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An examination of the pattern of preschool referrals to speech and language therapy

Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Faculty of Education, University of Strathclyde

Anna van der Gaag

Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Faculty of Education, University of Strathclyde

This evaluation was undertaken as part of a UK-wide multidisciplinary audit of services to preschool children with speech and language difficulties. Information was collected via questionnaire from parents, health visitors and general practitioners from six districts in Britain. The results showed a discrepancy between the average age at which parents first noticed speech and language problems in their children (2;3) and the average age at which health visitors referred children to speech and language therapy (3;3). This is interesting in the light of new research on early communication that suggests that it should be possible to screen for communication difficulties as early as 12 months and that many language difficulties will be apparent by 2 years. The study also found that health visitor training by speech and language therapists was provided on an ad hoc basis. The paper recommends that more training should be available and it should support professionals in providing good practice based on current evidence.

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