“My name is Tina and I have a young son Rollo aged 5 who’s just started school. He’s great but he has problems with his speech and finds it difficult in class because he doesn’t understand instructions too well. He got by when he went to nursery but now, he’s been flagged up again as needing help. He saw a speech and language therapist when he was 3 but she didn’t seem too worried about him. The nursery referred him again but things haven’t really moved on.
I was introduced to SLCo a few months ago by chance and I have been working with their social pedagogy worker mostly at home. The lady who worked with us was great. She really understood what I was going through and spent time getting to know me and my son. He liked her from the start and so did I. She helped me understand how his brain and his behaviour works and how to make life calmer. That was a major hurdle for us. Sometimes things are so hectic I don’t have time to manage a routine. She showed me how to focus on one thing at a time and to try new things.
She met us over 6 weeks and taught me some things I could do to help his speech sounds. She showed me how to play (I didn’t realise that I didn’t really get involved with him).. and use games and practice sounds with him, without him thinking he was being sat down and made to focus on something that always stressed him out. She showed me how to use my eyes to look, listen and then respond..and take my time..give him space to process what I was saying. Not to jump in at every silence with a load of words like I used to. What a difference that made. Just that alone. His moods have changed, he’s less frustrated that’s for sure.. and he sleeps a lot better. She let me know things about sleeping I didn’t know. She worked with him on her own for a while, he liked it when she came, and he’s become a different boy. His speech has improved and he’s far happier at school. I asked the teacher if she’d noticed any improvement in class and she said he was more interactive and keen to come forward and answer questions ..he’s able to focus on his work and be part of a group.
I’m really pleased there was help for us out there. You feel alone when you don’t know how to help your child. Like you’ve failed. I knew I was out of my depth because he needed help but I didn’t know where to get it. I’m so glad we found this programme. And knowing there’s someone there to ask when you need it makes you feel less worried about coping in the future. There are things that he needs help with at school and outside of school I know that but I feel a bit more ok about that now. I’ve been able to work on myself a lot as well while in the programme.
We’ve been to a few SLCo family days too which he’s really enjoyed. Being free with other kids and not getting judged because his speech isn’t quite right is good for him. He makes friends and plays like any other kid. I just say thanks because I like to see him happy.”