Rant about SALT

[Widemouthfrog]

DS first saw SALT jan 08. She submitted a report for his statement which said he would receive termly input for his IEP. Scroll forward to today first attempt at contact, and she did not turn up

I am furious on so many levels. 1. She is not meeting the statement obligations. 2. She failed to submit a report or attend our statement review this Wed. 3. We are delaying the Review paperwork awaiting her input. 4. we have been referred to an ASD specialist SALT 10 months ago aswell and are still waiting.

I know my son is verbal, but his stammer is now becoming very pronounced, and he is unable to order or sequence his language.

What do I do now? I am going to ring on Monday and rant, but I will just be fobbed off about workload again!

rant over

Don't be (fobbed off).
Write (don't ring, never any record) to her boss and cc it to her boss and the chief. exec. of Health Trust.Also education officr in charge.

Visit SNAP/Parent Partnership office, tell them the story and ask them to back you up by writing too.

I virtually guarantee some action (I'm a salt).

Thanks Moondog - I was hoping you would see this.
reports to get a diagnosis and a statement were produced quickly, but since then there is a void.
SALT is just one problem. We are also waiting for OT 10 months after diagnosis, and we've just had our paed appt cancelled and deferred fpr 2 months. None of these professionals have seen fit to contribute to the statement review. It makes my blood boil. Fortunately his educational support is excellent, but that is no excuse.

Get into action.
Ask for a copy of thier complaints procedure (from both council and Health Authority) and follow it.
Has to be both as Ed. legally responsible for SALT provision even thoguh Health Authority provide it.

You basically embarrass people into action.
It's shocking the way you have been treated.

I'd follow that up too.
I've said it before and will say it again. The only way to get more SALT provision is for parents to kick up a stink.

(Read document today saying we are 3000 short and some advertised jobs (up to 41%) have no applicants.)

So please do so and do us all a favour.
Low level whingeing to mates or other professinals or the foot soldiers is a waste of time. Take it to the top layer of management and demand an explanation. That's what they are paid (more than enough0 to deal with.

There is a clause added to the bottom of our last (only) SALT report which says

'This is a statement of communication needs and not of available resources'.

Says it all really!

That's not a legal document thoguh so means nothing.Statement is though.

TC, important not to go to high too soon. MPs can't really help.Follow chain of command rung by rung and get them to deal with it. Shame you are putting up with someone you don't get on with. Doesn't make for a good partnership.

I was talking to a colleague in advocacy today and we were discussing how parent training is the best investment of all.I think we grossly underestimate how much people can and are willing to do for their kids if shown the way, which relieves pressure on services which are of course under huge strain (my own caseload is enormous, set over many differnet places in a large area)

The buzzword now in Health is PPI (Parent Patient Involvement) which is a statutory thing-no choice in them not doing it. You need to wheedle your way onto committees and forums. But, as you say, it is all so exhausting and one often has to conserve one's energy for other things. Obtaining my own child's statement and fighting for her needs wiped out a year of my life. Really, it did.

Lol at Warly bird scheme.Is that done up in Geordie country then?

Yep theres no courses offered here in Essex either for parents with kids with Sli and the few courses here is are only for the parents with dc with dx of Asd

They not been able to run any makton courses as they currently do not have anybody trained in it .

And yes I complained to various heads even ds salt has asked me to please as shes frustrated by fact finds thatshe can not give enough time to the dc that really need help because she has see dc with very minor problems because they are quick fixes and can be taken of the waiting list

Widemouthfrog, in the past we had no report for the annual review as the SALT was on maternity leave and we had to wait until she got back and then the LEA added it to the back and inserted a few meaningless lines.

My daughter's statement says she should get a visit each half term and if this has ever been cancelled I have immediately emailed the head of service to remind them of this and it seems to have worked well so far.

We have always struggled with SALT provision for my daughter. We have done the official complaint route and her visits were increased to 6 a year from 3. As my daughter is now going to secondary school this year we obtained an independent SALT report and have tried to match a school that will provide this. We have also insisted that these changes are in her statement and are still waiting for it....

Some of the LEAs around here are finally admitting that SALT is an educational issue and employing their own SALTs.

'shes frustrated by fact finds thatshe can not give enough time to the dc that really need help because she has see dc with very minor problems because they are quick fixes and can be taken of the waiting list'

That is so true Phoenix. Most referrals are prob. completely unnecessary but those kids with minor phonological issues can trot along to clinics for a few sessions, play some game and be discharged.Look lovely on the manager's Powerpoint presentation.

Vjg, re 'admitting' it's an educational problem....Actually it's enshrined in law. The Lancashire Judgement ruled once and for all that it is indeed an educational issue.
Read this summary on the IPSEA website (a fantastic source of support).

Thanks everyone for the advice . I am going to start the complaints procedure (in writing) on Monday.

I agree about the importance of parent training. We did an earlybird programme last year, and this was the most (only) useful follow up we have been given since diagnosis.

Seeing the minor problems first seem to be apart of all our treatment for DS. The neurologist puts us to the back of the queue (another thread), we wait for SALT and OT, whereas I know younger children who have been seen in a couple of months and discharged by the same professionals. There is no easy fix for complex ASD and epilepsy issues of DS, so it feels that no-one is bothered at times. I even had to fight to get inclusion support in school because to quote 'your DS is not priority because he has a statement to address his needs!'.

I shall be looking at the IPSEA site carefully.

Let us know how you get on, Wide.
One parent's successful tackling of the useless state of affairs sets a precedent that helps others.

I had so much help from MNers (which I needed, despite being a SALT myself) with my own dd's statement, a copy of which i have left with my local SNAP office and my solicitor with instructions to make it and all my case detaisl available to anyone who needs them.

I'll keep you updated

Moondog, why do SALT departments not try to pass it back to the LEA or try and get funding from them? It is very few LEAs IME that fund any SALT.

VJG, beleive it or not, most SALTs unaware that provision of it is legal obligation of authorities.
I didn't know until investigating it for own kids.

I suppose most SALTs to busy struggling with day to day load to 'take on the system'. That, unfortunately has to be done by people such as parents, SNAP and IPSEA.

One of the reasons we have chosen a non-maintained special school for my daughter at secondary level is to be able to step away from this whole system.

The non-maintained school buy in the service from a PCT and because it brings in funding the SALT service is not subject to the breaks in cover we currently experience.

And the most dispiriting thing is that if you decide to challenge the status quo, you enter onto a cnfrontational situation with the very people you want to help and support your child.
It doesn't make for a productive working relationship at 6all^.

thed sn school i ant to get my ds in has stepped away from the nhs provision ad employed a f/t salt themselves as the head was fed up with the lack of nhs provison even though he reckoned on at least 60% have it on there statement ,not very poular decsion except for the teachers and parents of course

Great idea Phoenix.
I'd give my eye teeth to be attached to one school and give it all I'd got.
So draining spending hours every week in the car driving to different sites (not to mention waste of time) and trying to develop professional partnerships with an enormous no. of different people.