How I Work
I can see your child in my home setting, at your home or at nursery/school, depending on what is the best for your child. I offer a free initial telephone consultation to discuss your concerns and the difficulties your child is having. We will talk about how I can help and discuss what therapy options are available, including information about fees.
Initial consultation
The assessment process aims to find out as much as possible about the way a child is communicating. It includes assessment (both formal and informal), analysis of any assessments used, and a detailed report setting out the findings and any recommendations.
During this initial consultation, I will take a detailed case history from you, asking about your child’s development so far, and talk about your concerns in more depth.
Assessment varies depending on the age and stage of each child. It may take the form of informal assessment i.e. assessment through play for younger children, informal conversation and activities for older children and for some children, more formal assessment using published standardised tests of speech or language.
Depending on the age of the child and areas of difficulty, I will look at all areas of communication: non-verbal communication (eg. eye contact, gesture), understanding of spoken language, use of spoken language (eg. for labelling, description, requesting), interaction with others and speech sounds.
In order to gain a full picture of your child, it may be necessary, with your permission, to talk to others involved with your child eg. nursery/school teachers, health visitors, other professionals. If you have reports from others who have been involved with your child's development, you are welcome to share them with me to help to build a fuller picture. The appointment is likely to be approximately an hour and a half in length.
Therapy sessions
If families decide to proceed with ongoing therapy sessions, then these are likely to be approximately one hour in length and include using fun and motivating activities and games to help the child progress. Home practice material or activities are always provided between sessions so that parents and families have ideas and strategies to continue the development following the therapy session. The session fee also includes time spent preparing sessions, writing clinical notes, and phone/written liaison with other professionals as necessary.
