Paediatric Speech & Language Therapy Checklist
N.B.Referrals will not be accepted for children whose language skills are in line with their cognitive skills unless there is a specific need which should be stated on the referral
Under 2 ½ years
Child does not understand basic familiar words in context (e.g. ‘it’s bedtime’)
Child is passive / non-communicative
Child demonstrates unusual communicative behaviours (please give examples in referral form)
Child does not understand single words
Does not attempt to communicate with familiar adults, even by gesture
Child is in ‘a world of their own’
Child has complex needs identified by a Paediatrician
2 ½ years
Child uses fewer than 50 words (these do not have to be clear)
Does not use two word phrases
Has poor interaction skills i.e. poor eye contact
Does not understand simple instructions and questions e.g. ‘where’s mummy’s nose?’
3 years
Child not using 2 – 3 word phrases
Consistently misses sounds from the beginning or ends of words e.g. ‘ay’ for /say/ and “ha” for /hand/
Parents struggle to understand child’s speech
Child does not understand basic instructions or requests e.g. ‘put the spoon on the table’, ‘what are you doing?’
3 ½ - 4 years
Child NOT readily using three – four word phrases
Not using many different speech sounds which affects intelligibility
Not understanding basic concepts e.g. big / little, on / under
Not understanding question words e.g. who, what, where
Speech not easily understood except by immediate family
Other
Child has a significant hearing impairment
Child is stammering
Child has a tongue tie which affects feeding and swallowing – please send letter
Suspected Selective Mutism: consistent failure to speak in specific situations, duration more than 1 month
Child has a persistent hoarse voice or voice loss
Child has a recently acquired disorder (e.g. acquired brain injury etc…)
Medical diagnosis / syndrome associated with communication delay
REFERRAL FOR THE FOLLOWING SPEECH DIFFICULTIES IS NOT APPROPRIATE PRE-SCHOOL:- Difficulties with consonant blends e.g. sp, st, bl, pr, tr etc…
- Difficulties with sh, ch, j, l, r and th
- Lisps
SPEECH SOUND DEVELOPMENT
4 – 5 years
Speech not easily understood except by immediate family
Child consistently omits consonants from the starts of words
Child consistently omits consonants from the ends of words
Child does not use f or s sounds at all
Child replaces speech sounds with k and g e.g. gaggyinstead of daddy
Child uses t and d instead of k or g e.g. tup instead of cup
5 – 6 Years
Child has difficulty with consonant blends e.g. sptr cl etc.
Child has difficulty with shch j l sounds
7 + Years
Child has difficulty with thand r
Child has a lisp
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 4 – 7+ YEARS
Child is not using expected grammatical structures in comparison with other skills (e.g. –ing, the, is etc.)
Child is only using short simple sentences with little use of connectors (e.g. because, when, and etc)
Child does not appear to understand instructions in the classroom
Unusual word order in sentences
It is difficult to follow what the child is talking about because of confused content / muddled word order in connected speech/narratives
Child had difficulty with semantic skills e.g. limited vocabulary in the absence of any learning / sensory difficulties and /or difficulties with sorting or grouping vocabulary
Child has difficulty with pragmatic language skills e.g. using their language appropriately
Child had difficulty following conversational rules e.g. turn taking, using appropriate eye contact
Child has difficulty with social interaction
SECONDARY SCHOOL Referrals will only be accepted for one of the following categories
Child has transferred into the area with statement of SEN including Speech and Language Therapy as an educational need in parts 2 & 3
Child requires a speech and language assessment as part of Statutory Assessment Speech sound difficulties / poor intelligibility
Child has a recently acquired disorder (e.g. acquired brain injury etc…)
Other
Child has a significant hearing impairment
Child is stammering
Child has a tongue tie which affects feeding and swallowing – please send letter
Suspected Selective Mutism: consistent failure to speak in specific situations, duration more than 1 month
Child has a persistent hoarse voice or voice loss (referral to ENT required prior to SLT)
Child has a recently acquired disorder (e.g. acquired brain injury etc…)
Medical diagnosis / syndrome a