Services
Free 15-minute phone consultation
Send me an email or give me a ring and we’ll find a good time to talk on the phone about your child and your concerns. I’ll have questions prepared so don’t worry if you find it difficult to explain your concerns - we’ll get to the bottom of it together.
Initial Assessment
In our telephone consultation, we will discuss if an initial assessment is needed and if it is then we can arrange a date and time for me to assess your child. This can be at home or in nursery or school. I’ll bring forms for you to read and sign as well.
Sometimes assessment is purely through play which helps your child to feel comfortable and enjoy the experience but even with more formal assessments I always include games to make sure it’s fun to do and not at all scary. I spend time getting to know your child and building a rapport with them as well so that I can understand who they are, what they like and what will motivate them should they go on to have therapy sessions with me.
I will write a report after the initial assessment with my findings. If you are happy for me to contact your child’s nursery or school then I can include their concerns and experiences with your child in the report. You can choose whether you want a short screening report or a more detailed report.
Therapy
Following assessment, we will set targets for your child to work on with me as well as at home with you and in school or nursery with a key adult. I will provide information on how to carry out the targets as well as the resources needed.
Therapy sessions are usually 30-45 minutes long depending on the nature of your child’s difficulties and attention span. Sessions are sometimes done sat at a table using paper resources and games but are often done on the floor using toys and games to the point where your child doesn’t realise they’re doing work!
I like to work in episodes of care. This means I tend to do a block of weekly therapy sessions for several weeks and then give you a break of a few weeks before carrying out another block if it’s needed. I think this works well as the break gives your child some time to consolidate what they have learned with me. It also helps us to judge if another block is needed or if your child is making progress and it looks like they’re going to continue without direct input from me. If that’s the case then I would discharge your child and ask you to get back in touch again if you want more sessions in the future.
Consultations with Education Staff
I am very happy to liaise with key staff working with your child if you would like me to. This could be over the phone or in person. I believe that key staff (along with parents) are vital to success because they see your child every day so can work on your child’s targets and make a huge difference in not only your child’s communication skills but also your child’s confidence in communicating.
Consultations with other Professionals
I believe that it is very important to liaise with NHS Speech and Language Therapists working with your child if you are happy for me to do this. I think that a collaborative approach is best so that both the NHS therapist and I work on similar targets with your child to ensure consistency and success across environments. This also avoids the problem of education staff having too many different targets to work on. For example, the NHS therapist might work on the targets with your child in school with school staff and I can work on the targets with your child at home with you.
Training
I regularly train parents and education staff in areas such as Makaton, British Sign Language, using visual supports, supporting children where English is an additional language (EAL) and using early language strategies. I provide training materials and am available for questions after the training session.