SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY CHECKLIST - IS A REFERRAL NEEDED?

(www.barnsleyspeechtherapy.co.uk)

Please complete this checklist before making a referral.

Please note, we do not provide a service for:

v  Children with a lisp who are developmentally under 8 years. If they are over 8 years then we will only see the child if they are concerned about the lisp and are keen to change it.

v  Children who change a ‘th’ or ‘the’ sound to a ‘f’ or ‘v’ e.g. thin said as “fin” and this said as “vis”.

v  Children with difficulties with ch, sh, j, r, l, r-clusters or l-clusters until they are developmentally 8 years or older.

v  Children who reduce s-clusters e.g. spider to “pider”, stamp to “tamp” until they are developmentally 7 years or older.

What to Do

·  Complete this checklist with the child’s parents or carers. Please remember you are considering the child’s general level of development not their chronological age.

·  Select the appropriate age range below.

·  Tick only the boxes that apply.

If you only tick boxes in the left column (no colour):

·  You do not need to refer to Speech and Language Therapy at the current time.

If you tick any boxes in the right column (colour):

·  You need to complete a referral form. You do not need to complete all 6 sections of the referral form. The colours will help you identify which sections you need to complete. Please send this checklist with your referral.

SCHOOL/NURSERY / Tick / SCHOOL/NURSERY / Tick
Child does not attend nursery/school / Child attends nursery/school
NO REFERRAL REQUIRED / TICK / REFERRAL REQUIRED / TICK
18 MONTHS (Education Level P2-P3) / 18 MONTHS
Some pretend play (feeding, brushing self) / Concerns regarding eating and/or drinking
Responds to simple commands and questions as part of an everyday routine / No pretend play
Communicates through gesture rather than words / No understanding of very familiar, often used words
Uses babble ‘nonsense’ words or words which only close family understand / Little response to spoken language
No babble or words
2 YEARS (Education Level P4) / 2 YEARS
Enjoys pretend play / Concerns regarding eating and/or drinking
No concerns about understanding of familiar language; can respond to simple instructions / Little pretend play
Uses a small number of real words (10), possible ‘nonsense’ words / Understands less than 10 everyday objects and action words (do not include family names, yes/no)
Only close family understands speech / Names less than 4 everyday objects (do not include family names, yes/no) ;no attempt to copy or imitate words
Repeats syllables in a word e.g. “fafa” for flower or “tata” for tractor / Child sounds nasal, speaks through their nose or has a history of food coming down their nose or has a cleft lip or palate
Misses ends off words e.g. bike sounds like “bye” / Child only uses the consonants m and n
May only have the sounds p, b, m, n, w / Few or no words understood by close family
2 ½ YEARS (Education Level P4) / 2 ½ YEARS
Understands simple instructions including 2 key words e.g. show me mummy’s shoes, show me daddy’s eyes / Concerns regarding eating and/or drinking
Vocabulary includes some action words e.g. jump, run, clap / Does not follow simple instructions involving 2 key words
Has the sounds from previous section plus t, d, g, k / Does not understand action words e.g. jump, run, clap
Single word vocabulary of more than 12 single words and parents report progress including imitation / Has less than 12 single words (do not include family names, yes/no)
k and g often said as t and d e.g. car sounds like tar and goo sounds like doo / Has a stammer
Speech is often difficult for people outside the close family to understand / Speech is often difficult for parent/carer/close family to understand
Misses the end off words e.g. bike sounds like “bye” / Child sounds nasal, speaks through their nose or has a history of food coming down their nose or has a cleft lip or palate
Child only uses the consonants m and n
3 YEARS (Education Level P5) / 3 YEARS
No concerns about understanding of language / Persistent hoarse or husky voice
Understands simple instructions including 3 key words e.g. give the big truck to mummy, give the little car to grandma / Concerns regarding eating and/or drinking
Close family usually understand what child is saying but often unintelligible to others / Does not seem to understand what is said to them
Uses appropriate sentences of 3+ words / Uses only single words and/or the same phrases over and over again and/or inappropriate short sentences
Sounds developing in addition to those in previous section are s, f, y / Has a stammer
s and z are often said as t and d e.g. sand said as “tand”
f and v often said as p and b
y often said as w or l
l often said as w or y / Child sounds nasal, speaks through their nose or has a history of food coming down their nose or has a cleft lip or palate
Child only uses the consonants m and n
Speech is difficult for family to understand most of the time
3 ½ - 4 YEARS (Education Level P6) / 3 ½ - 4 YEARS
Understands instructions typically given to a child of this age / Persistent hoarse or husky voice
Understands most of what is said to them / Concerns regarding eating and/or drinking
Utterances are 5 – 6 words long and used appropriately / Does not seem to understand what is said to them
Speech is mainly understood by others / Not using 5 – 6 word utterances
c/k and g often said as t and d e.g. car is said as “tar” and go is said as “doe” / Repeats the same phrases over and over and/or mimics others’ language frequently
Sounds developing are sh, ch, v, z, j / Uses unusual word order
sh often said as t
f and v often said as p and b
s and z often said as t and d
y often said as l or w
ch often said as t or s
j often said d or z / Has a stammer
Speech is difficult for others to understand
Does not use final consonants in words e.g. bat ® “ba”
Uses k and g for many other consonants e.g. door ® “goor”,
sun ® “gun”, shoe ® “gu”
Child sounds nasal, speaks through their nose or has a history of food coming down their nose or has a cleft lip or palate
Child only uses the consonants m and n
4 ½ - 5 YEARS AND ABOVE
(Education Level P7-P8) / 4 ½ - 5 YEARS
Responds appropriately to instructions / Persistent hoarse or husky voice
Utterances are long and appropriate but some grammatical features are still incorrect e.g. “breaked” / Concerns regarding eating and/or drinking
Speech is harder to understand when utterances are longer and more complex or when a child is excited or upset / Uses unusual word order
Under 7 years: s-clusters not used correctly e.g. sp is said as “p” and sm is said as “m” / Seems not to understand spoken instructions when other skills are good
Under 8 years: l- and r-clusters not yet used correctly e.g. pl said as “p” or “l”,
tr said as “t” / Has a stammer
Under 8 years: sh said as “t” or “s”,
ch said as “t”, “s” or “sh”
j said as “d”, “z”
r said as “w”
y said as “w” or “l”
th said as “f”
the said as “v” / Unintelligible to familiar adults much of the time
Uses sounds not normally found in English
Child sounds nasal, speaks through their nose or has a history of food coming down their nose or has a cleft lip or palate
Child only uses the consonants m and n

This checklist has been adapted from the Bristol Surveillance of Children’s Communication (BRISC)

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