"Speech and Language Support"

My son has been known to speech and language since he was 3, I pushed with my health visitor and she got things moving. Just before we got to nursery he was assessed at triage, it was decided observations would be done at nursery (ECC) once he had started. The call was made to let him settle but if no change in his development to call back.

We did and we were put back at the start of the referral line. After being told we still had to wait at the back of the line... but assured when one of the girls go out to the ECC they could give the staff pointers to try there also, no one did. By chance after telling them to look out for SALT I got told of a parents workshop, took annual leave and attended. Which was good but they couldn't give me advice because well - they didn't know my sons difficulties. After evaluating the session my complaint of the process was picked up and we were brought in the following week to be re-assessed (2nd time) and it was deemed he did need intervention, so we attended the SALT Clinic and we started working.

Summer holidays before starting school, its our last session. We are told he would be seen in school, hopefully September but probably October. Now in Primary one and I've got a letter asking to call if I still feel my son needs support and if they don't hear from me he will be discharged. He clearly still needed support and we were expecting a letter informing us of visits not of another triage assessment to see if he needed support. Read his notes - he still needs support from SALT.

After going in and having my son made to name pictures off the card for a couple of minutes I'm told I should hear soon, they are still working their way through referrals, but then they will decide who needs support. MY SON NEEDS THE SUPPORT NOW, early intervention is not a term used for the sake of it - it is proven that if services get in early enough they can make a difference, leave it and it takes a lot longer to over come barriers to a child's development and learning - leave it too late and damage is done.

It feels like my son is just a number and is not at the heart of his plan, the service is.

I am not able to be told if he will get support at school, 'if' they recon he is in need I can not be told how he will be supported be it in school, or the clinic again, or when this support will be in place! this side of Christmas or not? how long until the referrals are assessed? how soon after that will the team meet and decide or have cases assigned to them? Of which may I add my son is not a new referral - HE IS ON THE CURRENT CASE LOAD and this will be the THIRD time we have started this process again.

It is effecting his confidence in his literacy and social development within the school, he is frustrated and annoyed, in primary one, they learn the letters and their sounds with phonics and then learn to blend words to read them, my son struggles with this due to speech and is clearly becoming distressed and sad, sad that he can't do it.

where is his support?