's worth, DS2 has never cooperated in a SALT assessment - I just think that he picks up the fact that he's being tested and does anything he can to block it. In his case that means refusing to look or to speak. Your DD may feel the same, but her reaction is different.

Thank you all. Just needed to get it out of my system. SALT is going to phone in 6 weeks or so to see how things are, and hopefully there will be a list of strategies attached to the report for us to try. She also said that the report she writes will be able to be used towards our dreaded DLA claim.

Hope you feel bit better, sounds like all is not lost too. Plus you have some good ammo for the DLA, should imagine your dd's unco-operativeness will be quite helpful in that regard at least!

Hope tomorrow is a better day.

DS1 for some reason (possibly her hair[hmmm]) took a dislike to the first SALT we saw. He would actively ignore her, as in he would look at what she was talking about then go back to his thing. He did that at both sessions, one at the clinic and one had home.

When SALT 1 brought SALT 2 with her he did not stop interacting and talking to her. Admittedly there was 6 months between visits and his language had come on but he was still give SALT 1 the cold shoulder. SALT 2 has assessed him at home and at preschool and he's still really engaging with her. In fact, SALT 1 was at the Assessment they did on DS1 in December and again he was turning his back on her to concentrate on the OT.....

Will they come and do a home visit? So your DD is more comfortable on her own terroritory with less things to explore?

J (autism and ADHD) is totally unco-operative with identical behaviours in environments like clinics for SALT and OT. Again, running, climbing, defiant. Better at CAMHS, for some reason - possibly because we're there soooo often so the idea of it being in (pre) school makes sense. Might be much better on her own territory.

You're not alone, we've had dreadful sessions with various professionals!

LOu,as a salt can I just sat that this is nothing to worry about.If anything, the SALT will feel that she looked a tit in front of you (not vice versa).God,I couldn't keep count of the disastrous sessions I've had!

Actually, a disastrous session is more usefu lin many ways as it gives them a worst case scenario and usually ensures continued contact which might not be the case if your child sat and co-operated beautifully.

Have a glass of wine and don't let it worry you for another minute.

Oh what a shame, I know how you feel about wanting to make the most of every minute of your appointment. It must have been very stressful for you, it's awful feeling you're being being observed dealing with meltdowns.

Just think that now the SALT has seen your dd at her absolute worst, the next appt should hopefully show a big improvement. ds has always performed much better at home than in clinic, the different environment has always been distracting for him, and I would think that fairly normal for young children..

I don't personally agree with clinic visits.Too stressful for parents and kids.It's a really old fashioned pseudo-medical model of working which is hopefully on its way out.

Sorry things went wrong for all of you. Hopefully your dd will be more relaxed and happier in the familiar surroundings of her pre school when the SALT sees her next.

lou, my heart goes out to you, it sounds awful. I hope the salt learned something from the session! and your dd has a better day tomorrow.

moondog I am glad you posted about it being old fashioned, I feel so stressed when I go to observed play sessions.

Thank you all, feel a bit overwhelmed by the support. Especially thanks for the SALT perspective, Moondog.

Feel better today. DD at preschool all day, and after hearing about my day yesterday, a good friend offered to take her in with her, so she went off happy with her friend this morning.

Homestart have visited today, and a helper will start next week.