Speech Therapy

SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY DEPARTMENT

Dear Parent / Carer

We are delighted to welcome your child back to school this year and would like to thank you for your support during lockdown. As a team we were encouraged by the phone calls we had with you and hope you also found this support useful.

In light of infection control measures and the bubble systems in place within the school, the way we deliver therapy will need to change. The speech and language therapy staff will be spending more of the day in the classroom supporting the children and staff. This means there will be much less withdrawal of children from the classroom for therapy. This way of working will allow us to support your child in a functional way by demonstrating strategies and working on activities within the classroom. We are looking forward to working closely with your child’s teacher and the assistants within the classrooms.

As well as working closely with the staff in school, we are also looking forward to working with you. We will be in touch with you to discuss your child’s progress and their communication needs. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries or concerns.

For your reassurance, staff movement throughout the school will be kept to a minimum and appropriate PPE will be worn at all times.

Social story for returning to school

Many children are anxious about returning to school and Middletown Centre for Autism has shared some lovely resources to help with separation anxiety and COVID-19 specific anxieties. Check out the links below for further information.

Middletown Centre for Autism Resources COVID-19 specific fears for returning to school

Middletown centre for Autism Resource YouTube video to help with anxieties re:returning to school

Middletown Centre for Autism have shared some lovely resources for wearing masks. The first link is for a social story/colouring book to help explain why we are wearing masks. The second link shows tips on how to help with mask desensitisation. Click the links below for more information.

To help with mask desensitisation Tips to help teenagers and young children become desensitised to masks

Help to understand wearing a mask Wearing a mask social story/colouring book

SLT video collab!

Speech therapy staff from the special schools in the South Eastern Trust have joined together to say thank you for staying safe at home and working hard! Watch our video- you might spot a few familiar faces!!

Cued Articulation signs - k

Miss Brown is showing us how to use the Cued Articulation sign for ‘k’. This is another tricky sound which may take a lot of practise to master. Can you find any items beginning with our ‘k’ sound? Check out Jane Passy on YouTube for more Cued Articulation signs!

Cued Articulation sign - P

Miss Brown is showing us how to use the Cued Articulation sign for ‘p’. Can you find items around your house that start with ‘p’? For more information on Cued Articulation signs check out Jane Passy on YouTube!

Videos and Resources from Middletown Middletown have provided some lovely resources and videos to help parents- check out the link for more information!

Pinterest link for advice and resources specifically for children and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder Our lovely colleagues in the ASD team have developed a Pinterest page full of advice and resources specifically for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Check out the link attached for more information.

Cued Articulation Sign - L

Miss Brown is showing us how to do the Cued Articulation sign for ‘L’. This sound can be quite difficult for many children and might take lots of practise to achieve. You can find more Cued Articulation signs by watching Jane Passy on YouTube.

Attention Bucket part two

Mrs Hastings has made another lovely attention bucket video for you all to help develop attention and listening skills. Please watch this first and complete by watching part two. You can find more information about Attention Autism by visiting the Gina Davies Facebook page.

Attention Bucket Part One

Attention Autism Training course Gina Davies has been advertising Attention Autism training courses you can complete at home to help build attention and listening skills- check out the link below if you are interested, spaces are going fast!!

Cued Articulation Sign - f

Miss Brown is showing us another Cued Articulation sign - f. Can you find three things at your house beginning with ‘f’? Remember you can find more Cued Articulation signs by looking at Jane Passy on YouTube!

Using PECS and visuals part two

Mrs Fleming has made some videos to show the difference between using PECS and visuals and how to use each! Check out the videos for some great tips!

Using PECS and visuals Part 1

Mrs Fleming has made some videos to show the difference between using PECS and visuals and how to use each! Check out the videos for some great tips!

Cued Articulation for speech sounds - ‘s’ Sammy snake

Miss Brown is having a look at hand gestures called ‘Cued Articulation’ that can help us make our speech sounds. Today we are looking at ‘s’- our Sammy Snake sound. Can you do the Sammy Snake challenge? Check out Jane Passy on YouTube for more!

Attention Bucket Part 2

Part two of Mrs Hastings’ lovely attention bucket!!

Attention Bucket Part 1

Mrs Hastings has recorded an attention bucket session to help develop attention and listening skills. Take a look for some ideas to try at home and check out the Gina Davis Attention Autism Facebook page for more ideas. See part two for the ending!

Hello parents and children,

We just wanted to drop a wee message to say ‘Hi’ and to tell you how much we are missing seeing you all. This is such a strange time for us all and we know many of you will be missing the structure of school, as are we! We are so delighted that staff have been sharing resources through their class sections which will be so supportive to your child’s understanding and communication. Please use the visuals shared in “Visual schedule symbols” which can help you with a structure for your day, for “First – Then”, for PECS if your child is a PECS user.

SLT staff throughout the Trust are updating links and resources on our Pinterest page frequently – CYPSLT. Please have a look at any resources marked with “Additional Needs” as they may be helpful for your child.

Most of us have been redeployed to other departments within the Trust during this time of school closures but we are all looking forward to seeing you when this is over.

Stay safe at home.

Bye for now

Alison Fleming, Zoe Brown, Ruth Hastings, Susan Campbell and Jade Henderson

New resources and information are currently being added to our Pinterest site and will be available from Monday 30th March. Check out the boards, particularly those marked with 'additional needs' for ideas, tips and resources to continue the development of your child's speech, language and communication skills!

Children and Young People Speech and Language Therapy (CYPSLT) Pinterest Board Pinterest board full of ideas to aid and support parents in a number of different areas around Speech, Language and Communication skills.

Lovely ideas shared by Meath Speech and Language Therapists!

Check out the link below to the CYPSLT (Children and Young People Speech and Language Therapy) Pinterest board! Here you can find lots of ideas to help support your child's speech, language and communication skills.