Speech and Language Therapy Early Years Service
The Early Years Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) service provides assessment and specialist intervention for children under the age of 5 years.
What we offer
Assessment and specialist intervention for children who are having difficulty with:
- Pronunciation
- Understanding and using words and sentences
- Social communication difficulties and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Stammering
- Reluctance or refusal to talk
- Eating and drinking difficulties
- Hearing Impairment
We run workshops for parents and carers to provide information on how to help their child at home. Children might attend small group therapy sessions or individual therapy sessions when necessary.
How to see or contact the service
Appointments are held in one of our health centres or via video call.
If you would like to contact the team please call the Single Point of Access Team on: 020 8836 8621, option 2.
If you have an appointment with the Early Years (Under 5 years) Speech and Language service use the link to view further information, Early Years – Speech and Language Appointments.
Dysphagia and complex needs team
We work to support children with eating and drinking difficulties or with more complex communication needs. Many of the children we see have additional diagnoses such as Downs Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy.
Some children have specific difficulties with eating and drinking relating to early feeding difficulties or circumstances such as premature or complex birth history. Others may have difficulties due to problems with coordination of the movements needed for eating and drinking.
Some complex communication difficulties require highly individualised support and strategies such as use of signs, symbols or technology instead of or alongside speech.
We may see your child at home or in clinic or nursery. We often work closely with colleagues from other therapies or dietetics if appropriate.
Integrated Neurodevelopment – IND
The Integrated Neurodevelopmental Team (INDT) is part of the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust Children and Young People’s Directorate. The team provides a service dedicated to children who may have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and a service dedicated to children who may have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Please click on the link for further information Integrated Neurodevelopment – IND.
Hearing impairment / deafness team
We work to support children under 5 with permanent hearing losses in both ears (severe to profound level of loss) as well as their families and any other key people in their lives e.g. childcare staff, extended family members.
We support children who wear a range of hearing technology e.g. hearing-aid, cochlear implant, bone-anchored hearing-aid, as well as children with a range of communication modes e.g. spoken language, sign language or speech and sign together.
Typically we see children in clinic but can also do nursery and home visits. We also support the mainstream Early Years SLT team who work with children with other kinds of hearing loss on their caseload e.g. children with temporary deafness such as glue ear.
Click to read more information about the Hearing Impairment / Deafness team.
Further information
Please use the links below to access further reading:
Information about communication difficulties:
I CAN’s Talking Point for Parents – Information for parents on how to support their child’s speech, language and communication skills
I CAN’s Talking Point for Professionals – Information for professionals on how to support children’s speech, language and communication skills
Words for Life 0-3 Years – Advice and recommendations for children aged 0-3 years
Words for Life 3-5 Years – Advice and recommendations for children aged 3-5 years
Afasic – Advice, resources and support for children with communication needs and their families
STAMMA – Advice, leaflets and support for children who stammer and their families
National Autistic Society – The Uk’s leading charity for autistic people and their families
The Communication Trust – Provides information and resources for parents and professionals working with children with speech, language and communication needs
The Hanen Centre – Information and training for parents and professionals working with young children with communication needs
Hungry Little Minds – A government initiative providing fun activities for children from 0-5 to promote good communication development
SMiRA – Selective mutism/reluctance to talk
Little Bee Speech – Pronunciation
Activities, strategies and resources to help children’s communication:
Kent Community Health – Advice about how to help a variety of communication difficulties
The Communication Trust – Videos and leaflets
BBC Tiny Happy People– Activities to help communication
Hungry Little Minds – Activities to help communication
The Hanen Centre – Activities to help language and interaction
Jenny The Story Lady – Story Sacks
National Literacy Trust – The importance of reading stories
SLT Buckinghamshire Healthcare – Activities and resources
The Hanen Centre – How to help children make requests
Do 2 Learn – Visual support
We would also encourage you to contact your local Children’s Centre who offer lots of activities to support children’s development. You can find the details here;
https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/directory/15/childrens_centres
Please note: Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust is not responsible for the content of external websites. The above links should not be understood to be an endorsements for those websites, the site owners, or their products/services.