SALT report ~ anyone have experience of this?

[sadminster]

We got the report from ds' SALT assessment today - it was a good session, she spent nearly two hours with him & I think she's got an accurate impression of his abilities.

He has a severe delay in both receptive & expressive language (tentatively about 12mo level he is nearly 3yo). Briefly

prerequisite language skills she says he - took turns, accepted direction, excellent attention span, repeated activities without prompts, copied, adjusted his routine & manipulation of toys as required, is left handed, unstimulated by noise, content with no anxiety or frustration ~ she felt he has begun to internalise language but not express it.

receptive - happily selected from a choice of two objects but required incorrect one to be covered, took no notice of noise.

expressive - about 10 words, non verbal noises to indicate excitement & protest & to attract attention of adult, held adult's hand to gain help in task.

use of language - not keen to communicate unless he needed help, eye contact good especially when excited visually, initiated using touch, pointed to direct attention.

play - links toys to each other/himself/others. No repetitive play, changes & shows capacity for learning. Excellent attention span, happily returns to activities, does not resist adult direction/attention.

He does not make associations between noise/activity/words/concepts and is not interested in noise - responding to it or making it. Needs urgent one-on-one SALT.

Has anyone ever heard of anything like this - completely ignoring sound (to her he presented as a child with significant hearing loss but his hearing has been tested x2 - we're getting it repeated again). What kind of therapy helps?

gosh that is a puzzler - as so much of what SALT is saying is so positive - eye contact/no repetitive play/good concentration etc.

I'm not sure if you are aware of a condition called Auditory Processing Disorder - where although someone can hear fine, they have difficulty processing what they hear, which affects language. More info here:-

www.robynsnest.com/audproc.htm

I'm not sure though if what you describe about taking no notice of noise would fit with that condition though....

Hopefully the hearing test will make matters clearer one way or another...

Thanks TC I thought of APD too, but it seems more than that - you could drop a box of Lego behind him & he wouldn't even flinch but whisper 'chocolate' & he'll come running.

I just don't know how to get around it - he can imitate motor skills but makes no attempt to imitate sounds.

bump.

how did he learn the meaning of words like "Chocolate"? can you remember?

sadminster is it he wont imaitate or cant ds has verbal and oral dyspraxia and is unable to make proper sounds mostly squaeals grunts , and ooooooo his receptive is delayed as well just tested at 2.7 hes 4

I just don't know, the words he has he just came out with - he was't taught them. Today he's gone through his 10-15 words/sounds. I honestly don't know if he can't or won't, he never copies sounds I make (not even making the incorrect sound) - he just stares at me.

He can follow commands like wipe hands/bath now etc but is totally clueless with get ball/where's cat etc let alone anything more complex. The receptive delay is far more worrying than the expressive. Still ignoring his name completely.

He won't even point at objects he knows (e.g. if I say where's the/show me the cat) although today he was pointing at pictures he was interested in (& looking at me) rather than just things he wanted.

Have sent SALT a panicked email say 'I don't understand, what do I do?'

ds can now follow2 key word instructions but has took sometime .and he wont copy sounds to have you thght about mintroducing makton has made althe differance for m y ds

Ds did not point till he was turned 3 an even nowometimes ignore hisname still andhaveto tap him on the shoulder to het his atention we to had 3 hearng tests to rule out problems.,

can you dspoke his tounge out and lick round his lips? can he blow bubles ,raspberries, and can he pucker up for a kiss ds could not do either of these

Phoenix I think so - ds doesn't kiss often (& it tends to be open mouthed when he does) but he can pucker his lips up.

We tried makaton briefly before, I'll take another look.

Every morning when I wake up my heart sinks at the thought of another day of frustration

i know that feeling to well .Dont give up on the makton please it took 18 months of signing before ds signed back and im not ashamed to admit bawled my eyes out first time he did .maybe just pick 3 or 4 signs to start with , biscuit, more ,drink and eat were our first ones and we used the general form only now are we using differnt sings for what kinda drink he wants .

apologiese if your already doing but just some ideas that we used

try keeping your language very simple and precise ,

making sre got his attention evjnh if meets tapping on shoulder first and getting down to his level

instead of saying ds go get your shoes and sitdown on the chair

will break down to ds get your shoes or even ds shoes now .sounds awfull but allows him to concertrate on the key words.

ds receptive is now 2.7 hes 4 so a delay of 17 months still but better than was , sadly his verbal expressive is about 3-6 months but with makton lot bette rhe now signs colours etc

"He can follow commands like wipe hands/bath now etc but is totally clueless with get ball/where's cat etc let alone anything more complex."

I think they assess "get ball" and "where's cat" at about the 18 month level so that would fit with what she said. "get" came slowly with us (certainly he was 3 when he grasped it) and "where's X?" was just a verbal game for a long long time. He's only just taken real ownerhip of "where's X" in the last few months.

"The receptive delay is far more worrying than the expressive."

You're ahead of the game. I wasted so much time teaching him to repeat words when I should have focussed on the understanding.

Let us know what the SALT says when she replies. I take it there is no echolalia/jargon going on?

I'm glad you felt the SALT was skilful and identifying the issues correctly. It's all part of tuning in to his individual profile....

it is so unbelievably complex that I'm amazed anyone ever learns to talk!

Dh has taken him down to his parent's (he'll stay with him) for a couple of days - I am seriously close to losing it & need to spend some time with dd2.

We were looking at home videos from May - he looked wonderful, happy & healthy - babbling, grinning, pointing, dancing, responding to noise. WTF has happened in the last 2 months?

He's had a huge eczema flare up & has had the most disgusting nappies for about a month - I'm putting him on the GFCF diet as of tomorrow.

Today was fairly typical - he ignored the doorbell twice but ran to the washing machine when it started the spin cycle. Didn't respond to a helicopter flying overhead but heard dh came in (& greeted him with a Dada!), ignored his name but responded to 'I can see you' and 'bye bye'. So very strange.

Had a nice game of Eskimo kisses at bedtime & he tolerated me singing to him.

SALT replied to email.

She reiterated ds's positive characteristics & said people would enjoy working with him.

Also said there may well be a neurological disorder underlying his problems (what kind of disorder) and we need a neurologist. Gave an example of one client very similar to ds who she was convinced would never speak, he's in yr 7 now & manages without pictures or signs [hmmm] I am not reassured.

Totally heart broken actually. What kind of neurological disorder?

She mentioned speech sound disorder & phonological awareness ---> Dr Google isn't providing any answers tonight.

She's also not working over the summer holiday - think we'll have to find someone else & suggested we apply for cerebra grant if the NHS don't come up with anything useful.

don't have any knowledge or experience to offer but wanted to give you some sympathy in coping with this confusing and difficult situation,look after yourselfx

the sppech sound disorder could be a form of verbal dyspraxia which comes in many levels and names depending on severity and yes its classed as neurological problem as means brains not sending messgaes to the muscles around mouth , might be worth emailing her and asking her