Delayed speech and language development
Your child speaks less than other children their age, understands more than they say, or has stopped using words they used to know.
What parents come with
- The child started speaking later than expected
- Vocabulary is growing slowly, or has stalled
- Understands well, but says little
- Does not put words together into sentences
- Struggles to recount what happened
Assessment first, then a plan
We start with what your child can already do and what is still hard. Only then is there any point discussing what to do about it - the plan starts from this particular child, not from a label on a page.
If I think therapy is not needed, I will tell you. That is a useful answer too, and it happens more often than you would expect.
How long it takes
It depends on the child, and I will not promise you a timeframe at the first meeting. What I will promise is that you will see what we are doing and why, and that I will tell you honestly how far we have got.
What the first visit looks like
A conversation
You tell me what worries you and since when. No testing, no judgement - just a conversation.
Assessment
I observe your child at play and check specific things. It takes about an hour and to the child it looks like an activity.
What happens next
I tell you plainly what I see - including if I think therapy is not needed. If it is, we make a plan.
The other services
Children's speech therapy
The most common reason parents come is that their child speaks less clearly than other children the same age, or gets stuck. Most of my work runs through here.
Children with special educational needs
This has been a large part of my work in recent years - and the reason I trained further in the Montessori method for children with special needs.
If something is worrying you, call - even just to ask. I also reply to messages on Facebook and Instagram.