Prioritising preschool children for speech & language therapy

Resources for children with speech, language and communication needs are finite.  Inevitably SLTs make prioritisation decisions on a daily basis.  Decisions are not always easy and they often go on without explicit discussion.  A questionnaire survey is being conducted to better understand the way Speech & Language Therapists make decisions to prioritise pre-school children for therapy.  It will investigate which speech and language behaviours displayed by young children raise a therapist’s concern and lead to their decision to refer a child on a particular care pathway.  

Teams of therapists from across the UK and Ireland are being invited to take part.  So far 58 teams have signed up.  The extent to which there is consensus and disparity across services in decision making and prioritisation will be explored.  The survey will also serve as an opportunity to gather expertise from practicing therapists and develop guidelines for newly qualified therapists.