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Post by haze on Oct 22, 2013 18:02:39 GMT
Having received a letter at the weekend telling me that the speech therapist who works with my daughter is leaving I have today had a rather heated conversation with the therapist who rang to share the recommendation that the hours would be halved. I was and still am very unhappy about this and expressed my misgivings and displeasure rather strongly as the recommendation was entirely based on what has been seen in the school environment where she is apparently 'functioning within the expected range' with no previous discussion or contact with me to find out about home where she is no where near 'functioning within the expected range'.
After an exchange of views and my describing the difficulties we see at home the therapist has agreed to review her recommendation and has said she will be discussing with her manager a more creative option where the hours at school are reduced but the remaining hours being used to support her communication outside of the school environment. Obviously there is no guarantee that the manager will agree in which case I will be pushing for the full hours at school but I am still reeling that there has been a complete dismissal of her speech & language difficulties (severe pragmatic & mild receptive with word finding difficulties, etc) based only on what has been seen in the rarified environment of the social skills group.
A 30 minute conversation describing a child who umms, arrss & lalalaas because she can't thing of the words she needs, can't order from a menu, won't speak in public, can't even ask for things from known people let alone ask for something in a shop but having achieved a possible concession has left me feeling exhausted & wondering what happens for those kids whose parents aren't able to advocate for them?
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Post by oogleschnook on Oct 22, 2013 20:54:31 GMT
What a nightmare, glad you got it sorted.
I know what you mean about wondering about other kids whose parents aren't able to fight their corner....
I don't think my LOs have had a referral yet that I haven't had to chase up .... Grrr!
Well done you!
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Post by peartree on Oct 23, 2013 7:24:23 GMT
With you all the way
Her needs have not changed and 'normal range' sound very wooly and if pushed I'd be asking for a criteria they used to define this
All power to your elbow
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Post by haze on Oct 24, 2013 19:04:39 GMT
Still waiting for the follow up phone call but interestingly the specialist SALT for 'complex needs' has just re-arranged the appt she cancelled back in July. Am trying not to be a conspiracy theorist but such a coincidence!
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Post by peartree on Oct 27, 2013 16:36:53 GMT
Specialist speech therapy IS a small world so if not whispered in a departmental ear, someone up there is looking after you  |
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dusty
Bronze Member
Married Adopter
Posts: 51 
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Post by dusty on Nov 4, 2013 13:12:29 GMT
Hello and so sorry this has happened to you. I am very much hoping that you have SALT written in your child's statement and that the hours are specified as if this is the case, they cannot simply reduce hours on a whim. If the person leaves or goes off sick then the LEA has to pay privately to still provide as it is within a legal document and they would be in breach of the Statement if they do not do this. Fingers crossed for you that you get this sorted. It may be worth talking to IPSEA or SOS!SEN for advice pre talking again about this again so that you can use all the right words to make sure you are not fobbed off.
Good Luck
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Post by haze on Nov 5, 2013 18:42:01 GMT
Ha! Have now received report stating they recommend a reduction of hours due to her 'attaining in the expected range' when assessed but for the next therapist to reassess & make the decision. Buck passing extraordinaire!!
Am very cross.
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Post by wibbley on Nov 7, 2013 8:25:46 GMT
My DS is ASD & I know many ASD children - not a single one of them receives SaLT help. Even when no one but me could understand DS it was still seen as 'good enough' so no help was forthcoming. He also can't remember words for common items. I think it's a sympton of the lack of funding in the NHS.  |
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Post by donatella on Nov 7, 2013 10:06:19 GMT
My daughter is also ASD and has speech and language problems. She started speech therapy at 3 - just bog standard stuff - which made no difference to her at all. Then for a period she saw a specialist who was great and saw a lot of previously unseen stuff. She really helped to get her diagnosed. But no more therapy. However she does have a specialist teacher working with her in school twice a week to work on speech but also her social issues which are more profound.
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Post by sooz on Nov 11, 2013 13:06:39 GMT
Tacking onto this thread rather than starting a new one.....
Ds has termly SaLT, or an assessment rather, with recommendations and targets written into iep.
He is currently 'age appropriate' for vocabulary and speech and the latest report states they will consider ending the speech therapists visits in the summer term.
Now it is true his speech is not bad, his vocabulary has always been good, it was stringing it together that was the problem, but his understanding of spoken language is definitely not right.
Should I be looking for more, not less, input from SaLT? Or should I be looking at more specialised help?
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Post by donatella on Nov 11, 2013 14:45:21 GMT
In which setting will this cause him the most difficulties? If it's in school - where it's important for the teachers to make themselves understood - then I'd look at maybe getting some support in school. Our LA has a learning support dept and a specialist teacher works with my daughter x 2 per week on speech, language, understanding and social skills. Once she's grasped what's being said then academically she's ok. But it does have to be explained in the right way. My daughters old salt is seeing her next week to review and were going to talk through what other support she may need, particularly in school.
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Post by haze on Dec 17, 2013 20:52:51 GMT
Following a completely shambolic annual review & my threat of taking them to tribunal SALT have decided to not apply to reduce the hours on the statement but to use them 'flexibly'. I suspect they mean to just not use them so will be watching carefully to see how this plays out...
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Post by pluto on Dec 17, 2013 21:28:04 GMT
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