What to do if you are concerned about your child
Children and young people of any age can have difficulties with speech, language and communication.
If you are concerned about your child's speech, language or communication, talk to your Health Visitor or GP. If your child goes to an early years setting, you can speak to the staff there. If your child is at school, speak to their teacher.
Local services and support
If your child is at school, this page will tell you about changes you can expect the teacher within the classroom to make.
Pages 10 to 13 of the Southend SEND Early Identification and Support toolkit has details about assessment tools that can support the identification of needs.
The Let's Talk Team at A Better Start Southend (ABSS) provide a range of services to support speech, language and communication of children up to 4 years.
The Children's Speech and Language Therapy Service (SALT) provides assessment, advice and support for people up to age 18.
Information about the Children's Speech and Language Therapy service, support and referral routes.
Southend-on-Sea City Council commission a resource base that provides support for pupils with speech and language disorder or significant language delay. Admissions are agreed by the Speech and Language Resource Base and the Southend Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Team to ensure the right pupils are admitted. Suitable pupils will have an education health and care plan (EHCP) with Speech, Language and Communication as the primary learning difficulty.
Further information about the Speech, Language and Communication Resource Base.
Resources
Communication and language tips and milestones information (0 to 4 years)
Tiny Happy People provides information and resources for language development in babies and toddlers.
NHS Learning to talk (1 to 5 years)
Resources and information from the Children's Speech and Language Therapy Team
General communication advice for parent carers
Stamma for advice and support on stammering.
National organisations providing speech and language support
There are organisations that provide information and support around speech and language including:
Speech and Language UK includes free webinars and an advice line
Afasic have a helpline for parent carers