What I offer?
If you are concerned about your child, please contact me by telephone or email. You may wish to merely seek re-assurance, to problem solve some issue or to arrange a meeting.
I provide two types of initial consultations:
Consultation One
For those who have concerns about their child’s understanding and use of words/ sentences/talking.
Consultation Two
For those who have no concerns in relation to their child’s understanding, vocabulary and sentence structures, but are concerned about their child’s clarity of speech.
Consultation One:
This consultation is for Parents who are concerned about their child’s attention, behaviour, play patterns, interaction skills, understanding, use of words and sentences, or fluency.
During this consultation we will spend time discussing your child’s communication history. Through play and a using a mixture of formal and informal assessments I will observe their:- Attention/concentration
- Play patterns
- Understanding of and use of body language
- Understanding of spoken words
- Use of babble, jargon, words, sentences and clarity.
- Spontaneous interaction and communication.
- Fluency
I will then provide
- A verbal summary of your child’s current stage of communication development
- Advise on strategies that will support their increased use of talking, understanding and communication.
- Offer the opportunity of seeing on video the specific strategies that work for your child.
Follow up: I will offer an appointment 6 weeks later. At this meeting we will discuss any changes in your child’s rate of communication development and identify each emerging skill. If at this appointment you continue to be concerned an interaction course will be offered.
Consultation Two
This consultation is for Parents who are worried about their child’s speech sound development and clarity.
During this consultation we will spend time discussing your child’s communication history. Through play I will informally screen their:
- Attention and listening skills
- Play patterns, Understanding of spoken words, use of words and sentences.
- Spontaneous interaction and communication.
A more formal assessment will be made of their speech sound development and their underlying phonological (speech sound) awareness skills. I will then provide:
- A verbal summary of where I perceive their speech sound development to be.
- A framework of speech sound development and what to expect next.
- Some strategies for supporting them in increasing their rate of progress.
- The opportunity of seeing on video the specific strategies that work for your child.
Follow up A follow up appointment date will be scheduled during Consultation 2 If at this appointment you continue to be concerned an interaction course will be offered.
Interaction Courses: - 5 Sessions
I will schedule four once weekly ‘*Parent-child interaction therapy’ sessions with you. These will be of one hour duration.
The *PCI technique focuses on videoed play sessions. I will ask you to play with your child’s chosen activity (from a selection available) for several minutes. The focus will be to enjoy the play and not to worry about what your child may or may not say.
Working through play with you, ensures that your child’s thinking and talking are supported within a natural interaction context. The child is therefore unaware that we are working on their speech and language development.
The toys help success in interaction because the adult is able to follow what the child is thinking by watching what s/he is doing with the play material. This reduces the risk of frustration should your child be unclear in what they are trying to say.
The video provides us with the opportunity to analyse how your child is communicating. In watching the interaction on playback I can support your insight and knowledge of your child with my experience as a clinician. Having observed your child’s strategies for getting their needs met and making them selves understood, we can identify which adult behaviours work best specifically for them.
Working through interaction means that we can:
- Focus on what the child wants to talk about, rather than how they say it.
- Ensure that our words are delivered at the time that the child needs them which supports their memory and use.
- Provide your child with a structure and framework for vocabulary, word order, word use and clarity which is natural, functional and communicative.
There will be a four week break at the end of the 4 sessions of therapy.
Follow up Summary appointment:
This session will last for one hour. I will show you a video of your child at initial consultation versus a newly recorded interaction.
This appointment will provide a summary of your child’s:
- Change in communication skills since our first meeting.
- Current skills in the context of general communication development.
- Rate of change over time.
Should your child require further courses of therapy these will be discussed.
Communication/contact:
I will ensure that with your consent I am in regular contact with any Practitioners/Professionals that are working with you and your child.
Therapy Summary report:
This report will include a description of your child’s communication skills preceding therapy, observations of their emerging skills during therapy, progress over time and a summary of their current skills.
Nursery/School visit:
An optional Nursery/School visit may be scheduled
Parent Workshops:
I have regular small group 2 hour parent only discussion sessions:
The topics currently available are:
- Positive Communication and Interaction
- Attention, Listening and Play – the basis for all talking.