Should he have been discharged from SALT?

[Noskcaj86]

My son was discharged this week from speech therapy, hes been having it since he was around 18 mths old because he wasnt babbling or saying mum or dad etc. He continued to be delayed and didnt speak at all untill 2 and a half. He started attending a language unit at 3yrs 2 months because he was still very behind with his language and understanding. He was there for a year untill july 2012 when we moved area and he then started a mainstream school in september age 4. He saw a new speech therepist twice, once in he clinic and once at school and she has decided he no longer needs speech therapy. My concern is that as my son has had quite a big speech delay that has lasted for a long time, is it the right decision to discharge him now or should he be continuing for a while longer to make sure he doesnt get delayed again?

 

SALT sent her report to me today, it said he is still delayed in one area and that he is inly just within the normal range for other areas... im so worried stopping his speech therapy now will cause his delays to get worse again.

 

Thanx

[justine1]

I understand how you feel the same happened to Dan about a year ago(age 5) I now fund it myself. Irony is Sam gets 1:1 and group sessions twice a week at his ASD unit yet he does not have a delay!

 

I would have thought they would have waited until he is more settled in school and ask the school what they think about discharging him. I guess some services are up until school age he will then have to access it through school. Have they given you advice on what to do at home? And if he does regress can you get referred back to them again?

[Noskcaj86]

Its worrying isnt it, yes I could get him referred back but that means going back through the GP or school nurse I think. Im quite annoyed she discharged him with his history and with only seeing him twice. I hope he doesnt regress but I have a feeling he will, hes still delayed in one area and only just in to normal range for the rest so really he should still be having it. I did think about paying for it privately but I cant afford that. I may ask to speak to school nurse and senco to get there advice. The SALT was also very negative about his asd referral, saying she didnt think he needed to be refered for it. But in her report she has noted things she saw him doing when she was assessing him such as sitting on the classroom floor with his hands in front of his face staring at his fingers and also hand flapping. Im sure these are traits/stimms!!! His class teacher says she sees autistic traits, so does the paediatrician who referred him and so do me and his dad and other family members. She did see him on a day where he was extremely well behaved according to his class teacher so maybe she didnt see the true Jack, especially as she only saw him for a couple of hours in total combining both appts.