Children’s Speech & Language Therapy Service - Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals

What is speech and language therapy for children?

The Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service supports children and young people in Doncaster and Bassetlaw aged 2-16 years who have difficulties with communication, or with eating, drinking and swallowing. We also support young people aged 16 – 19 years old who have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) who are attending schools in Doncaster and Bassetlaw.

A child of ANY AGE can be referred if there are:

stammering (dysfluent) or if parent reports hearing stammering, or
experiencing difficulty with eating or drinking in terms of mechanics of chewing and swallowing (not sensory / behavioural feeding difficulties), or
nasal regurgitating their food, or producing speech sounds made at the back of the throat or significantly nasal sounding speech

The Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service provide assessment, diagnosis and treatment for children and young people with speech, language, communication, and feeding and swallowing difficulties.

The majority of difficulties fall into the following areas:

understanding what is said to them
expressing themselves
talking clearly (saying speech sounds)
stammering
eating and drinking

The service sees children and young people in clinics, hospitals, schools, nurseries and other early years settings, and at home.

Accessing Children’s Speech and Language Therapy

To access the service children and young people must:

have a Doncaster or Bassetlaw GP
be aged 2-16 or 2-19 if they have an Education Health Care Plan and attending a Doncaster or Bassetlaw School
meet the threshold for accessing targeted Speech and Language Therapy care.

The Doncaster and Bassetlaw Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service operate an open referral system. This means anyone can refer a children and young people, you do not need to ask a professional to do this for you. However, we do not accept referrals without parents’ knowledge and permission.

You can self-refer by downloading and completing the referral form here and communication checklist here (for children aged 2-5) or here (for children aged 5-18)

The resources on the final page of the ‘communication checklist’ can be accessed below:

Information for Parents/Carers/Professionals

If you wish to make a referral you can do so using our referral form and return it to the address provided at the end of the form. Please note that we are unable to accept referral forms that are incomplete or do not contain a signature from the child’s and young persons parent/carer.

Referrals for a feeding/swallowing assessment

If the child or young person has a feeding / swallowing difficulty, the referral needs to be made from a GP or Consultant or a professional with consent from a GP or Consultant.

What can I expect during my first appointment?

The appointment will last for approximately 45 minutes, longer for complex / specialist assessments.

A speech and language therapist (SLT) will usually start by talking to you about your child’s early history and development and gathering some information about your concerns. Depending on the age of your child and the type of difficulty that they have they will do a number of different tasks and activities. For some children, particularly younger ones, the assessment may be done through the SLT playing alongside your child, or watching them play.
The therapist will talk to you about your child’s development. You will have the opportunity to discuss any concerns you may have about your child’s communication skills
During the session you may ask any questions about your child’s speech and language development
At the end of the session the therapist will discuss with you the best ways of supporting your child

What can you do to help?

Please:

Bring along your child’s health record (red book)
Give examples of what your child is saying, and/or sounds which are difficult for him/her
Think about how your child communicates with you is he/she is not using real words , e.g. pointing, or using gesture

What happens next?

At the end of the session the therapist will advise you on one of three courses of action:

Your child’s communication skills are in line with their overall development or may be requiring minimal advice. No further appointments are necessary.

Your child requires some specific activities and their development will be closely monitored and reviewed

Your child would benefit from regular therapy input.

Important information

If you are unable to keep your appointment please inform the service as soon as possible so that this session can be offered to another child.

To ensure that all appointments and correspondence reach you, please notify us of any changes to your surname, home address, telephone number or GP.

Downloadable leaflets and documents

Useful websites:

Local services that work closely with Children’s Speech and Language Therapy

Doncaster:
Children’s Physiotherapy Service
Children’s Occupational Therapy Service
Health Visiting Service
School Nursing Service
Child and Young Person Mental Health Service
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Local Authority – Special Educational Needs
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Local Authority – Educational Psychology
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Local Authority – Local Offer

Bassetlaw:
Children’s Physiotherapy Service
Children’s Occupational Therapy Service
Health Visiting & School Nursing Service
Child and Young Person Mental Health Service
Nottinghamshire Local Authority – Special Educational Needs
Nottinghamshire Local Authority – Educational Psychology
Nottinghamshire Local Authority – Local Offer

Organisations that support speech, language, communication and feeding

Talking Point: A website supported by The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and national charities, ICAN and Afasic to provide a website that offers information to both professionals and parents. This website also includes the ICAN Checker, an online guide that can help you understand what to expect at each developmental stage. The checker has been developed by ICAN, a national charity that leads the way on supporting and promoting children’s communication skills.

ICAN: ICAN is a national children’s communication charity. Their website provides resources for both parents and professionals.

Afasic: Is a charity that provides parents and families with information, advice and support about speech, language and communication needs

Children’s Trust: A charity that works and supports children with complex needs

Nasen: A national organisation which aims to promote education and training for people with Special Educational Needs.

NAPLIC: A national organisation for teachers, speech and language therapists and other professionals, which aims to promote and increase awareness of speech, language and communication needs.

The Communication Trust: The Communication Trust is a national organisation that aims to support children and young people to develop their best possible language and communication skills by providing resources and training to parents and professionals. The website has lots of resources that schools can download and use.

Words for Life: The Words for Life website has been developed by the National Literacy Trust for parents to give you an idea of what communication milestones your baby and child might reach as they grow. There are also ideas for activities you can do together to help your children develop their skills.

British Stammering Association: The British Stammering Association offers help and information on stammering. The website has sections for young people, parents, teachers and health visitors.

National Autistic Society The National Autistic Society provides information and support to people with autism, their families, and those who work with them. The website has sections for parents, carers and families, as well as for professionals.

Information for student Speech and Language Therapist

As a team we regularly provide placement opportunities for student speech and language therapists from the University of Sheffield but have also arranged placements in partnership with other universities. If you are due to come on placement with us you can download our student induction pack and we look forward to meeting you soon.

For further information please contact the student co-ordinator on 01302 642633

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