"Children want the same things we want. To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained, and delighted." - Dr. Seuss

SERVICES OFFERED

Assessments

An initial assessment lasts approximately 1 1/2 hours. During this appointment I would take a detailed case history to get an overall picture of your child and determine any background information which is vital to understanding the current areas of concern. Questions asked would include the ages at which your child reached various developmental milestones, any previous history of ear infections or hearing difficulties, the concerns you have regarding your child’s speech and language development, any issues or relevant information that has been given to you by the school, whether or not anyone else in the family has suffered similar speech-language difficulties and various questions about your child’s hobbies, likes and dislikes. This allows me to put everything in context and obtain a ‘global’ picture of your child. It will also ensure that any therapy offered is tailored to your child’s interests to achieve maximum therapy effectiveness.

Assessments are carried out at home or in nursery or school to allow children to be tested in an environment in which they feel relaxed and comfortable.

I use a range of formal assessments that will allow me to evaluate your child’s listening and auditory skills, speech sound inventory and language performance. For older children I may ask them to write a short paragraph to have a small sample of their spelling skills and written language competency. During these assessments, children may be required to point to pictures, name items, follow instructions or copy sounds provided by myself. The assessments have been normed on a large population so this allows me to compare your child’s performance to other children of the same age. This then provides the baseline on which therapy lessons will be planned, if it is deemed necessary.

I intersperse formal assessment with informal play testing to ensure that fluctuating levels of attention and fatigue does not impact on your child’s performance. This ensures that the scores obtained is fully representative of your child’s true level of functioning.

Following the completion of the initial assessment, a formal report will be provided and feedback will be given to parents. During this feedback discussion I will go through the results and assessment findings and together an appropriate plan will be agreed. This would typically be weekly therapy but could be lessons once a fortnight, less frequent visits to monitor progress, an individual programme which is provided to follow at home or in school/nursery or follow up conversations via phone or email.

Therapy

If therapy is recommended this can be provided at school or nursery, or in the comfort of your own home. Therapy aims will be taken directly from the findings of the initial assessment and the activities planned to target these will be linked to your child’s interests to ensure that therapy is a fun, motivating and stimulating process. It has always been my belief that children learn best when they are engaged and having the maximum amount of fun so I incorporate reward games, adventure books and your child’s favourite sport team or cartoon character wherever I can to ensure that children learn happily and look forward to their next lesson.

Therapy is generally offered on a once-weekly basis but it is possible to offer lessons on a more or less frequent basis, to suit each family’s needs. The comprehensive assessment report will have outlined the skills needing to be addressed during lessons and these will be regularly discussed and updated as therapy progresses. Where therapy has been, or is being, provided by an NHS therapist I will do my best to keep in regular contact with them to ensure that the therapy we are each providing is complementary. Additionally I am happy to provide interim therapy while you wait for your child to receive input on the NHS, and will ensure a detailed handover takes place to ensure a smooth transition between therapists.

Home programmes

Sometimes weekly therapy may not be deemed the best way forward. In these instances a home programme may be offered to implement at home and in the nursery/ at school. This programme would include activities and worksheets that would address and develop the areas of weakness identified during the initial assessment.

Report writing

Comprehensive reports will be provided and copies can be distributed at parents’ request. I provide a detailed report after the initial assessment and reassess annually. Annual reassessment allows progress to be measured and ensures that updated therapy aims target what needs to be targetted. It is useful to have detailed professional reports to keep all members of the therapy aim informed and to allow efficient information sharing between all relevant professionals.

Family support

I am committed to working closely with families as I feel therapy works best when it is targeted to meet each child’s specific needs and is incorporated into daily life. Parents are invited to be an active part of the therapy process and I always offer advice and suggest activities which can be completed at home to continue to practise the skills being targeted during lessons. Parents are, after all, experts in what their children can and can't do and can provide vital details on what happens on a regular day at home.

I feel it is invaluable to work with parents to develop communication strategies as this greatly facilitates the overall progress a child makes in therapy and also ensures that gains made are directly transferred to everyday life.