Children's Speech and Language Therapy Service (SALT) - Salford Community

Our expert team has the skills and experience to support:

• newborn babies and children/young people with feeding or swallowing difficulties 
• pre-school children who have difficulties regarding their speech, language and communication skills  
• school-age children and young adults whose speech, language and communication difficulties are affecting their education and/or social development 
• children with a stammer 

Training offer

We offer a range of different training sessions to parent/carers, settings, professionals and colleagues within Salford. Your child's Speech and Language Therapist will discuss suitable training sessions for you to attend. If you are a setting/school, please discuss training offers with your Link Communication Development Workers / Speech and Language Therapists. For all other training queries, please contact us via our the Speak Up Salford website.

This assessment may take place in clinic, in your child’s nursery, school or college setting or at home.If your child has been referred to our service with speech and language difficulties, you’ll likely be seen by one of our Speech and Language Therapists for an initial assessment appointment. 

What will happen during this first appointment?

• You and your child will spend between 45 minutes and an hour with one of our friendly therapists. 
• The therapist will ask about your child’s development and any concerns you may have. Please bring your parent-held record if you have one. 
• This is very much a two-way discussion. You’ll be asked for your views on your child’s speech and language, and what you think is important for them. Feel free to ask any questions. 
• There’ll be toys for your child to play with while we talk and you’re welcome to bring along your child’s favourite toy or book. 
• The therapist will play with your child or use books and pictures if they’re older. 
• Don’t worry if your child is shy at the first appointment. We’re used to this and it won’t affect any of our decisions. 
• It’s helpful to bring some notes of what your child says or an audio/video clip of them. 
• If your child is in nursery/school/college, it’s helpful if you ask staff about your child’s speech, language and communication skills and share their views with us. 

What will the Speech and Language Therapist look at?

Depending on why your child has been referred, the Speech and Language Therapist will want to find out about some of the following areas of your child’s speech and language development: 

• their attention and listening skills 
• their understanding of words and sentences 
• the words they use 
• how they put words together 
• their speech sounds 
• their play skills 
• their social interaction skills, e.g. eye contact, taking turns 
• what their voice sounds like 
• how fluently they speak 

What happens after my initial assessment appointment?

Towards the end of the appointment the therapist will discuss their findings with you and together you’ll decide what should happen next.  

This may be a monitoring review in clinic, a discussion with school staff, a school/setting visit or being invited for further therapy sessions.  

It’s important to attend any appointments offered. Please let us know if you’re unable to do so. If you miss an appointment without contacting us, your child will be discharged from the service and you’ll need to start a new referral.

For children not yet at school we accept referrals from parents, early help practitioners, 0-19 service, GPs and early years providers. You can find the referral form on our dedicated website. 

If your child is school aged, you should, in the first instance, approach your child’s class teacher or the school SENCo who will discuss your concerns with their Link Speech and Language Therapist. 

To ensure the very best support for children, we work closely with a variety of professionals both inside and outside of the Northern Care Alliance:

• Community paediatricians 
• 0-19 service 
• Early years, school and college settings
• Educational psychologists 
• Early help service 
• Social care

For advice and guidance about supporting a child in Salford with their speech and language, please visit our Speak Up Salford website.