Speech & Language Therapy at Whole Child Therapy

What is Speech and Language Therapy?

 

Speech and Language Therapy is part of allied health that provides treatment and support for young people and adults who have difficulties with communication, language, eating, drinking, swallowing, voice and fluency. 

 

Speech and language Therapy at Whole Child Therapy

Speech and language therapy at Whole Child Therapy provides services for children and young people who are having difficulties in the following areas:

  • attention and listening
  • understanding of language (receptive language)
  • ability to use language (expressive language: verbal and non-verbal)
  • fluency (stammering)
  • social skills/interactions and play
  • speech sound production (articulation)
  • sensory behavioural feeding difficulties
  • literacy/phonics

 

At Whole Child Therapy, we deliver therapy to support

  • Attention and listening
  • Understanding spoken language
  • Communicating using sentences and vocabulary appropriate for the young person’s age
  • Alternative and Augmentative Communication
  • Using speech sounds appropriate for the young person’s age
  • Social interaction and play
  • Stammering
  • Sensory behavioural feeding difficulties 
  • Regulation and communication in conjunction with the Occupational Therapists. 
  • Joint therapy assessments with our Occupational Therapy team as and when needed. 

Our approach focuses on the child as a whole by assessing each individual’s needs, working together with parents/guardians/carers and key adults in order to support the young person’s speech, language and communication skills.

 

What we offer

  • Assessments according to the need of the child/young person
  • Therapy sessions within the clinical setting and/or educational setting
  • Training for parents, carers and educational staff
  • EHCP delivery 
  • Joint group therapy sessions with the Occupational Therapy team.
  • Developing therapy programmes and delivering training 

 

Therapy sessions

Speech and Language therapy sessions will be tailored to meet the individual needs of the person, whether it be in speech , language and/or communication. Each therapy session will involve the speech and language therapist working with the child/young person and you to maximise their skills.
We believe in collaborating together with you and the child/young person to capture their voice in determining therapeutic goals and outcomes where possible.
Therapy sessions are delivered within the clinic and within the educational setting.

 

How long do therapy sessions last?

Therapy sessions will depend on the child/young person’s individual needs, which includes how they respond to therapy. A typical therapy session lasts 45 minutes, whereby the therapist will work directly with the child/young person and yourself and will also include time to discuss progress, model strategies/activities to support their therapy at home and/or in the educational setting.

 

Assessments

During an assessment, the speech and language therapist may carry out formal assessments, clinical observations and discuss with you and/or the child/young person areas of strengths and areas which require further support.
A detailed assessment may take up to 2 hours of clinical time.
After an assessment has been completed, the speech and language therapist will complete a written assessment report and will provide feedback to discuss it and next steps.

 

Assessments we use

We use the following assessments: 

  • Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – 5th edition (CELF-5)
  • Assessment of Comprehension and Expression (ACE)
  • Pre-school Language Scale, 5th Edition (PLS-5)
  • Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP)
  • Renfrew Action Picture Test (RAPT)
  • British Picture Vocabulary Scale -3 (BPVS-3)
  • Expression, Reception and Recall of Narrative instrument
  • Test of Abstract Language Comprehension (TALC)
  • Word Finding Vocabulary Test (WFVT)
  • Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, Transactional Support (SCERTS)
  • Speech sound screens
  • Interviews with the young person/families/educational staff
  • Dewart and Summers Pragmatic Profile 
  • Clinical observations

At Whole Child Therapy, we are passionate about being a neurodiverse affirming practice. We provide and support children and young people to explore individual strengths and areas of support. Each child is unique and assessments will be determined according to their needs. 

 

Education settings

At Whole Child Therapy, we provide a range of services to Nurseries, Primary and Secondary schools, Colleges and within Special Education settings.
In the Education setting, we currently deliver EHCP contracts, provide support for students/young people on the SEN register, deliver group therapy to support social communication, we deliver training to school staff on various topics (e.g. communication friendly school), deliver programmes and provide supervision to therapists within the Special Education Setting.

Please contact us for further information on how we can support you within your educational setting.