Speech

Check out our 5 top tips video to find out more about how you can help your child with their speech.

If you need to make a requests for support

Anyone, including parents and carers, can request support from Speech and Language Therapy. You can do this via our request for Support referral form.

The support we offer is always tailored to the needs of your child. Some children benefit from individualised support, others benefit from support in their environment. 

Many children who have speech sound difficulties will see a Speech and Language Therapist for clinic appointments. We want to see children at a suitable developmental level for a sound they need to work on, which is why we sometimes recommend other things first. As parents and carers, it is important you are included in these sessions. You will need to practice the activities at home. This is vital in supporting your child to change their speech. 

Assessment and Therapy may include:

• listening and identifying the difference between sounds
• information about how we make sounds
• thinking about sounds in a chosen set of words
• showing your child pictures and asking them to say the words
• asking them to copy sounds and words
• asking your child to make different shapes with their mouth and tongue
• looking inside your child’s mouth
• trying different techniques to make sounds, sometimes using words that are not real like ‘sah’
• using chosen words and games to practice
• lots of repetition of activities and sounds 

To support your child to be ready to work their speech sounds we might recommend focusing on a different area of communication first. This might be language to build up their vocabulary and sentences, or attention so they are able to get more from the sessions. 

Speech and Language Therapy support children with their speech sounds when there is impact on;

• making friends
• learning
• joining in at home and at school
• their message being heard
• confidence and self esteem

We discharge at a point when:

• children need time to develop or practice a sound before coming back to Speech and Language Therapy for more support

or

• they are able to use sounds they found tricky in words and phrases. Using it in conversation often comes later