Children and young people can have speech, language and communication issues. These issues can stop them from joining in with others and participating in daily life. Some children do not understand what is being said to them or struggle to put words together. A child’s speech may be hard to understand or they may find interaction difficult. Children with communication difficulties may need Speech and Language therapy.
Speech and Language therapists assess and support children and young people with communication and /or eating and drinking difficulties.
Sometimes a child’s communication difficulties can have an impact on their everyday life. The Speech and Language Therapy team can offer advice and information to families, nurseries and schools. We will always give advice and ideas on how to support children and young people in their everyday life.
Clinical Support Workers are part of the Speech and Language therapy service. They work under the direction of qualified Speech and Language therapists.
Speech and Language therapists will agree a therapy plan with you. The support worker then carries out that plan with the child. The Support Worker will work with your child in clinics, nurseries, schools, or at home to carry out this plan. Support Workers may also help the therapist assess your child. They may observe your child at home, nursery or school.
The Support Worker informs the Speech and Language Therapist on the progress of the therapy plan. The Speech and Language Therapist always keeps responsibility of care for the child and young person.
If you have queries or concerns regarding a child or young person's speech, language or communication then contact the advice and support helpline in your area:
If you need the assistance of an interpreter to make a telephone call to an NHSGGC service please visit Interpreting Services for more information.
Are you a parent or carer living in Renfrewshire? Do you have queries about your child's communication? Contact the Renfrewshire Speech and Language Therapy Help and Advice Line.
Helpline Opening Hours
Wednesday 10am - 12noon
Telephone Number: 0141 314 4624
Renfrewshire Drop In Clinics
We also have Drop-In Clinics running across Renfrewshire each week.
If you live in Renfrewshire and would like to book a drop-in slot, call 0141 314 4604 any Wednesday between 10am - 12noon.
If you have queries or concerns regarding a child or young person's speech, language or communication, contact the Inverclyde Speech and Language Therapy Advice Line.
Advice Line Opening Hours
Wednesday 12:30pm-4pm
Telephone Number: 01475 506150
If you have any questions or concerns about a child/young person’s speech, language or communication and are thinking about referring to Speech and Language Therapy, contact the consultant and advice line.
Advice Line Opening Hours
Wednesday 1pm-4pm
Telephone Number: 0141 211 6056
Friday 9:30am-11:30am
Telephone Number: 0141 531 6843
Are you a parent or carer living in West Dunbartonshire? Do you wish to chat about your child's communication? Contact the West Dunbartonshire Speech and Language Therapy Advice and Support Helpline.
Helpline Opening Hours
Tuesday 11am-1pm
Telephone Number: 01389 828265
Thursday 11am-1pm
Telephone Number: 0141 562 8862
If you have queries or concerns regarding a child or young person's speech, language or communication, contact the East Renfrewshire Speech and Language Therapy Advice Line and a therapist will call you back.
Advice Line Opening Hours
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 9am-4pm
Tuesday 9am-3pm
Telephone Number: 0141 800 7117
If you need the assistance of an interpreter to make a telephone call to an NHSGGC service please click here for more information.
Speech and Language Therapy
West Centre
60 Kinfauns Drive
Glasgow
G15 7TS
Telephone Number: 0141 211 6180
Speech and Language Therapy
Stobhill HSCP Offices
300 Balgrayhill Road
Springburn
G21 3UR
Telephone Number: 0141 201 3399
Gorbals Health & Care Centre
2 Sandiefield Road
Glasgow
G5 9AB
Telephone Number: 0141 201 5192
Speech and Language Therapy
Barrhead Health and Care Centre
213 Main Street
Barrhead
G78 1SW
Telephone Number: 0141 800 7117
Speech and Language Therapy
Aranthrue Centre
103 Paisley Road
Renfrew
PA4 8LH
Telephone Number: 0141 314 4601
Speech and Language Therapy Department
Greenock Health and Care Centre
Wellington Street
Greenock
PA15 4NH
Telephone Number: 01475 495600
Speech and Language Therapy
Vale Centre for Health and Care
Main Street
Alexandria
G83 0UA
Telephone Number: 01389 828265
Speech and Language Therapy supports children and young people with communication needs. These communication needs may interfere with everyday life.
Worried about your child’s understanding, talking, speech sounds or interaction? Please try our interactive questionnaires.
You can also speak to your Health Visitor or Teacher. You can contact us using the links for your area if you need advice on referral.
Any concern that your child cannot swallow or chew? If so please contact your Health Visitor or GP in the first instance.
We will assess your child. This may include talking to you, observation of your child, talking to others e.g. Health Visitor or teachers. Sometimes we may use tests to find out more detail about your child’s speech and language. We will discuss the findings of our assessment with you. We may also share with others involved in your child’s life e.g. teachers
In discussion with you, we will agree a therapy plan. This may include advice and support to you and nursery or school. Sometimes we work directly with your child. We try to achieve a target that will make a difference to your child’s communication in everyday life.
Some children will have a few contacts with Speech and Language Therapy services. Others may need more ongoing contact. When we have reached the end of our care with your child, we will discharge them from our service. We will give you a report or letter with our contact details. We will tell you when and how to contact us in the future if your child’s needs change.
We will also discharge your child from our service if:
Parents and carers need to support their child during Speech and Language Therapy. They also need to provide support after Speech and Language therapy. We will focus on making sure parents and carers can support everyday communication. If you can’t work with us for any reason, please let us know as it might not be the right time for therapy for your family. Supporting your child, may include attending regular appointments. Also working with your child at home with materials that we provide or implementing our advice.
We have a policy of discharge following 2 missed appointments. Please make sure that you contact us if you are not able to attend.
Every child with speech, language and communication needs is unique. When making a therapy decision, we use different approaches. We know these approaches work from our professional experience and research. We want therapy plans to focus on the needs of the child and their family. Results will be different for every child. This will be based on their own unique circumstances and motivation.
Treatment approaches aims to enable children, young people and their carers to maximise their skills. We also aim for children and young people to manage their own communication needs. They may need support from the adults in their world to do this. We will work together to agree a plan focussing on what matters to a child and their family.
Our care will always include advice and support. It may also include home programmes or support packs for school. In some cases we may work directly with you and your child. This may be in one to one settings, in clinics and at home. It could sometimes be in schools and nurseries depending on your child’s needs.
Some children have long term communication difficulties. These will not be resolved by attending Speech and Language Therapy. In these cases, we will support you and others in your child’s world to make the most of your child’s skills. We will do this by giving advice and ideas to try at home and school.
Most children develop speech, language and communication in a predictable sequence. New skills build on skills they have already learned. Usually, we expect language and communication to develop over time and by a certain age. Yet, most children will progress at their own pace. Have a look at the Child Development Timeline for more information about what to expect and when.
There are lots of underlying skills that your child needs to be a good communicator. So if your child has only recently started saying words, they may take longer to learn speech sounds.
Some children with long term conditions may not develop all skills when you expect them to.
For more information visit The Building Blocks of Language to find out why each building block is important for communication.
Tablets, mobile ‘phones, TVs, laptops and computer games consoles are everywhere. Most of us couldn’t do without them!
We know giving your child screen time sometimes feels like the only way parents can get things done. Giving them a tablet or phone is a sure-fire way of keeping them happy and busy whilst you get on with other things!
But did you know that too much Screen Time could have an impact on your child’s language development?
Click on the leaflet for more information.
Many parents use a dummy to help soothe their child. This is understandable. Most babies have a strong sucking reflex and often a dummy can help settle a child. Dummies can be a great support to parents and babies in the early months of development.
But, did you know that using a dummy for too long can cause impact on the development of speech and language?
Click on the leaflet for more information.
Playing is an important language learning activity. When you join your child's play, you can make this a good way to improve attention. This also helps them to learn words and develop interaction skills. To get the most out of play, it helps to follow your child’s interest rather than direct the activities yourself.
Click here to access the Follow Your Child's Interest leaflet.
Life is busy for everyone especially when you have toddlers or young children at home. Yet, waiting is a powerful way that we can help youngsters develop language skills. When children have few words, it’s tempting for adults to do all the talking. Some children are passive or not so confident. They may not get a chance to try out new skills and join in conversations like more confident children.
Copying will motivate and encourage your child to interact with you. Copying also shows your child that you notice what they are doing. Copying might also encourage them to imitate you back.
We all know how important it is to practice when learning a new skill. Think about learning to drive or trying a new sport. Learning to communicate is the most complex skill that any of us learn. Children who are learning to talk need lots of help from you and lots of opportunities to practice.
If a child is a less confident communicator, we often ask questions to get conversation going. This approach often has the opposite effect. It can stop interaction altogether if they feel under pressure to answer. They may not understand or don’t have the words to respond.
Click here to access the Describe Instead of Asking leaflet.
Top tips on helping your child with unclear speech.
When they are learning to talk, some children can stumble over words or pause and start again. This can sound like a stammer. It is normal for a child between the ages of two and five years to repeat words and phrases. They may hesitate while they are thinking of what they are trying to say. Many children will become more fluent as they get older. Others can continue to get stuck and find talking difficult.
Get advice and information on how to help as soon as you notice your child becoming non-fluent.
Lots of young children speak dysfluently at times. This can happen particularly when they are under some pressure to speak. There is no exact point at which normal dysfluency becomes stammering. There are features which help us to decide between normal non-fluency and stammering.
For example, normal non-fluencies are usually relaxed repetitions. This sounds like whole words repeated either at the beginning of a phrase. It can also happen when a child is thinking of how to finish a sentence.
There is a greater risk of stammering developing when the child often gets stuck on words. This might sound like prolonging or repeating part of the words. It might also sound like putting extra effort into finishing them.
It is also a concern when the child seems aware of and upset by their dysfluencies. It can be difficult to say for certain that a young child stutters. This is because there can be so much variation from day to day and in differing situations.
By now the child who stammers may have been stammering for some time. Some children may stammer with obvious physical tension. Some may have mild, infrequent non-fluencies such as repetitions and sound prolongations.
To speak fluently children need to know lots of words, know how to put words together (grammar). They need to think of the “right word” or correct sentence to say what they mean. They also need to listen and understand what others say. They also need to learn which sounds we use in our language and how they go together to form words.
They also need to coordinate the movements for breathing and speaking. These skills change according to how the child feels as well as by the demands placed on him. When the child feels: happy, confident, listened to, sure of the content etc.., then it is easier to speak well. Speaking may be more difficult when a child feels upset or tired. This can also happen if they feel unwell, over-excited or unimportant. Any of these reasons may cause a break in fluency
You are not the cause of your child’s stammering but you are the best people to help their talking get easier.
Stamma are a charity supporting people who stammer. They offer free, confidential and anonymous support in different ways. You can:
Look at the Support and Information section on the Stamma website.
If you live in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area you can contact your local advice line, details above in the Advice and Support Line Contact Details section.
Many young children speak dysfluently at times. This may happen especially when they are under some pressure to speak. There is no exact point at which normal dysfluency becomes stammering. There are features which enable us to decide between normal non-fluency and stammering.
Normal non-fluencies are usually relaxed repetitions. This is often repetition of whole words either at the beginning of a phrase. They may also occur when a child is thinking of how to finish a sentence.
There is a greater risk of stammering developing when the child often gets stuck on words. There is also a risk if the child is prolonging or repeating part of the words or putting excess effort into finishing them. It is also a concern when the child seems aware of and upset by their dysfluencies. It can be difficult to say with certainty whether a child stutters as a child’s speech can vary from day to day and in differing situations.
A child of this age who stammers may have been stammering for some time. Some children may stammer with obvious physical tension. Some may have mild, infrequent non fluencies such as repetitions and sound prolongations. A particular concern for teachers is the child’s reactions to his /her stammering. The teacher also needs to be aware of the reactions of others in the classroom. How should the child be expected to take part in class? The answer to this question depends on the individual child. At one end of the scale is the child who may be quite unconcerned and happy to take part. At the other end there is the child who will avoid speaking at all costs. Most are somewhere between. If the child is attending Speech & Language Therapy the therapist will tell you about particular strategies. It is important that parents and teachers have a discussion with the child. This will help find ways to encourage them to take part without putting too much pressure on them.
Sometimes participation requirements become part of the child’s IEP/ASP.
Young people with speech, language and communication needs, often struggle with learning. Retaining new vocabulary in secondary schools can also be difficult. Young people need regular revision and repetition of new concepts.
Most classroom teaching at secondary school level is delivered by oral means. Teachers talk through new material, give verbal instructions. Students ask questions out loud to clarify points or find new information. Also feedback or revision of previous learning is most often given verbally. Simple adaptations to the curriculum and learning environment can help. The language used by teachers can make a big difference.
Six approaches are known to work to reduce the impact of speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Many of these will be familiar to you. The best results are achieved if all approaches are consistent across the curriculum.
A bilingual child is one who hears or speaks two or more languages (multi-lingual).
Many young people learn more than one language in their pre-school years at home. Some children learn one language at home and then go on to learn another. This is usually English as an additional language when they start nursery or school.
Advice for parents of children who live with more than one language.
www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk
www.bestbeginnings.org.uk/baby-buddy
www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/scotland
www.literacytrust.org.uk/talk_to_your_baby
www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people
