Medway Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy is a specialist service for children and young people aged 0 to 18 with:
- speech, language and communication needs
- feeding and swallowing difficulties.
These difficulties may have been present from birth. They might also begin after illness or an incident.
The service work to support children and young people who have difficulties with:
- understanding and spoken language
- communication skills
- speech sounds difficulties
- stammering
- voice disorders
- language delay
- hearing impairment
- cleft palate
- feeding and or swallowing
- selective mutism.
What the service do
The service will:
- carry out assessments
- provide diagnoses
- demonstrate strategies
- provide resources.
This will help children and young people to communicate to the best of their ability.
Speech and language therapists may work as part of a team including:
- parents
- carers
- educational staff
- other professionals.
Speech and language therapists work in a range of settings in Medway including:
- nurseries
- mainstream primary and secondary schools
- health clinics across Medway.
How to make a referral
Referrals can be made to the service with parental consent.
For a referral, you should talk to your:
- health visitor
- General Practitioner (GP)
- education setting.
Professionals can make a referral using the speech and language therapy online referral forms.
To find out more about referrals:
- phone: 0300 123 5005
- email: MEDCH.childrenscommunity@nhs.net.
Useful resources
- Medway Early Talkers - a free online resource supporting speech and language development for children in Medway. It offers a variety of videos of fun activities to try at home, quizzes, podcasts, local support and more
- Stories with Symbols - videos for children with speech, language and communication needs
- Picture Exchange Communication System - PECS.