When Should a Child See a Speech and Language Therapist?
As a parent, it's natural to wonder whether your child’s speech, language or communication is developing as expected. Perhaps your child is talking less than other children their age, people outside the family struggle to understand them, or their teacher has noticed that they are finding it difficult to follow instructions or explain their ideas.
Children develop at different rates, so noticing one difference does not necessarily mean that your child needs speech and language therapy. However, you also don’t have to wait until a difficulty becomes more obvious before asking for advice.
A children’s speech therapist can help you look at the whole picture: what your child is already doing well, which areas of communication they are finding more difficult and whether any additional support would be useful.
What does a speech and language therapist help with?
Speech and language therapy for children covers much more than helping a child pronounce particular sounds.
A Speech and Language Therapist may look at:
how well a child understands words, sentences, questions and instructions
the words and sentences they use to express themselves
how clearly they produce speech sounds
how they communicate their needs, thoughts and ideas
how they use communication when playing, learning and interacting with other people
whether they would benefit from other ways of communicating, such as signing, visual support or Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).
The support a child needs can therefore look very different from one child to another.
What signs might suggest my child would benefit from some advice?
Sometimes parents know very clearly what is concerning them. At other times, there is simply a feeling that communication seems harder for their child than it does for other children.
You might consider speaking to a Speech and Language Therapist if your child:
is late to begin using words or putting words together
finds it difficult to understand what is said to them
struggles to find the words they want
uses sentences that are shorter or less developed than you would expect for their age
is difficult for people outside the immediate family to understand
becomes frustrated because other people do not understand what they are trying to say
finds it difficult to explain what has happened or tell a story in order
appears to struggle with language used for learning at school
communicates differently and you would like advice about how best to support them.
What is significant will depend on your child’s age and individual development. An assessment can help to identify whether their communication skills are developing as expected or whether there are particular areas where some additional help may make things easier.
Can school-age children need speech and language therapy too?
Yes. Speech and language difficulties are not limited to toddlers and preschool children.
Sometimes difficulties become more noticeable when a child starts school because the language demands placed upon them increase. Children need to follow increasingly complicated instructions, learn new vocabulary, explain their ideas, retell events, understand classroom discussions and use language to develop friendships.
A child may have lots of strengths and skills but still find some of these language demands difficult.
For example, they might understand a topic but struggle to explain what they know. They may need instructions broken into smaller steps, find new vocabulary difficult to remember or have trouble organising their ideas before writing them down.
Speech and language therapy can identify the specific areas a child is finding difficult and suggest practical strategies for home and school.
Should I wait and see?
There can be a huge variation in how children’s communication develops, and some children do make progress without specialist intervention.
However, if you are concerned, there is no harm in asking for advice.
Seeing a Speech and Language Therapist does not automatically mean that your child will need regular therapy. An assessment might lead to reassurance, some strategies to try at home or school, parent coaching, a period of monitoring, or a recommendation for more targeted support.
The important thing is that decisions can then be based on a clearer understanding of your individual child rather than simply waiting and worrying.
What happens when a child sees a Speech and Language Therapist?
Assessment should be appropriate for the child’s age, needs and interests.
For younger children, this may involve play and observation as well as talking to parents about how the child communicates at home. With older children, the therapist may use activities or more structured assessment to look at particular areas of speech and language.
Parents, carers and education staff can provide valuable information too, because communication can look different in different environments.
Following assessment, the Speech and Language Therapist can explain what they have noticed and discuss the most appropriate next steps.
At All Join In, sessions can take place at home, school or nursery, depending on what works best for the child and family. Support may also involve working with the adults around the child so that useful communication strategies become part of everyday life.
Looking for a speech therapist for children in Bristol?
If you are wondering whether your child would benefit from some extra help, All Join In provides speech and language therapy for children in Bristol and the surrounding areas, including North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Anna and her associates work with toddlers, preschool and school-age children with a range of speech, language and communication needs. You can find out more about children’s speech and language therapy in Bristol and the different areas All Join In can support.
If you are specifically concerned that your child is late to start talking, using fewer words than expected or finding it difficult to build sentences, you can also read about speech and language therapy for language delay.
If you would like to discuss your child’s communication and whether an assessment might be useful, please get in touch with All Join In.
