Speech and Language Therapy

If concerns are raised about your child’s communication, eating and/or drinking difficulties, these can be discussed at the Communication Forum.

The Communication Forum meets regularly and is attended by school staff and Speech and Language Therapists (SLT).
If at the Communication Forum, your child is identified as needing an assessment by a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist an appointment will be offered.

If your child is identified at the assessment appointment as requiring SLT intervention we would open an episode of care.

An episode of care will vary in length depending on the outcome of your child’s assessment and the clinical decision made by the SLT that intervention will effect change. The episode of care will reflect the identified impact of the presenting difficulty and desired outcomes and goals would be agreed with you and others involved in your child’s care.

Intervention may be provided via any one or a combination of:-

1. Training being provided to school staff and parents/carers to support your child’s communication and/or eating and drinking skills
2. A specific program developed by a Speech and Language Therapist to be carried out by the communication support team and/or school staff throughout the week.
3. Direct input by a Specialist SLT for an agreed period of time. The duration of this episode will vary according to need.

It may be that the communication support team will continue to work with your child after the speech therapist has finished their episode of care. However should further advice be needed in the future a re – referral can be made at any time.

The completion of an episode of care is often referred to as discharge, which for parents/carers may seem worrying, however, your child may be re-referred to the SLT service whenever new targets have been identified. The maximum waiting time for an assessment is now 14 wks and in some cases will be sooner.

Training opportunities for parents and carers will be advertised on the Aneurin Bevan Website, under Speech and Language Therapy and also displayed at schools.

How to refer

If you have concerns about your child’s communication and/or eating and drinking skills please contact the school directly. These concerns will be discussed during our regular Communication Forum meetings and a referral/re-referral will be made to the Speech and Language Therapy service where appropriate.

For further information please contact:

Penycwm Speech and Language Therapist: Hannah Tightley, 01873 732721