Our services
Speech and Language Therapy – children and young people
About the service
Our Speech and Language Therapy team provides specialist advice and support for families of children and young people aged 18 months to 18 years who live in Bradford and have speech, language or communication needs. These include:
- early communication – including Makaton signs, intensive interaction, objects of reference and echolalia
- hearing loss or deafness
- stammering
- Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
If you’re unsure what to expect in terms of a child’s speech and language development, please visit the ages and stages section of the Speech and Language UK website for a helpful overview.
Our ‘how you can help’ tab below takes you to information, advice and strategies to support your child with their speech, language and communication skills according to their age.
If you’re a professional, please see the professionals tab below for relevant information.
How to access
Our Speech and Language Therapy team has an advice line for parents, carers and families. Please note, the advice line is for advice only, it cannot be used for referrals – please see the ‘what to expect’ tab below for referral information.
If you are already known to us – please call 01274 221166 to book an appointment for a 25-minute call.
If you have not used our services before – please use the QR code to book an appointment for a 25-minute call
If you’re a professional looking for advice or how to refer, please see the professionals tab below.
How to find us
We have over 70 members of staff working in lots of different places including community clinics, nurseries, schools and children’s own homes.
Contact
Please use our advice line to contact us for advice, or email speechandlanguagetherapy@bdct.nhs.uk
Use the tabs below to explore this section further.
What to expect
Referral
Before you refer your child to our service, we ask you to select the ‘how you can help’ tab and try the appropriate ideas and activities given for your child’s age, for a period of 10 weeks. Our advice line can support you with this (see ‘how to access our service’ above for contact details).
If your child is still not making progress with their speech, language and communication, it may be appropriate for them to be referred to us for specialist support.
We recommend you ask your child’s health visitor or nursery to complete a screening to check your child’s needs are appropriate for our service. They can also help you to complete our referral form, which should include details of the different strategies you have already tried for at least 10 weeks.
If you wish to discuss this further, please contact our parent advice line (see ‘how to access’ for contact details) but please be aware, the advice line is only for advice and cannot be used for referrals.
Waiting list
If your child’s referral is accepted, they will be placed on our waiting list for an assessment.
How you can help
Please select your child’s age group below and click through for ideas and activities to try at home and when you are out and about to support your child to understand language, talk and interact socially.
Three to three and a half years
Three and a half to four years
For professionals
If you’re a professional working with children who need additional support with their speech, language and communication development you will find details here on how to access support and how to refer into our service.
Due to high levels of referrals and long waiting lists, we ask you to please use the resources offered and follow our referral criteria and ‘how to refer’ information ahead of referring a child to us. Thank you.
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If you wish to speak with one of our Speech and Language Therapists about one of the children you are working with, please scan the QR code to book an appointment.
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If you are a professional please use our screening tools to help you understand if a referral to our service is appropriate.
Please use one of these referral forms – and if you are referring for more than one speech and language issue, please use the ‘multiple needs’ form:
Eating and drinking (dysphagia)
Stammering
Communication
Voice
Multiple needs -
Please watch the video and use the correct screening tool and referral form for the child you are considering referring.
As well as assisting you to understand whether a referral to our service is appropriate, the screening tools will also help you to know where to focus your support.
- Early years screening tool (18 mths-3 years)
- Early years screening tool (3-5 years)
- Key Stage One screening tool (5-7 years)
- Key Stage Two screening tool (7-11 years)
- Key Stage Three and Four screening tool (11 years and over)
You can also view the pictures you’ll need to use with the screening tools.
Alternative screening tools
If your setting is supporting children using an alternative screening and intervention tool, we will also accept these as supporting evidence for your referral. Please ensure you make it clear on your referral how the child meets the red referral criteria for their age. Alternative screening tools may include:
- products for educators from the speechandlanguage.org.uk shop
- the NELI programme
- the GL assessment toolkit.
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Please use the ‘how you can help’ tab next to ‘for professionals’ and select the child’s age group to click through for strategies, activities and ideas to support a child to understand language, talk and interact socially.
It will also be helpful if you can signpost parents to the appropriate page during your work with them.
Additional resources for professionals
3-4 year olds
For help with understanding and talking
For help with speech sounds
4-5 year olds
For help with understanding and talking:
- Neli user guide
- Black Sheep Press Nursery Narrative User Guide
- Black Sheep Press Reception Narrative User Guide
5-7 year olds
For help with understanding and talking:
- Active listening for active learners
- Black Sheep Press Speaking and Listening Through Narrative User Guide
- Word Aware 3 – teaching vocabulary in small groups
- Black Sheep Press Fun with Narrative User Guide
- Pre-teaching Vocabulary User Guide
- Colourful Semantics User Guide
For help with social interraction:
For help with speech sounds:
7-11 year olds
For help with understanding and talking
- Active listening for active learners
- Black Sheep Press Oral to Written Narrative User Guide
- Pre-teaching Vocabulary User Guide
- Colourful Semantics User Guide
- Word Aware 3 – teaching vocabulary in small groups
For help with social interaction:
- Language for Behaviour and Emotions User Guide (upper Key Stage 2)
- Comic Strip Conversations User Guide
- Visually Supported Conversations User Guide
11 years and over
For help with understanding and talking:
- Pre-teaching vocabulary (PTV)
- Language for Behaviour and Emotions User Guide (upper Key Stage 2)
- Active listening for active learners
For help with social interaction:
- Visually Supported Conversations User Guide
- Language for Behaviour and Emotions User Guide (upper Key Stage 2)
- Comic Strip Conversations User Guide
- Intensive interaction introduction
- Autism Identity and Me User Guide
For help with speech sounds:
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These resources will help you to develop your own knowledge and skills to support children with their speech, language, and communication.
Training courses
- EYSEND Partnership (speechandlanguage.org.uk)
- CPD short course (speechandlanguage.org.uk)
- SLCF – The Communication Trust (slcframework.org.uk)
- HELLO improvement framework: Helping nurseries improve their language and literacy provision (National Literacy Trust)
Advice
- Top talking tips for early years practitioners
- Every Child a Talker (ECAT) – Strategies and resources
- Supporting children learning English as an additional language (speechandlanguage.org.uk)
- Vocabulary for Early Years Practitioners (speechandlanguage.org.uk)
- Using scaffolding to help children’s language (speechandlanguage.org.uk)
- Scaffolding language
- Visual timelines – Practitioners factsheet