Children’s Speech and Language Therapy (SALT)

Our Speech and Language Therapy Team provide life-improving support and care for children and young people who have difficulties with communication, eating, drinking, or swallowing.  

Our goal is to make sure that the child’s environment and the people within it are able to support a child to reach their communication potential and to participate fully in all areas of their life. We work closely with parents and carers, teachers and teaching assistants and other health professionals to achieve this goal.  

About our service

Speech Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)

Our service is funded jointly by the NHS and Stockport Metropolitan Council (SMBC).

The service provides support for speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) to children :

• In Stockport maintained mainstream schools, for those with a Stockport GP until school leaving age (which is up to the end of year 11)
• In Heaton / Castle Hill special school, up to them leaving the Special school. Children will transfer to adult services at an appropriate time from 16 years old depending on the needs of the child.

Feeding and Swallowing Needs – Dysphagia

The NHS funded service also supports children with feeding difficulties which are physical in nature, i.e. chewing and swallowing difficulties. Please refer by contacting our services on the details below.

What does the SALT actually do?

The SALT will work with the local area / setting / school to:

• Share top tips for talking / speech language and communication development
• Develop speech language and communication strategies and language rich environments in groups / settings / schools.
• Offer training in local areas to support development of speech/ language / communication
• Provide advice to ensure appropriate interventions are available to support specific speech / language and communication skills by setting / school staff
• Provide advice to support individualised programmes to develop speech / language and communication skills which setting staff / schools will follow
• Provide advice and support to parents /carers
• Ensure that screening tools are in place, so children receive any help they need as early as possible.
• Attend Family Hub drop-in advice sessions for parents / carers.

The SALT may provide direct support / intervention / local training sessions for children if more help is needed. This could be:

• In a group
• Individual Therapy, including parent / child interaction therapy
• Parents may be invited to training sessions / online training to help them support their child’s needs. This could include:
  • Makaton Training – use of signs and symbols to support language and speech development
  • Visual Approaches to support Autism
  • SALT strategies for children with speech language and communication needs.
  • Training about Selective Mutism.
  • Training about Developmental Language Disorders (DLD).

For any queries or more information about training opportunities offered by the service to empower parents / carers please email [email protected]

Our expertise

All Speech and Language Therapists are HCPC registered (Health Care Professions Council). We have staff trained to the equivalent of masters level and have a wealth of experience and expertise in many specialities.

The level of service and support will depend upon the specific needs of your child. Parents/carers may be asked to carry out activities with their own child, as most language development occurs during natural every day activities.

How to use the service

Pre-school Children

Speech and language therapists are available to offer support and advice via your local family hubs. Visit your local Family Hub One Stockport Family Hubs – Stockport Council or call the health visitor advice line Health Visiting and School Nursing advice line – Stockport Council to find out more about the early support in your local area for SLCN.

Health Visitor checks around12 months and 2 years of age are an opportunity to discuss any concerns about your child’s development.  If any support for speech language and or communication is needed this will be discussed with you.

This may include:

• Discussions of online support ideas.
• Visits at your home to support you with speech language and communication through a resource called the big book of ideas which helps language development, or our ‘little talkers’ programme.
• An invitation to a group session
• A Programme called iBASIS which support interaction between babies and their parent / carer
• Seeing a speech and language therapist for more assessment or support.

School Age Children

Every Stockport maintained school has a link speech and language therapist (SALT) who visits the school. The link SALT works with the staff in school to create classrooms that support speech and language development. They ensure that the school has the right skills and training / tools in place to identify any speech and language needs early and to provide appropriate strategies and support across the school to overcome these needs.

The link SALT can provide advice, help set up group intervention or see children directly depending on the needs.

You can ask your child’s teacher to discuss your child with the link SALT if you have any concerns.

If your child has a Stockport GP but is attending a school outside Stockport Local Authority or an Independent/Private School, we will discuss with your child’s school, the universal and targeted approaches they have in place and agree next steps with them.

If your child is home educated please contact the speech and language therapy admin team on [email protected] to agree how we can support you and your child.

For more information

If you have general questions about supporting your child’s speech language and communication, in the first instance where possible, please talk to your child’s health visitor, early years setting or school.

Your local Startwell Team can provide you with advice about how to support speech, language and communication needs.  Start Well Stockport – Stockport Council 

Helpful tips/videos can be found at  Families – Greater Manchester Combined Authority

If you have specific questions about specialist support for your school age child please contact your child’s link therapist via the school.

Alternatively contact us on the details below.

Contact

Our service runs between normal working hours, Monday-Friday.

Pre-school: the service has drop in sessions at our therapy centre, and attends local groups in Brinnington, Offerton, Adswood and Reddish on set weeks, and also runs a helpline to provide advice and support.

School Age: each maintained Stockport school has a linked SALT – please ask to speak to them if you have concerns about a school age child.