Appendix 26(A) - Communication
Leaflet for parents
The role of the Speech and Language Therapist for babies and pre-school children who have Down’s syndrome from the DSA
https://www.downs-syndrome.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SALT-babies-preschool-30.6.21.pdf
The role of the Speech and Language Therapist for primary school aged children who have Down’s syndrome
Speech and Language Therapy (SLT)
Ensure child known to Inclusive Education team/Educational psychologist (through the Early Years SEND team usually) but can also refer by letter to Barnet based SEN and EP teams, separately.
If concerns about social communication (a small number of children with DS can have a dual diagnosis with ASD), discuss with other professionals and family about referral to TASC forum (Team Assessing Social Communication) and usually the child’s community paediatrician takes the lead here (referral via TASC form or through child development team referral, can also discuss with the lead for the ASD pathway at Barnet CDT, see Appendix 1 for contact details and forms).
If the health visitor has concerns – they need to directly liaise with our paediatric SLT team.
At the 2 year review, refer to Speech and language therapy if not already known to them (sometimes they will have been known by the paediatric dysphagia team which is run by speech and language therapists with a feeding specialism but they also need to be referred to the other part of their team, the Speech and Language service). Use form from Appendix 1.
https://www.whittington.nhs.uk/default.asp?c=43502
Resources
Articles
SLT combined toolkit - Professor Sue Buckley, Dr Kelly Burgoyne in collaboration with Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust SLT team:
https://cdn.dseonline.app/resources/slt-toolkit/down-syndrome-slt-toolkit.pdf
Books
Helping Children to Speak: Down Syndrome Through the Primary School Years (March 2020) by Karen Massey. A book that aims to help parents - and professionals - support their child with Down Syndrome’s communication skills through the Primary School years, from age 3 to age 11. It is written after several years of real-life therapy, training and research. The book includes stories, goals, therapy techniques and top tips.
"Down Syndrome, Current Perspectives" by Richard Newton, Shiela Puri and Liz Marder.
"Nobody ever told me that!" by Diane Bahr, Everything from bottles and breathing to Healthy Speech Development.
Makaton
Signing through BIG-DS (Barnet Integrated Group for Down Syndrome) at the weekly Underhill groups or other local signing groups, usually in children’s centres.
Mr Tumble and other programmes on CBeebies www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/something-special
Programs for speech and language delay
The Hanen Program: The Hanen Program® for Parents of Children with Language Delays
This program is well-known and some SLTs use or refer to it. The Hanen Centre began its work with a focus on early language intervention for children with language delays. There are several programs for different children and for parents and for professionals to access.
Programs such as: Communication Development in Children with Language Delays and It Takes Two To Talk – Hanen Program for Parents of Children with Language delays
The It Takes Two to Talk Program is designed specifically for parents of young children (birth to 5 years of age) who have been identified as having a language delay. In a small, personalized group setting, parents learn practical strategies to help their children learn language naturally throughout their day together.