Speech & Language Therapy Service

Who Are We?

The Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Service works across the whole county of Bedfordshire and Luton providing help in both community i.e. health centres, schools, pre-schools and hospital settings. We treat children up to the age of 16 years (up to 19 years in special education), who have a difficulty with communication or swallowing.

The Service is provided in a number of ways, depending on need. This may be for example: individual or group treatment, parent/carer workshops and drop in clinics.

What does our service do?

Following acceptance of a referral (or following a drop in clinic for Early Years children) the Speech and Language Therapist will:

• Provide full assessment of the child’s Speech, Language and communication needs
• Dependent on the outcome of assessment they may:
  • Provide and if necessary deliver a defined therapy package appropriate to the child’s need
  • Liaise with SENDCos, class teachers and support staff regarding the implementation of communication strategies to support the child.
  • Provide support and advice regarding appropriate communication targets for the child
  • Provide training specific to that child’s communication needs if appropriate

There are 3 teams who work together to form the wider Speech and Language Therapy team. Your child will usually be seen by 1 team but may move across teams.

Community Team

The Community SLT team is based in Health Centres across Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton. The service provides access via a referral for both pre-school and school age children and above. School age children will be seen for assessment and support in school. The service will assess and where necessary treat children who present with disordered speech and language development and evidence shows that intervention from Speech and Language therapy is needed in order for the child to acquire the necessary communication skills to progress in social, emotional and educational development.  This includes children with:

• receptive language difficulties
• expressive language difficulties
• disordered speech development
• a stammer/non-fluent speech
• a voice disorder, eg hoarse voice

Special Needs Team

The Special Needs Team is part of the Speech and Language Therapy Service and is responsible for providing a service to preschool children with complex needs (Child Development Centre/Redgrave Gardens) and to children who have identified speech, language and communication needs and /or eating or swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) as part of their Education, Health and Care Plan who attend mainstream and special schools.

We will provide information and advice to enable key adults to:

• understand the language/communication difficulty and/or swallowing difficulty
• gain skills to support the child at home and within the educational setting (preschools/schools).

We may provide individual sessions and/or group sessions to help develop specific skills and to review progress.

We aim to work collaboratively with parents and other professionals; and to agree a care plan which reflects identified targets to support development/management of the child’s speech, language and communication skills and/or eating and swallowing skills as appropriate.

Early Communication Support Team

The Early Communication Support Team SLT’s are commissioned by Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Luton Councils to work in a preventative role supporting children’s early communication skills. The team are based in Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire Children’s Centres and with Flying Start in Luton.

We will:

• Provide advice sessions for families in Children’s Centres/Flying Start venues across Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Luton to access advice for children under school age.
• Support early speech and language groups for parents to access with their children in Children’s Centres/Flying Start venues
• Provide home visits to support the child’s early communication skills In Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire  (criteria applied)
• Provide training and support to Early Years Practitioners and childminders to enhance their knowledge and skills.