Speech and Language Therapy

The SLTs work with patients on the wards who need help with eating, drinking, swallowing, speech, language, or communication.

A doctor or nurse can ask us to see your child.

If you are worried about your child's eating, drinking, swallowing, or communication, please tell your child’s doctor or nurse and they will let us know.

If we have seen your child in hospital and they still need help when they go home, we will let your local community SLT team know. We will tell them what work we have done and what your child still needs help with.

We may ask the SLTs in the Feeding and Swallowing Clinic to meet with you if your child needs extra help with eating or drinking.

The Outpatient Feeding and Swallowing clinic is for babies and children who need support with eating, drinking and swallowing at discharge and are waiting to be seen by their local SLT. This may include babies and children who the Inpatient SLT team were unable to see during their hospital stay.

If the SLTs think your child will benefit from the clinic, they will offer you a telephone, Teams or face-to-face appointment to provide support. They will then let your local community SLT team know what work they have done and what your child still needs help with.

Videofluoroscopy Swallow Study (VFSS) is a moving X-ray of a child’s mouth and throat while they are eating or drinking to see how safely they can eat and drink.

During a VFSS, you and your child will be seen by 2 SLTs and a radiographer. The SLTs will prepare the food and fluids and carry out the assessment.

Babies and children living in the West Midlands, aged 0-16 years, can be referred to BCH for VFSS by their speech and language therapist (SLT) with permission from a medical consultant.

After a VFSS, the SLTs will look at the x-rays and share findings with you, your child’s SLT and medical team in a report. Your child’s local team will use this information to support your child’s feeding and swallowing needs.

A tracheostomy is a small opening made at the front of the neck. A short tube is placed in this opening to help your child breathe. Air moves in and out through the tube instead of the nose and mouth. SLT work closely with other professionals in the hospital to support children with these needs.

Some children may already have a tracheostomy when they come into hospital. Others may need one during their stay. Some children also need long-term ventilation (LTV) to support their breathing

Swallowing

We assess how well your child can swallow and safely eat and drink by mouth. If your child needs breathing support, we work closely with the respiratory physiotherapy team.

Communication

A tracheostomy can make it harder for your child to make sounds and speak. We help children to develop their speech and communication skills.

Tracheostomy Valve

We assess whether your child can use a tracheostomy valve. This valve allows air to pass through the throat and mouth, which can help with breathing and talking.

A cleft lip is a gap in the upper lip. A cleft palate is an opening in the roof of the mouth. A cleft happens when a baby’s lip or mouth doesn’t fully form before birth.

SLTs work in the cleft multidisciplinary team to support children with this condition. Although a cleft is repaired by surgery, it can still affect feeding and speech.

Children are still seen from age 10 if they need extra support. If they need help from age 16, they will be seen in the Adult Cleft Service.

If your child needs extra support:

What happens if my child needs extra support?

• Your child may be given a few therapy sessions to see if they need further assessment in the Palate Investigation Clinic (to look at the shape of their palate and how it works) or if they would benefit from extra SLT.
• We may work with you and your child to develop their speech through play and practising sounds. These appointments may be online or at BCH. We will ask you to practice with your child at home.
• We will advise you and your child’s teachers and let your local SLT know what work we have been doing and what your child still needs help with.

The Diagnostic Nasality Clinic is for children whose speech sounds 'blocked and unclear' as though the air is not coming out properly through their nose.

SLTs will assess the child's speech to understand why it is unclear. During the assessment, they will ask questions about the child's development, listen to the child talking and look inside their mouth.

After the assessment, SLTs will talk to you about your child's speech and give advice and ask the Cleft Palate or Palate Investigation Clinic or another specialist, such as ENT or genetics, to see your child.

The Voice SLTs will see children aged 4-16 years who have voice problems in the clinic with the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor. The team will listen to your concerns and provide advice. 

Your child may be given individual or group appointments with an SLT to learn ways of improving their voice and preventing damage to their voice box.

Exercises to help improve their voice will be given for home practice.

If your child needs extra support with their voice, the SLTs will ask your local community SLT team to see them. 

The Voice Clinic

Going to the Voice Clinic

Craniosynostosis is when a baby’s head is an unusual shape because during pregnancy, the skull has not grown properly. SLTs work as part of the craniofacial multidisciplinary team to support children with this condition from early childhood through the school years

Children are usually seen by an SLT at:

• 18 months to 2 years
• 3 years
• 5 years
• 7 years
• 10 years

SLTs assess children's speech and language skills at different ages to check they are developing well. If your child needs support with their speech, language or communication skills, we will provide advice to you and their teachers and ask local SLT to also see them. 

Some children will also have support with feeding, early communication and babble development.

Cystinosis is a rare metabolic disease, with patients with this condition seen by the BCH team in the Cystinosis Outpatient Clinic.

Your child will be seen by SLT twice a year with a dietitian.

The SLT will ask about your child's eating, drinking and swallowing and advise what support is needed.

They will ask about your child's speech, language and communication skills and advise on what support is needed.

The SLT will listen to your concerns and provide advice. If your child needs extra support with eating, drinking, speech, language or communication, they will ask your local community SLT team to see them.

Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) on the neonatal unit at Birmingham Women's Hospital support babies' feeding, swallowing, early interaction, communication and language development by helping families to:

• Watch and respond to their baby’s early communication cues
• Encourage early interaction through talking, singing and reading
• Encourage early feeding experiences, such as skin-to-skin contact, mouth care with breastmilk, non-nutritive sucking, and holding their baby during their tube feed.
• Develop their baby’s feeding and swallowing skills
• Help their baby move from tube feeding to suck feeding by following their feeding cues

SLT support families getting ready to go home by:

• Giving information about how communication and feeding develop as a baby gets older.
• Letting community services know what work has been done and what the family and baby still need help with.
• By talking to families about local services and follow-up clinics they can get support from.