Post 16 years

16-17 years old: Referrals should be made by school/college SENCo up until 18 years of age (if the young person is home educated, health professionals can refer).

18-25 years old: Referrals are only accepted if student has an EHCP and attends Herts FE College. These referrals are only accepted if a referral is made by the SEN department in the local authority.

These 4 key areas of speech and language development are described below:

  • Understanding of language, also referred to as receptive language, is what a child is able to understand when others are talking to them.
  • Spoken language, also referred to as expressive language, refers to the words and sentences that a child is able to use.
  • Social communication is the exchange of ideas or information between individuals.
  • Speech is not the words we use (language), but the way in which we produce the sounds and pronounce words.

For the young person you are referring, select the drop down options linked to your areas of concern to find out when to refer to Speech and Language Therapy.

Understanding of language

Refer to SLT if young person does not meet exclusion criteria* below, plus: 

  • Setting have accessed and implemented the following targeted support for 3 months and there has been no/minimal progress: 
    • implementation of activities and strategies to support specific language needs through ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ process.
  • AND young person has difficulty in more than one of the following:
    • understanding spoken language at school or college that has a functional impact on their learning and ability to progress/move into employment or further education
    • following multistep, sequential instructions or explanations
    • understanding ‘what’, ‘where’, who’, ‘when’, ‘how’ questions in conversation and classroom activities/ language
    • learning and understanding new vocabulary and concepts in the classroom 
    • following language/pace/content in the classroom.

*Exclusion criteria:  

  • Learning, sensory, and emotional needs are the primary presenting need and can be supported by those around them or other services.  
  • CYP and/or supporting adults are using appropriate strategies that support their language and communication difficulties, with no current impact on learning

Spoken language

Refer to SLT if young person does not meet exclusion criteria* below, plus:

  • Setting has accessed and implemented the following targeted support for 3 months and there has been no/minimal progress: 
    • implementation of activities and strategies to support specific language needs through  ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ process.
  • AND young person has difficulty with more than one of the following:
    • using language to effectively get their message across, explain themselves, say when something is wrong with enough information so that the message can be understood
    • using full and complete sentences and misses words out or uses words in the wrong order 
    • finding the correct word to use or naming items correctly
    • not being able to make themselves understood leading to frustration
    • using spoken language that has a functional impact, for example, impacting on the child’s ability to fully participate in classroom or social opportunitiesx

*Exclusion criteria:  

  • Learning, sensory, and emotional needs are the primary presenting need and can be supported by those around them or other services.  
  • CYP and/or supporting adults are using appropriate strategies that support their language and communication difficulties with no current impact on learning
  • They are functionally communicating effectively within the learning environment.

Social communication

Refer to SLT if young person does not meet exclusion criteria* below, plus:

  • Setting have accessed and implemented the following targeted support for 3 months and there has been no/minimal progress: 
  • AND young person has difficulty with any of the following:
    • using a communication system (i.e. spoken words/phrases, sign, pictures or other symbolic system) with a key adult
    • communicating for a variety of reasons (for example rejecting, requesting, responding, commenting, to self advocate)
    • having conversations about topics of interest to them. 

*Exclusion criteria:   

  • Young person who presents with differences in their communication skills linked to a possible or diagnosed neurodivergence such as autism. Neurodivergent communication (for example, taking longer turns in conversation, speaking about a small range of topics, talking in detail about a topic, eye contact differences) does not need to be changed, but accepted within an inclusive environment. For more information on neurodivergent communication watch our Celebrating Autistic Neurodivergence.
  • Young person has differences in their social skills that appear to relate to the child’s general developmental level. 

 

Speech sounds

Refer to SLT if all the following apply:

  • setting can provide a list of 10 words to show examples of current speech errors
  • adults are finding it difficult to understand the young person
  • the young person has a speech error pattern present which is causing concern or having an impact.

OR the young person has cleft related speech concerns and referral is from a specialist cleft centre or other relevant professional, or the young person has cleft related speech errors or nasal speech in the absence of identified cleft palate.

NB:  If the young person has been discharged previously from the service, referral will only be accepted if there is a change in need, or ability to access speech work that was not achievable previously. 

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