Specialist Speech and Language

© SPECIALIST SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY SERVICE
MID – ESSEX Primary Care Trust

At the current time there is a full time post, providing specialist speech and language therapy services to deaf children across Mid Essex. Intervention will be delivered in a variety of ways depending on the age and level of communication of your child.

PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN

At this stage a specialist teacher will be involved in working with you and your child. The speech and language therapist will work closely with the teacher and may provide home visits if appropriate or offer appointments at a local clinic.

The main role of the therapist with pre-school children will be in supporting you, the family in your communication with your child.

SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN

Services to this age group will depend on where children are at school. At the present time the majority of our time is dedicated to the three resource bases at Mildmay Nursery and Infant School, Mildmay Junior School and Great Baddow High School. The Therapist will work closely with mainstream and specialist teachers in the school to develop individual education plans (IEPS) and will provide therapy on an individual or group basis if appropriate. You will also be encouraged to work closely with the therapist and teachers to develop your child’s listening, speech and language skills.

For children attending other mainstream schools visits will be provided to the school. The role of the therapist will be to assess and review your child’s communication and to provide advice to the special needs co-ordinator (SENCO) and other teachers. Individual Education Plans will be written jointly, again with your involvement. Therapy may be provided by a teaching assistant or by the SENCO.

REFERRAL

The specialist therapy service will generally be aware of the children who are diagnosed as having a significant hearing impairment. We will be part of the team at the joint audiology clinics at St John’s Hospital, and have close links with the specialist teaching service. If you have not had contact with either of these services you may wish to contact us directly. You can contact our Central administrative team at Moulsham Grange Children’s Centre, Chelmsford on 01245 - 546300