Children & Young People's Speech and Language Therapy - A guide for parents and carers

Speech and language therapists provide support and care for children who have difficulties with communication, or with eating, drinking and swallowing. Speech and language therapists work with parents, carers and other professionals, such as teachers, health visitors, occupational therapists and doctors.

Speech and Language Therapists work with children and those around them to enable the young person to communicate effectively and access eating and drinking safely in their everyday life.  This may involve providing advice or resources, assessment or therapy focussed on the young person’s ability to listen, understand language, put together sentences and use speech sounds to get their message across to others. Speech and Language Therapists are also involved in assessing  and advising on difficulties with eating, drinking or swallowing and other skills such as social interaction and play skills.

If you have concerns about your child’s communication or eating, drinking or swallowing skills you can make a ‘request for assistance’ to the Speech and Language Therapy team directly:

• Call our advice line on Tuesdays, 1pm – 4pm on 01896 826 710
• Or call to book in a request for assistance conversation between 9am – 4pm on Mondays and Wednesday on 01896 826 710

Please also see our website for further information and access to resources which could help your child:

www.nhsborders.scot.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/our-services/allied-health-professionals/speech-language-therapists/children/

A ‘request for assistance’ is when the Speech and Language Therapy team are contacted by a person who has concerns about a young person’s speech, language, communication or eating, drinking or swallowing needs. This contact might have been made by you, or another person who knows your child well such as nursery staff, school staff or a Health visitor. Following the request for assistance we will have conversations with you and others who know your child well to come to an understanding of what your child’s communication needs and strengths are, and how these can best be supported.

One of the following outcomes will be agreed with you following the request for assistance conversation:

• Signposting – we direct you to another service which is likely to best fit your child’s particular needs.
  
  
• Reassurance – through the course of the request for assistance conversation you have been reassured that your child’s communication development is on track and you are supporting their communication development without the need for further advice.
  
  
• Advice – We have shared advice and strategies which you can use to support your child’s communication development. This might be verbal advice, written advice or handouts, or may be in the form of one of our targeted courses.
  
  
• Investigation – We have agreed with you that we need to find out more about your child to be able to decide which is the most appropriate support. This might involve speaking to you again in more depth, an observation of your child in an everyday setting such as nursery or school, or a clinic-based assessment with your child. An assessment appointment in clinic might involve playing with your child, listening to their speech and language skills and asking your child to follow instructions and describe pictures.
• Intervention- Direct therapy support is agreed to be the most appropriate support for your child. This might involve sessions with the therapist in clinic or in nursery or school. Therapy may involve activities to practice often with your child, and may involve several of the people around your child such as you, their nursery or education staff. Therapy may be supported by a Speech and Language Therapy Assistant or a Speech and Language Therapist.
  
  
• Escalation – Occasionally we find out that a child needs prompt support from another service to ensure they stay safe and well. In this situation we would direct you on how best to access this more appropriate form of support, for example seeking medical advice.

You will receive a letter after your request for assistance conversation to confirm which of the above outcomes was the one agreed.

You can contact the Speech and Language Therapy team again to ask for further advice and support in future if you need it.

• If you are unable to come to an appointment we have offered you, please let us know. This means we can offer the appointment to another family and we can support more children and young people. Thank you in advance for helping us make the best use of service resources.
  
  
• Try using the advice or resources your therapists recommend little and often. Most children respond best when new strategies or supports are introduced daily for short periods of time. Speak to your therapist about how often you should be practicing or using the supports and advice provided.
  
  
• Come along to therapy sessions and please bring any resources your therapist has provided with you.
  
  
• If you are unsure about any of the information or advice your therapist has provided please just ask, we will be happy to talk the advice through with you or provide it in another format if that would be helpful.