Bedfordshire and Luton Speech and Language Therapy Service

This specialist service is for children and young people living Bedfordshire and Luton. A referral is needed.

Contact us

You can contact our service Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

Telephone number - 0300 555 0606 (Option 3)
Email address - ccs.bedsandlutonchildrenshealthhub@nhs.net

Welcome to our service

Our speech and language team aim to provide advice, help and support for children and young people aged 0 to 19 years old who have difficulties with speech, language, communication and swallowing.

We offer a mixture of face-to-face, telephone and virtual appointments. These will be matched with the needs of each child and family.

We have three speech and language teams who specialise with different groups of children:

Community speech and language team. We help children of all ages. We assess and help children with disordered speech and language development. This includes children with a stammer or nonfluent speech, voice disorders, difficulties understanding and using language, and disordered speech development.

Early communication support team. We help preschool children. We help parent and carer speech and language groups, provide early advice sessions and home visits to help with children's early communication skills.

Special needs team. We help early years children with complex needs, children with speech, language and communication needs and children with eating or swallowing difficulties. We work with families and professionals. We will agree Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) goals.
Once your child has had an assessment, you may be offered a package of support. This is a plan that is tailor made to your child. It will focus on ways to help your child and ways to encourage them to reach their targets. A package of support may include:
- Information and guidance on communication tools such as visual supports.
- Suggest strategies and methods to help your child’s everyday communication.
- Sessions to show strategies and techniques.
- Training workshops to learn strategies and techniques for parents and professionals.
- A review with a speech and language therapist or support practitioner. This is to check that you understand the plan and strategies. It is also to check that they are becoming a part of your child's daily life.
Please be aware that your child’s package of support may not contain all these suggestions. A package of support is to help with the challenges that your child is experiencing at that time.

A package of support is completed when the Speech and Language therapist is happy that your child has the support they need to meet their targets. Completing a package of support does not mean that there is no longer a speech, language or communication need.

If there are changes or new concerns that require support. Your child may need another package of support. You can make a request by contacting our service.
- Speech and language therapist are specialists who assess speech, language and communication skills. They investigate any possible reasons for difficulties and provide advice on programmes and strategies to help children with speech, language and communication skills.
- Speech and language therapy support practitioners work under the direction of a speech and language therapist. They provide speech and language therapy to individuals and small groups, deliver training, make resources and much more.
- Administrators are very skilled NHS professionals that provide all the organisational support for the clinical teams. They are also the friendly voices at the other end of the phone when contacting the service.

Information and advice

More information about our services and offer

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Training and workshops for speech and language

Speech, language and communication training and workshops available for parents and professionals in Bedfordshire and Luton.

Speech, language and communication toolkits

Our Speech, language and communication toolkits are for early years professionals and schools in Bedfordshire and Luton. These toolkits are detailed documents that include strategies, games, screening tools, checklists and the referral processes.

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Speech, language and communication advice

Communication and language skills are vital for your child’s development. These skills will affect their future life chances and relationships. It can also impact your child’s ability to learn, make friends and develop ideas and opinions.

Asian boy using headphones and smiling happy while listening music

Hearing loss and deafness

From birth, babies start learning about speech from the sounds they hear around them. It is these experiences that help them start to develop their own speech. Without good hearing, this early speech and language learning can be affected.

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Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)

Developmental language disorder (DLD) may also be known as specific language impairment. It's a long-term language difficulty. DLD affects approximately 1 in 15 children and young people. Find out more about the signs of DLD and how you can help your child or young person.

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Cleft lip and palate

A cleft lip or palate is a gap or split in the upper lip and/or roof of the mouth (palate).

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Voice

Children can develop difficulties with voice production. They may not complain of a sore throat but their voice may sound hoarse, croaky or strained. Some children may start the day with little voice and others may find their voice deteriorates during the day.

Information and advice

Language strategies

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1-5 Years
5-11 Years
11-19 Years
SEND

Blank’s levels of questioning

Blank’s levels of questioning is a technique used to help children with their verbal reasoning and abstract language skills. It is also known as ‘language of learning’ model, Blank’s Levels or Blank questions.

A child drawing comic characters at a table

Comic strip conversations and social stories

Social stories and comic strip conversations are tools to help children and young people understand emotions, perspectives, and new situations. They are visual aids that can be used in a variety of different situations.

Young child and adult sitting down looking at a notebook

5-11 Years
11-19 Years

Story planner

Story planners are a tool that can be used for children that find sequencing or storytelling difficult. Some children and young people can find it hard to talk about events that are in the past or in the future. They can talk about something that is happening in the present.

Man helping a child to learn from a book at home.

SEND

Visual task plans and task boards

A task plan is a visual version of what a child or young person needs to do in a specific task or activity. Task plans can also be known as a task board. They can help children and young people to remember and keep focus on the task or activity.

Girl Writing In Activity Book Wearing Glasses

5-11 Years
11-19 Years

Word maps

Word maps are a great way to help children and young people learn new words. They look like spider diagram for a word. It is an organised way for your child or young person to learn new words. Find out how to make a word map with your child or young person.

Information and advice

Learning communication skills

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Attention and listening skills

The most important skills needed for communication are attention and listening skills. All other communication skills are based upon the ability to pay attention and listen.

Playing and social skills

Play is your child’s way of exploring and learning about the world. It can help them understand new words and learn how to communicate with others. Playing and social skills are important for your child to learn.

10 year old boy sitting in classroom at desk, looking up

Understanding language

Understanding spoken language helps children follow instructions, answer questions, understand stories and identify objects and pictures. A child’s understanding of language is usually ahead of their ability to use language.

Two young primary school girls laughing together in the playground.

Using language

Use of language is also known as ‘expressive language’. It is how your child is learning to say new words and put them together into sentences. Use of language also includes non-verbal communication like gestures.

Young girl smiling whilst pushing keys on a keyboard. A woman in the foreground is facing the girl and conducting.

Speech sounds

Speech sounds are the individual sounds we use to make words. The sounds we make when we speak are made from the voice box (larynx), mouth muscles, jaw, lips, teeth, and tongue. In English we have 46 sounds for 26 letters of the alphabet.

Referral forms and guidance

Toddlers and pre-schoolers

Referrals for children under 5 years old must be completed and submitted by a parent or carer.

Once a referral has been made, we will send you an email to book a video or telephone appointment. This appointment will be with a speech and language therapist. You will be able to talk about your concerns and what you would like help with.

Interpreters are available.

Complete the digital pre-school advice request form

School age children and young people

Referrals for children and young people, up to 18 years old, must be completed and submitted by school staff.

You may find it helpful to gather information about the child or young person's speeds and needs. This can inform your referral. You can use the speech, language and communication toolkit for schools.

Referrals for home-schooled children can be completed by a parent, carer, trainer or appropriate professional if your:

child or young person is home-schooled
young person is not in education or training

Download the school aged toolkit

Feeding or swallowing concerns

If you have any concerns about your child or young person's eating, drinking and swallowing skills please discuss with a healthcare professional or a educational professional. They can make a referral to the service for a feeding or swallowing assessment.

The dysphagia referral form should be completed by the healthcare professional or education staff.

School Age And Young People Referral Form

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Dysphagia Referral Form

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Have your say

Please tell us about your recent experience with any of our services by answering a few simple questions. We want to hear about what you felt went well and what you think we could do differently.

Your voice makes a difference and helps us improve our services for you and other families.

Complete the survey

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Bedfordshire and Luton Children's Speech and Language Therapy Service

Contact us

Welcome to our service