London Speech and Feeding Blog

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Sonja is sitting on the floor facing a young boy. Both are clapping their hands. Aonja is blowing a pink balloon.

Let’s relax about making EYE CONTACT already…

April 19, 2023

I often reflect on this question ‘Should we make eye contact as a goal?’ In this blog I show how you can encourage it without demand.

Sonja is sitting on the floor facing a young boy. Both are clapping their hands.

Why imitation is a powerful strategy to support social communication

April 6, 2023

Imitation refers to the simple act of copying. Has your child difficulties in areas of social communication? Learn how imitation is a powerful tool.

Sonja's top recommendation: Oi Frog, written by Kes Gray and Jim Field. An exciting book for children to enhance their speech, language and communication.

Support your child’s communication using books: OI FROG

March 17, 2023

In this post I show how you can support your child’s communination with Oi Frog! by Kes Gray and Jim Field, from one of my favourite series for chidren.

A grey, green and orange circle overlaid with Cycles Phonological Approach

Learn the benefits of Cycles Phonology Approach in Speech Therapy

March 6, 2023

One approach used for Speech Therapy is the Cycles Phonology Approach. I introduce the approach and describe a session using it.

An orange speech bubble with a testimonial

Five ways to increase confidence and reduce frustration in children with speech and language and communication difficulties

February 27, 2023

Let’s help your child with speech and language difficulties gain confidence, increase their participation in school and fully engage with their peers.

Discover speech and language regression in autistic children and how you can support your child

February 17, 2023

Around 30% of autistic children have speech and language regression. Learn how you can help yours.

A man and a woman hug a young girl at a table

Four struggles parents face when out and about with children with speech, language, and communication difficulties

January 27, 2023

Are you a parent of a child with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)? In this post see how I can help you.

Six ways to prepare your child for the Christmas festivities

December 14, 2022

It feels like the Christmas festivities start earlier and earlier every year. This makes it harder for your child with communication difficulties to process what is happening. Whilst you can’t do anything about the events that happen around your child, you can start to put into practice strategies which may support them and allow them to regulate their emotions. Six…

The image shows an open book on a caption saying Explore the relationship between language and literacy

Explore the relationship between poor speech, language and communication and literacy skills

November 14, 2022

Communication skills are critical in all areas of communication throughout childhood and into adulthood. They are needed for understanding, narrating, making predictions and to develop social skills, for example in understanding everyday language or talking in the classroom or socialising with peers. Children with communication needs can experience low self-esteem, potential behavioural difficulties, lower school attendance and attainment. Communication skills…

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Lucy Sasse

21 March 2025

My 5 year old son has been seeing Sonja for SLT for 6 months now and the progress is remarkable. After some false starts with other speech therapists who were either not helpful or stressful for my son, Sonja made such an effort to connect with my son and gain his trust. Right from the initial assessment I knew that we had found our person, Sonja is so knowledgeable and the assessment was very insightful. The hour sessions each week are very focussed and hard work, but Sonja makes everything so fun and engaging, which means that my son actually sits and stays focussed for the full hour to do the work! He looks forward to the sessions and Sonja is so encouraging of him. We are also sent clear homework at the end of each session promptly so we know exactly what we need to work on at home. We have all learnt so much from these sessions and it no longer feels like we’re stuck at the bottom of a mountain. We have a clear path. Sonja is also a great support to me when I need to talk through my sons development and she often checks in to see how my son is doing. Sonja is excellent. We are so happy we found her and I can’t recommend her highly enough!

Owner's reply
Thank you for your kind words Lucy I am delighted about our progress together and its always a great joy to see you and your son! He makes me laugh which is always a great start to the day! :)

Magdalena Karpik

27 February 2025

Sonja is a fantastic therapist. She is very supportive and provides a holistic approach, far beyond regular sessions. Her therapy room is great and it comes with endless supply of toys and really fun equipment. Sonja is very creative and makes her sessions really enjoyable.

Owner's reply
Thank you Magdalena I love supporting you and your little one!

Yatazaq

9 January 2025

Our experience with Sonja has been very positive. Our three year old daughter has a speech delay. Already she has benefited from just one session and made good progress, Sonja could identify the best way of our daughter's learning, so we were advised to incorporate that to her everyday learning and it has reaped excellent results. Our daughter's communication is improving already and she's saying new words and sentences, so I want to give Sonja a big thank you.

Owner's reply
How wonderful!!! That’s a brilliant start to the New Year thank you so much! Look forward to seeing you all again

Finola McDonnell

7 January 2025

My 7 year old daughter spent a term seeing Sonja weekly for a lisp and various other speech sound issues. She had seen another therapist previously but made little progress. Sonja quickly identified the root problem being jaw position caused by mouth breathing and began to treat that alongside the speech sounds. 3 months later - huge progress! Sonja has a really comfortable, bright studio to work in; engages the kids with fun games and props; is incredibly entertaining and likeable but through it all is deeply focused on listening to the child's speech, finding patterns and addressing the problem. She gives creative homework and makes speedy progress. I couldn't recommend her more highly!

Owner's reply
Thank you very much Finola for such kind feedback! It was a pleasure working with you and your lovely daughter!

Stephanie Hamilton-Jordan

11 December 2024

I’ve been seeing Sonja since my son was 18 months old. I came to her for my sons speech and communication. Since beginning our journey with Sonja I can honestly see leaps and bounds with my son. She takes the time to really get to know and understand what my child needs and creates a tailored approach that works for everyone involved. Sonja has been an integral part of our life so far, she has been the ultimate support to not only my son but myself as a parent and my family. She has been incredibly important and I cannot put into words how grateful I am to have found her and I continue to look forward to all the progress we will continue make in the future. Sonja - thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the hard work you do.

Owner's reply
Thank you for your kind words Steph and of course it is a privilege and pleasure supporting you all xx

Nana Matembe

24 October 2024

After meeting sonja for the first time, we could already see how our son was more happy and relaxed. Sonja identified his learning style in our first appointment which was very important for us and coached us how to play and interact. After only a couple sessions, we could see real progress. Our son loved going to sessions and sometimes didn't even want to leave. Thank you Sonja for everything!

Owner's reply
I am delighted that you felt well supported thank you for your kind words!

Taztaz Ud

30 September 2024

We have been fortunate to have been under Sonja's care since the summer, and during this time, we have seen the value of her expertise in helping us understand and support our non-verbal son. Sonja takes the time to truly get to know our son—his personality, strengths, and specific challenges—ensuring that her approach is always tailored to his individual needs. While there is no "magic wand" to immediately solve the complexities of speech and language difficulties, Sonja equips us with practical strategies to better communicate with him. Her guidance has been instrumental in empowering us as parents, and we feel more confident in engaging with our son on a deeper level. Unfortunately, due to the lengthy waiting times within the NHS, we made the difficult decision to seek private speech and language therapy, as we felt it was important to begin the process sooner rather than later. One of the key factors in our decision was ensuring that our son received care from someone who is actively engaged in continuous professional development. We understand that in the NHS, professionals are often stretched thin, and CPD may not always be a priority due to the overwhelming demands on their time. With Sonja, we have peace of mind knowing that she is always up-to-date with the latest research and therapy techniques, which has been incredibly reassuring to us. We are very grateful for the time and dedication Sonja has given to our family, and we highly recommend her to anyone seeking personalised, compassionate, and highly knowledgeable care for their child.

Owner's reply
Am so glad to be able to support you and your son thank you L.for your kind words, I am delighted to have helped you

Corinna Matlis

2 September 2024

We feel really lucky that we were referred to Sonja. She has been amazing in supporting us with our son. Not only has he been making progress, but as soon as she helped us understand his communication style, he became happier. Sonja practices child-led speech therapy and is evidence-informed. Her sessions are neurodiversity-affirming, and she put a focus on building connection with our son at first, which has allowed him to feel more at ease and communicate more in sessions. She has been a great support to him and the whole family.

Owner's reply
Corinna thank you it‘s been a great privilege supporting you all!

Petruta Ungureanu

17 July 2024

My child had language delay, he was a late talker and also words finding difficulties. We meet Sonia when my son was 7 and half Sonia is really experienced in the work she does and really can identify the problem from a first section . Is really nice to work with her because you see a lot of progress week by week . Big thank you!!!!! to this amazing woman with big heart .

Owner's reply
Thank you, PetrutaI am delighted about the progress we made together! X

R Sun

18 June 2024

Sonja’s been just amazing with our 5 year old who saw her to help gently correct a lisp. Her sessions were fun, well thought out and most importantly effective. Her “studio” is so friendly, welcoming and warm. She connected immediately with my daughter, giving her age and context appropriate explanations, games and exercises. My daughter went from miss-spelling words because of her lisp to confidently speaking and reading in a matter of months. We’ll really miss her and her sessions and cannot recommend her more highly. Thank you Sonja, for all you have done for us!

Owner's reply
Thank you so much am delighted we made such good progress so quickly you were both such fun to work with will miss you too very much! xx

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