What is Speech and Language Therapy?
A Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) evaluates the child or young person to find out if they have speech (pronunciation or stammering), language (understanding, sentence formation and grammar), communication (social interaction) or eating and drinking difficulties.
Speech and Language Therapists work with children and young people who have:
- Delayed or disordered Language (Understanding Or Sentence Formation) Development
- Specific Difficulties In Producing Speech Sounds
- Delay or Disorder In The Way That They Use Speech Sounds In Words
- Stammering
- Social Interaction Difficulties
- Voice Disorders
- Swallowing difficulties (including babies).
- Children we work with may have an isolated difficulty with communication or feeding or it can be
Part of a wider difficulty such as a physical or learning disability, hearing impairment or cleft palate. Speech and Language Therapists use their specialist skills to assess, diagnose and develop care plans for intervention for the children and young people. In the Integrated Therapy Service they work closely with Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists when children have needs beyond
their communication or feeding skills. They recognize the importance of working with those who spend the most time with the child or young person and have positive working relationships with other professionals including:
- teachers
- pre-schools and nurseries
- education support services
- psychologists
- health visitors
- doctors
Much of their work is in training others and empowering parents and education staff to meet the child &communication or feeding needs within the child everyday life.
