Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy

Preschool

When your pre-school child is first referred to us, they will be offered a pre-school screen appointment. These appointments are run by a Speech and Language Therapist and provide an opportunity to discuss your concerns, observe your child’s speech, language and communication skills, give you strategies to help support your child’s speech, language and communication development and enable us to direct you and your child to the most appropriate support. This appointment should take around 20 minutes, and you should leave with a future plan for your child.

Where do we run pre-school screen appointments?

Pre-school screen appointments are available at the following locations:

• Harrogate District Hospital
• Catterick Health Centre
• Bedale – Glebe House Surgery
• Ripon Hospital
• Thirsk Health Centre
• Northallerton- Friarage Hospital

Complete the referral form below to access a preschool screen appointment for your child. You can ask a healthcare professional e.g. health visitor or member of staff in your child’s education setting to help you do this.

School Aged – Primary and Secondary

Our school-age mainstream Speech and Language Therapy Team provides support to children and young people aged 4-19 who present with speech, language and communication difficulties.

We support children who:

• Have difficulties with their speech (difficulty pronouncing words/mixing up sounds)
• Have difficulties with their attention and listening skills
• Have difficulties understanding and following language use in the classroom (following instructions/understanding questions)
• Have difficulties expressing themselves (making sentences and using appropriate grammar)
• Have a stammer / dysfluency
• Have additional needs that affect communication and interaction (e.g. Autism, Down Syndrome, Hearing Loss)
• Have difficulties with their voice (not speaking at all/hardly at all, unusual quality e.g. hoarse, breathy, croaky or pitch too high/low)
• Have selective/situational mutism (can speak freely at times, hardly or not at all in other situations)

Our goal is to assess, identify, set goals, support and advise young people, their families/carers and schools.

We support mainstream school age children and young people who have a GP within the Harrogate and Rural District and Hambledon and Richmondshire areas. This also covers children and young people who are home educated. Parents/Carers, healthcare, social care or education professionals can refer to Speech and Language Therapy with parental consent.

Special School/ Complex needs/ Learning Disabilities

Assessment and provision of information regarding speech, language and communication as well as safe eating, drinking and swallowing needs.

• Joint target setting with teaching staff in the Special Schools and the children’s families.
• Provision of training to support implementation of programmes and strategies.
• Provision of an Intervention Plan for school and home.
• Monitoring programmes and outcomes.
• Liaison with multi-disciplinary colleagues (Dr, Nurses, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Dietitians, Social Care, Independent SALT).
• Input to annual EHCP reviews.
• Close episode of care/discharge when outcomes are agreed and strategies are in place.

Eating and Drinking (Dysphagia) 

Download some Universal Level advice for hesitant, anxious and limited eaters.

Download our Referral Form 

Preschool – for children from birth to school transition age. Any education or healthcare professional as well as parents/carers can make a referral to the preschool service.

School aged – for children and young people aged 4-19. Any education or healthcare professional as well as parents/carers can make a referral to the school aged service.

Special School – for children and young people in a Special School setting. Any education or healthcare professional as well as parents/carers can make a referral to the special school service.

Dysphagia – Hesitant, anxious and limited eaters

Download our Referral Form 

We offer training to parents, carers, education staff and other health professionals in specific areas within Speech and Language Therapy. Please contact us to enquire about available and upcoming training courses.

Telephone: 01423 553122 / 01423 542490

Email: [email protected]

Please see our resources and handouts for initial support.

Several of our Speech and Language Therapists and Speech and Language Therapy Assistants are Makaton Tutors. We are able to offer Makaton training to parents/carers and professionals. Please contact us for more information.

An episode of care means that we will:

• Assess your child’s speech and language and find out what they need to practise
• Decide what your child needs to practise first.  Most children make better progress if we only pick one or two things at a time
• Help your child do the practise
• Show you and/ or teaching staff how to practise this with your child
• Your child may need only one or two appointments in their episode of care.  Some children may need a few blocks of appointments with interim consolidation periods over a period of time.
• Once a block of therapy input has been completed, the child/young person is discharged to continue working towards the targets and to consolidate their progress. When further support or advice is needed, they can be re-referred back for a review of their speech, language and communication skills and to update their targets.