We all have a responsibility to support children and young people’s speech, language and communication. For most children this is best delivered by the adults around them who know them and see them every day.
There are lots of activities and strategies you can do to help before considering a referral. Please see information for parents and carers and information for professionals for further information and ideas. However, some children may need additional specialist support for speech language and communication to achieve their potential.
We have an open referral system – this means that:
- Parents or carers can refer their child to us without going through their school, GP or any other service
- Young people can refer themselves to our service, if they are able to make this decision for themselves
- Any professional can make a referral to us if they have consent from parents or carers, or the young person themselves if appropriate
Accepting a referral is based on the information provided on a referral form.
If the form is incomplete we may need to send it back to you for more information.
Contact us on the contact details found below to talk through any concerns and so we can start the referral process.
Children’s referral formWhat happens in ‘an episode of care?’?
We know that children’s speech and language therapy support is best delivered regularly by people around the child or closest to home. The service provides periods of support (often called ‘episodes of care’) to help this happen at the times when it is needed most.
Sometimes a child or young person will have a short period of support from the service. For others, they might need to access support for longer or over multiple ‘episodes’.
The aim of each episode of care is:
- To identify the child/young person’s current speech, language and communication needs or eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties
- Select key priorities at that time
- Set agreed outcomes
- Ensure support is in place to best meet their needs