Freedom of Information Request: 0203 2019/20
- Do you provide a specialist service for children who stammer in your trust? This includes information about the structure of the Speech & Language Therapy service provided and whether there are specialist services available specifically to children who stammer, e.g. dysfluency pathways and/or specialist Speech & Language Therapists.
For those children whose needs are considered to be mild / transient they will be managed with a standard band 5 clinician (face to face appointment).
For those children who are known to have a significant stammer they will be seen by the experienced band 6 or band 7 SALT for their initial assessment.
At times children will be referred on to the experienced clinician if the need is identified / becomes more significant.
Parent support can be provided through Palin Video Communication therapy for those children aged 7years and under dependent on the child’s needs.
Specific parent strategies are provided from the SALT service, for those children who don’t require direct intervention.
1 to 1 therapy is provided for older children who are self-aware.
Children with learning difficulties access a consultative approach. SALT deliver generic training to special school staff on how to support the child’s fluency needs.
For significant children, once they have received their initial assessment they will be monitored regularly to support their needs.
Children would be discharged once the child’s fluency is considered stable, and they are confident with the strategies provided.
Re-referrals are accepted for those children whose needs change.
2. What age range does your service cover? Standard acceptance criteria up to the age of 18 years. Patients are typically referred from age 3.
3. Does your service have any other specified exclusion criteria? No
4.What geographical population does this cover? Solihull Borough
5. Number of referrals made to the service for children suspected of presenting with a stammer over the last year (January 2018 – January 2019) We do not hold this information. Usually when a child is referred, they are often referred with fluency being part of their overall needs rather than a stammer on its own. The service does not have a specific code for it and also the service does not have a separate caseload for dysfluency, therefore we are unable to identify related patients.
6. Number of children seen as part of the service in the last year (January 2018 – January 2019) We do not hold this information. Usually when a child is referred, they are often referred with fluency being part of their overall needs rather than a stammer on its own. The service does not have a specific code for it and also the service does not have a separate caseload for dysfluency, therefore we are unable to identify related patients.
