Speech and language therapists are registered allied health professionals (a trained health professional who is not a doctor or nurse). Our service works with children and young people aged 0 to 18 with speech, language and communication needs in clinics, homes, and educational settings across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We work directly with children and young people alongside their key communication partners such as parents, carers, and educational staff.
We help children and young people communicate to the best of their ability. We help them and their communication partners understand their strengths and needs, and to feel confident supporting their speech and language differences and difficulties. We want all children and young people, and their families to have timely and easily accessible support that is neurodiversity affirming and compassionate.
Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs may have difficulties with:
Speech and language therapists also provide support for children and young people with eating and drinking difficulties. These may include difficulties with:
The service follows an episodes of care model. This means we see children and young people when they need us the most and have a specific goal they need the support of a speech and language therapist to work towards. We then step back when communication partners have the confidence and skills to meet that goal and communication is well supported.
The best way to support communication is through joint working and having communication support in the child's everyday environment. This means we require active participation when working with us.
It can take up to 40 weeks for an initial request for help telephone consultation appointment.
Referrals for eating and drinking, brain injury, children in care, or where the child has a medical diagnosis that is progressive, life-limiting, or life threating will be offered a priority appointment which is usually within 6 weeks.
Following the request for help telephone consultation, if a face-to-face assessment appointment is needed the waiting time is currently 12 to 18 months.
We are sorry that the waiting times are long. We are working hard to find ways to improve these.
If you have concerns about a child or young person's eating and drinking skills, fill in a referral form.
We support children with eating and/or drinking difficulties. The medical term for difficulties related to eating and/or drinking is dysphagia.
Signs of eating and/or drinking difficulties include:
Signs of swallowing difficulties include:
Your child will be seen at either your home, a clinic, or their educational setting by a speech and language therapist. Inpatients will be seen in hospital. The therapist will take a case history and observe your child eating and/or drinking.
Following the assessment, your therapist will write a report with recommendations and will discuss sharing this report with any other professionals who may be involved in your child's care. You and the education or care setting may also receive a mealtime plan to describe your child's feeding recommendations in detail, such as positioning and textures to be offered or avoided.
Depending on your child's needs, they may be offered a follow-up appointment to monitor progress with the recommendations. The case may also be closed with the option to re-refer if required.
If your child has longer term difficulties with eating and/or drinking, they will be closed when they have the appropriate personalised mealtime plan to ensure that they are able to eat and drink safely, with the option to re-refer if required.
To discuss concerns about a child's speech, language, and communication needs, ensure that you have parental or carer consent and then complete our request for help form. For young people over the age of 16, ensure that you have their consent to request support, if they have the capacity to do so.
Once the request for help form has been received, the Specialist Request for Help Team will email you to arrange a phone consultation once it has reached the top of the waiting list. The team is made up of experienced speech and language therapists.
There is a high demand for the Speech and Language Therapy Service and it could take 24 weeks for a request for help phone consultation.
Read the guidance below before completing the form:
The Speech and Language Request for Help Team will discuss your child's presentation and undertake an initial screen of their needs. During the call we will discuss the information you have already given us. We may ask you follow-up questions so we can find out more information. The most appropriate next steps will be provided depending on your child and the support they require.
After the telephone consultation, a copy of the request for help report will be emailed to the person completing the consultation and the parent or guardian. This will include any recommendations we have made and whether the child or young person will be seen for a further face-to-face assessment session with the Speech and Language Therapy Service.
Not all requests for help will need to have a face-to-face appointment. After a telephone consultation some may get a pack of activities and/or may be given advice and clear criteria to meet before contacting us in the future. Others may be signposted to another service or group, or attendance at a training course may be recommended.
If you are unsure whether your child needs to be supported by the service, read the information below.
Below are some things for you to try before you contact the specialist children’s speech and language therapy team.
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is any form of communication which helps (augmentative) or replaces (alternative) speech.
It includes:
The Speech and Language Therapy Team can support a young person with all types of augmentative and alternative communication systems.
We are a multi-agency team based in Cornwall and can provide an assessment up until the young person is 18-years-old. The team is made up of a speech and language therapist from this Trust and AAC technical officers from Cornwall Council.
Referrals to the team are through the young person's speech and language therapist only. More information can be found in the assessments tab of the Cornwall Council AAC Team website page.
The team can make an onwards referral for a young person to AAC West. AAC West are a specialist NHS hub for voice-output communication aid assessments. The team can then support the assessment process.
Language involves using words (spoken, signed, symbols) and sentences to understand, think about and use information. We use language to share in interactions and engage with others.
Comprehension of language is also known as receptive language (this is input). This is the ability to understand meaning, instructions, concepts and make sense of the information we receive. This includes understanding of abstract language, such as being able to answer questions and the ability to infer what may happen and why.
Expressive language involves how we communicate using words, phrases and sentences (this is output). This can include spoken words, signs such as British Sign Language and Makaton, written words and picture symbols.
Children and young people may also use non-verbal communication and behaviour to express themselves.
Our service supports language development through assessment, advice and when needed intervention. Our language support offer compliments the support the council SEND services offer.
Between the ages of 2 to 6 years old it is common for children to have speech sound errors as their communication skills are still developing. Some children speak very clearly from the moment they talk. Others have lots of sound errors that gradually resolve as they get older.
If your concern is around a child or young person's speech sound development you will need to complete the speech sound screening checklist (PDF, 192 KB) with the child or young person before completing the form. You will need to enter this information in the form to be able to submit it.
If you have concerns around a child's speech sounds and their language skills (understanding and/or use of language), select speech sound difficulties (articulation) as the main communication need from the drop-down, to populate the speech sound screening checklist.
We are unable to give any advice or support around a child's speech sounds unless this information has been received which may delay your telephone consultation.
You will need to complete the speech sound screening checklist in full and submit it. You will be able to save a copy of the form for your own records once submitted.
