Speech – The London Speech and Feeding Practice

The importance of child-led therapy

ByLondon Speech and Feeding June 30, 2023May 31, 2023

Child-led therapy is essentially what it says, therapy sessions that are directed by your child. You may think how can my child’s Speech and Language Therapist focus on goals if sessions are led by my child.

Let us explain…

Your child will be more receptive and motivated to take part in therapy if they have some form of input. E.g., they can choose what toys they want to play with, or how they want to play with the resources available. If sessions are child-centred then they are much more likely to engage and reach their goals, making intervention valuable. They will also be able to regulate their emotions, and use movement to support their need for regulation. E.g., some children like to jump whilst others like to run. As Speech and Language Therapists we need to use what is meaningful to your child to get the most out of intervention. By focusing on child-led therapy, we can build trust, which will allow us, in time, to use new techniques and activities that your child may enjoy. We want children to be themselves, to show their true personality. Therapy is about enhancing their skills in their own individualised way and child-led therapy allows for this.

This way of working may seem daunting to some, but it doesn’t have to feel this way. Parents often feel if they are prepared then activities may go smoother. It might be the case, but perhaps it doesn’t give your child the opportunity for spontaneity. We’d like to suggest something that may lead to some surprises. Put out an activity that is your child’s favourite and then a completely new activity. Remember these activities don’t have to be complicated. Often, the simpler the better!

So, no need to plan, just place two activities out and see what happens! Look out for anything which surprises you, which activity did they prefer? Do they have any sensory preferences? The freedom of choice is a wonderful thing to explore. So, just go with the flow!

The kind of activities that are useful for child-led play can include:

Hide and seek
Cooking or baking
An Exercise ball
Small world play
Pretend play
Musical instruments (you could even have a go at making your own)

Child-led therapy is a very useful resource. We have it at our fingertips. We don’t need special resources. You just need yourselves and your child! Sometimes, child-led therapy can be tricky to put in place. It sounds easy but is much harder in reality. So, make sure you give it time and reflect on your experiences. Ask yourselves ‘what went well’, and ‘what could be improved’. E.g., perhaps you gave your child time to lead to begin with, but you didn’t give them enough time to think about their options during the activity.

How can parents become more child-led in the home environment?

Pause and use silence. This gives your child the opportunity to lead.
It’s perfectly natural to want to talk. Afterall, this is how adults maintain conversations. If you find yourself talking too much, count to ten! This will allow your child time to respond or initiate in the conversation or interaction.
Move down to your child’s level. It’s much easier to see what’s going on if you’re at the same height.
Videoing you and your child can really help you to see where your strengths lie. You’ll also be able to make minor tweaks to improve your communication during child-led play.

Contact Sonja for more advice on speech, language and communication during child-led play.

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

Speech and Language Therapy · Top tips

Explore the world of speech sound therapy for young children

ByLondon Speech and Feeding June 21, 2023May 31, 2023

Many parents who come to the clinic voice with the concerns about their child’s “speech”. On assessment we discover that actually besides the words not being clear what we most often don’t see is “language” (putting words together to request something for example). And we don’t see “social communication” (waving bye with a smile for example). So what is perceived as “speech” is much more than just not saying the speech sounds correctly. It might be that we need to increase the child’s vocabulary and language so that we can target specific speech sound patterns.

We’ll guide you through some of the most frequently asked questions.

What is the difference between speech and language?

Language is how we put words together (e.g., the cat ran up a tree). For non-verbal children this might be how gestures and symbols are put together. Both will put these into a meaningful context. Language needs to use either speech and/or gestures or signs or pointing to symbols in order to come into being. It needs words, either spoken or written, put into grammatical order so that thoughts can be expressed adequately: about the here and now, about what he had for breakfast this morning or what we are going to do this coming weekend. We put words together to express our feelings and thoughts. Speech is one aspect of this very complex process.

Speech is the specific sounds that make up a word (e.g., the sounds in fish are /f-i-sh/).

Some children are delayed in their speech but will catch up with their peers’ development with time. Others may be using disordered speech sound patterns. If you’re unsure, contact your Speech and Language Therapist as early intervention is vital. It might be that you’re given activities to carry out at home. Or a direct therapeutic intervention may be required, along with regular practice at home. The approach depends on your child and how they learn best.

When might your Speech and Language Therapist recommend direct Speech and Language Therapy?

There are several reasons why your child may need intervention to support their communication. Some of these include:

When they produce vowels incorrectly
When a child has significantly fewer consonants than they should have by their age
Error patterns that are not following a typical process
Fewer word approximations
When a child is ready for speech therapy. That is to say, when we can target speech production through interactive play but most often speech is targeted through repeated activities which focus on a few sounds or words at a time. For this to work ideally a child does need to be able to sit at a table and take part in the activities and games.

How can I work on speech and language targets at the same time?

You’ll want your child to be engaged in activities. It’ll need to be in short bursts to keep their attention. Let’s say you’re focusing on the /p/ sound. You may get a bag with objects and items with /p/ in them. Speak to your child’s Speech and Language Therapist about what position in the word they are targeting now.

Sing the ‘what’s in the bag’ song. Pull out each item in turn and emphasise the sound that you are working on such as “it’s a fox, ffffox”. You can then comment on what the fox is doing, or what they look like (e.g., look at this fffurry fffox. It’s very fffriendly. Oh, the fffox is running).

This activity gives you the opportunity not only to build vocabulary but also to expose your little one to a good model of speech sounds.

“I’m concerned my child won’t sit through the assessment”

This is a common concern. Don’t worry. If your child is not able to sit through an assessment then we usually offer play-based assessment. This means it is activity focused and can be wherever your child feels most comfortable; this is usually on the floor. It is often best to see children in their own homes or even nursery places where they can roam more freely and where they feel most comfortable. On reading the filled-out parent questionnaire we can decide whether a home visit/nursery visit or a clinic visit might work best for your child.

You will be guided all the way through from assessment to intervention and beyond. So, you’ll leave feeling empowered and confident to get started!

Contact Sonja for support with your child’s speech.

Lisp · Speech and Language Therapy · Top tips

Living life with a lisp

ByLondon Speech and Feeding June 9, 2023May 31, 2023

You may be questioning ‘will my child grow out of having a lisp?’ There are so many myths out there that it’s sometimes difficult to find your way out of a complex maze of information.

The good news: lisps can be successfully treated by a Speech and Language Therapist and the earlier it’s resolved, the better. We know from the evidence base that some children’s lisps will resolve and, as always, it is completely age appropriate to have this speech pattern up until aged 4 ½.

As with any speech and language targets your child will need to be motivated to practise their newly acquired techniques, at home and in other settings. They will eventually be able to generalise this skill, but it takes lots of practice. So, think carefully about if your child is ready and motivated before commencing Speech and Language Therapy.

There are essentially two ways in which your child has acquired a lisp. It’s key here to mention that parents have no blame in this.

They’ve mis-learned it and now incorrect production has become a habit
Children have difficulties organising the sounds to make a clear production

You may be surprised to realise that there are different types of lisps. But all the techniques will be the same.

Interdental lisp

When your child pushes their tongue too far forward, they will make a /th/ sound instead of /s/ and /z/

Dental lisp

This is where your child’s tongue pushes against their teeth

Lateral lisp

Air comes over the top of the tongue and down the sides

Palatal lisp

Your palate is the roof of your child’s mouth. Sometimes they will touch their palate when making certain sounds (e.g., /s/ and /z/)

It’s useful for you to know what type of lisp your child has because you can then support them to make the correct production. You’ll be able to talk about where in the mouth their tongue is and where it needs to be to produce a clear sound. Your Speech and Language Therapist will be able to help you with this.

Top therapy tips for lisps

Awareness is key. Does your child know where their tongue and teeth are (i.e., are they behind their teeth)? Do they notice the air escaping? Use a mirror so that your child can see not only themselves but also you in the mirror.
Repetition! As with most therapeutic intervention, practice makes perfect. So little and often is key!
Make sessions fun, perhaps around your child’s interests or allow them to drink from a straw
Comment on how the sound is produced (e.g., /z/ is like a bee, /s/ is like a snake)
Use tactile cues. Your child’s vocal folds vibrate when they produce a sound like /z/ but not with /s/. You could use the words ‘loud’ and ‘quiet’ to describe this.
Start with a /t/ sound and gradually elongate the sound to an /s/

Having a lisp may not be problematic for some, but for other children, it can have a significant impact on their emotional wellbeing. Intervening at an early age can prevent this from happening. We always advocate for early intervention!

Contact Sonja for support on resolving your child’s lisp.

Speech and Language Therapy · Top tips

Speech sounds: Expectations vs reality

ByLondon Speech and Feeding May 26, 2023May 31, 2023

Sometimes our kids find it hard to listen to sounds in words and hearing the difference between sounds. This is an important skill which we call “sound awareness”. A lack of it can really impact on clear speech sounds production.

Your child might be confusing similar sounding words. Or they might not notice that a TAT is not a CAT for a DOD is not a DOG. Often children with speech sound disorders or difficulties don’t tune into individual sounds or even syllables. Grow your knowledge to support your child.

Read our latest blog on hearing the difference between sounds to develop speech sound production.

Practice makes perfect

There is a lot more to speech sound production than first meets the eye. Did you know that producing the correct speech sound at sentence level is the last piece to the communication puzzle? There’s a lot of practice before your child develops this last stage of speaking clearly. Your Speech and Language Therapist will start by determining if your child can hear the difference between the sound they are producing and the correct sound. So if your child says LIT instead of LICK we might contrast those two words by perhaps using a candle and a lollypop. Each time he/she says LICK they get to have a lick (or 3) on the lolly. But if they say LIT then we light up and blow out a candle. This way your child can see that there is a difference between those words and that the sounds we make actually matter. Fancy that!!

We call this auditory awareness, which is essentially hearing the sounds in words. Don’t be surprised if you hear your child’s therapist model the sound a lot. This is to develop their awareness. The more your child hears a sound, the easier they will find production. Furthermore, your Speech and Language Therapist will work on phonemic awareness (sound structures) such as the difference between a sound (e.g. sh, is one sound) vs a syllable (e.g., shell has one syllable) vs total number of sounds in a word (shell has three sounds sh-e-ll ), like you can see in my little video clip.

Once a child is able to produce a sound on its own and they can hear and identify how a short word is said correctly we can go and repeat lots of similar words with the sound at the beginning or end until it becomes automatic and new neuro pathways are laid in the child’s brain. From there we branch out into short phrases and then eventually sentences.

Six tips to practise auditory discrimination for speech sound production

Sit opposite your child so they can see your mouth or or sit next to the child and place a mirror in front of you so they can see and hear your production.
Make it fun! Once they’ve identified the sounds in the word, play part of a game (e.g., pop up pirate, Jenga, something which allows plenty of turns).
Use car journeys or walking to school to practise (e.g., oh I see a sheep, sh-ee-p, sh-ee-p has three sounds. Can you spot something beginning with /sh/?)
Remember that spellings can differ (e.g., ‘chef’ and ‘shed’ both have the same initial sound).
Talk about what you’re doing with your mouth (e.g., my lips are rounded for /sh/). Your Speech and Language Therapist will be able to support you with this.
Make silly sentences using your child’s special sound (e.g., Sheep show shepherds shearing).

At this stage you are not expecting your child to produce the sound. This is why it’s important that they continually hear an excellent model. If your child attempts speech sound production at any stage, this is to be encouraged as it’s a great opportunity to model the correct version.

Contact me to develop your child’s speech sounds.

Speech and Language Therapy · Top tips

Explore speech delays and disorders and how you can support your child’s communication

ByLondon Speech and Feeding January 16, 2023February 10, 2023

Speech delay vs speech disorder — Speech Delay vs Speech Disorder

You often wonder if your child’s speech difficulties will resolve. This very much depends on whether they have a speech disorder or delay. You often wonder if there’s something you’ve done to cause your child’s speech difficulties. Rest assured this is not the case. Let’s explore some of the factors to put your mind at ease.

We know that males are more likely to have a speech, language, or communication difficulty than females. Additionally, if your child has an older sibling, they may not have the opportunities to speak. Their sibling may speak for them, especially if their speech difficulty causes them to be anxious or self-conscious. It’s important to note that bilingualism does not cause a speech delay or difficulty. Your child’s Speech and Language Therapist will ask about your child’s milestones. Research suggests that if your child did not babble then they may be at a higher risk of having communications difficulties.

When it comes to a speech delay or disorder, it’s vital to rule out any other co-occurring difficulties such as hearing loss. Your child’s Speech and Language Therapist will need to factor in the health of your child. They will ask if your child has had lots of colds or ear infections. This may have affected their hearing, so it’s also recommended that your child has a hearing test. Your Speech and Language Therapist will tell you how you can book an appointment.

It’s natural that children learn at different rates. The same is true for speech sounds. Some children are slower to pick up speech sounds, and this might be called a ‘speech delay’. A delay is when a child is behind with the development in a particular area or areas but is generally progressing along typical milestones. They will be progressing at a slower rate than expected. For example, a four-year-old understands two key word instructions and utterances are at a single word level, with some short phrases. But, some may show unusual speech sound error patterns, and this is typically where you may hear it called a ‘speech disorder’. A disorder is where the development we see is patchy and not following what is typically expected for your child’s chronological age. For example, a child understands three key word sentences, but speech is unintelligible and the utterances sound like jargon.

You recognise how important speech is in daily living and want to build your child’s confidence so they can maximise social and educational opportunities. Follow our top tips to support your child’s communication.

Top tips for supporting your child with their speech sounds:

Allow your child to communicate in another way to convey their message if they get stuck (e.g., you could ask ‘show me’, ‘draw it for me’).
Model the correct sound (e.g., child: It’s a thnake, adult: it’s a snake, a slithery snake).
You can emphasise their tricky sound.
Avoid telling your child to ‘say [insert sound here]’.
Your child may speak quickly, especially if they are excited to tell you a story. If you slow down your rate of speech, they will too. This may make it easier for you to understand the message of their story.
Allow your child to speak about how their communication difficulty makes them feel (if they are aware and want to speak about it).

If you are unsure of where to start, contact me to ease your confusion, and allow your child to communicate effectively.

Lisp · Speech and Language Therapy

Succeed with lisps at London Speech and Feeding

ByLondon Speech and Feeding January 6, 2023February 10, 2023

A child is on the right-hand side, touching their lips and holding a mirror. They're facing an adult on the left hand side, also holding their hand to their lisps. — Mirror game

You may notice that your child or young person finds certain sounds difficult to produce. With a lisp, the sounds /s/ and /z/ are more problematic. You may notice that your child’s speech is affecting their confidence. They are quiet, and the teacher reports they don’t engage in classroom conversations. You feel it’s impacting on their social and emotional wellbeing. The good news is that with the support of a Speech and Language Therapist and the determination and motivation of your child, we can treat a lisp can.

You feel you have so many questions and you don’t know where to begin. Let’s start by answering some of the most frequently asked questions.

1. Is it normal for my child to have a lisp?

It’s important to remember that we can expect a lisp in a child up until four and a half years of age.

2. Can I do anything for my child’s lisp?

The best approach you can take is to provide a good model. You can show the correct sound and you can talk about where in the mouth your tongue or lips are. Your Speech and Language Therapist can recommend you on what you can say.

3. Should I wait to see if my child’s lisp resolves on its own?

As always, early intervention is advised as producing sounds as a lisp can be more ingrained the longer your child waits for therapy. It is true that some children’s lisps resolve on their own.

Therapy depends on many factors, one of which is deciding on whether your child is ready for therapy. It’s best to seek advice from a qualified Speech and Language Therapist about whether your child is ready for therapy. It takes motivation, determination, and practice.

4. What should I expect from a Speech and Language Therapist when they see my child?

Your Speech and Language Therapist will ask you as parents and carers about your child’s history. This is because they’ll want to confirm it is a lisp and no other areas of communication are affected. They may ask your child about the impact of their lisp on them (if your child is aware of their speech difficulty).

They will then assess your child using a speech assessment. Your Speech and Language Therapist will confirm their findings and will put a plan in place with you.

5. How will my child’s therapist fix my child’s lisp?

The start to fixing any sound is looking at discrimination between the sound your child is making vs the correct sound. Can your child hear the sound they should be making?
Your therapist may still get your child to discriminate two sounds. They will begin to work on the sound in isolation, so saying the child’s tricky sound by itself (e.g., /s/)
Then they will ask your child to say their tricky sound with a vowel, with a breath between the consonant and the vowel (e.g., s-oo, s-ow, s-ee, s-aa, s-ai)
Your child will then remove the gap between (e.g., soo, sow, see, saa, sai)
Your child will then be ready to move onto consonant-vowel-consonant words (e.g., sat, sit, seen, sown)
Your child’s therapist will tell that the next step is to produce sentences using your child’s tricky sound, /s/ in this example (e.g., Simon says silly sausages)
Your child is working towards generalising their ability but there are a few steps before this happens
Choose a context where your child can practise their talking, focusing on one sound (e.g., during 10 minutes of special time). This is an ideal environment as you can create opportunities for your child.
The next stage is saying the sounds correctly in general conversation
You’ll want your child to be less reliant on you for modelling the sound, so you’ll want to start to phase this out
It’s important for your child to self-correct and self-monitor. Encouraging this is the final stage to correcting your child’s lisp.

You and your child will need to be motivated, as it’s true: practice makes perfect!

For support on speech sound difficulties, feel free to contact me.

Speech and Language Therapy · Top tips

Discover seven activities to support young children with word-finding difficulties

ByLondon Speech and Feeding December 22, 2022January 31, 2023

Speech Therpaist in London — Discover seven activities to support young children with word-finding difficulties

You watch your child struggle to find the right words in conversation. You’ve noticed that they describe what they mean (e.g., it lives in the trees outside, has wings to fly and squawks) but cannot think of the correct word to use (i.e., bird). You see the frustration on their face as they search for that never-ending missing word. You know that as your young person becomes older, they are likely to face an increasing frustration. You recognise the importance of putting strategies into place for their word-finding difficulties. It’s vital that this diagnosis has come from a Speech and Language Therapist, as different activities will target different needs.

Ensure activities are interesting and fun. Be creative and use the activities your young person relates to. Use words that interest them. Remember, the words we use matter.

1. Read, read, and read some more!

Read books that rhyme, or those that talk about opposites
Read about the semantic classes in the book such as occupations, the equipment they might use, or names of related words
Talk about books that involve animals and their young, and the names of the animal genders (i.e., Horses have foals; horse; mare, stallion, filly, colt)
Use books that have repetition of the same word or ones that have a silly rhyme

2. Play word-games

You could play games which transform one part of speech to another

Today I am riding, yesterday I … (rode)
Today I am driving, yesterday I … (drove)

You could name the odd word out from a list of items

e.g., cat, dog, sheep, red

Why not read out a list of words and your child must guess which two go together

e.g., television, sofa, apple, banana

Play a game of complete the sentence

e.g., “A house is a place to live. An office is a place to …”

Play a word game involving synonyms or antonyms

e.g., Can you think of another word for “small”? Can you think of another word for “sleepy”?
e.g., “The opposite of hot is …” or use a question-and-answer format e.g., “What is the opposite of hot?”

Play a word game involving similarities and/or differences

e.g., “what is the same as a car and a bus?”
e.g., “what is the difference between a car and a bus?”

3. Use story telling

Sing rhymes or songs, and allow children to complete the sentence

e.g., ‘Little Jack Horner sat in a …’ (corner)

4.Tell jokes

Why not tell knock-knock jokes, or riddles? These need accurate word-retrieval otherwise they wouldn’t be funny.

5. Make up words in rhymes

Use rhymes and make up words

e.g., “Humpty Dumpty had a great… grandmother”

6. Play word category games

These games might include ones (e.g., “see how many boys’ names you can think of in one minute”. Time yourself while you do it. Categories may include tools, games, girls’ names, drinks, films, toys, animals, makes of cars, clothes, sports, items that you find in school, colours, names of places beginning with ‘B’). You could also play this in reverse, so name items in the category and your conversation partner guesses the category.

7. Play “what comes next?”

e.g., ABCDE…
e.g., First, second, third…
e.g., Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…

Knowing that you’re helping your child with their word finding is a weight off your mind. It helps you to relax knowing that you’re supporting their word-finding difficulties. Watch your child develop strategies as their word knowledge grows.

Credit: Caroline Bowen

All information in this blog originates from:

Bowen, C. (1998). Information for Families: Helping Children Who have Word Retrieval Difficulties. Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100 on [15.11.2022]

Speech and Language Therapy

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

ByLondon Speech and Feeding November 14, 2022January 31, 2023

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 have a strong impact on literacy. Let’s look at some of the facts:

50% of children with language delays also have challenges with literacy (Burns et al, 1999).
73% of poor readers in year three had a history of difficulties with phonemic awareness (the ability to hear, identify and manipulate sounds) or spoken language in pre-school (Catts et al, 1999).

The effect of expressive language on spelling and reading

The ability to read is very much dependent on competent language skills. Furthermore, a limited vocabulary will also have an impact on literacy skills. The more we know about a word, the easier it is to retrieve, recall, understand and use. So, if a young person has a poorer vocabulary, it’s likely that they will not have the same decoding skills as a peer with a richer set of vocabulary. By decoding we mean the ability to apply knowledge of letter-sound relationships including pronunciation of words. Decoding is a vital skill used in literacy.

Whilst learning to read is a key skill, it’s important to remember that a solid foundation is needed for success. We need to ensure that no steps are missed, otherwise there will be gaps in knowledge.

As your child moves further through the education system, they will be “reading to learn”. This is where young people with poorer language skills may show literacy difficulties (for example, reading comprehensions become more challenging, and their expressive language skills impact on their written abilities).

When should I seek advice or support?

Always seek the advice from a qualified professional such as a Speech and Language Therapist. You need appropriate advice for the age and stage of your child’s development and early intervention is of course key to success. It is never too late to ask for advice. The earlier you seek support, the better the outcome for your child in all areas (language, literacy, and emotional well-being).

Have you still got unanswered questions? Contact me here and we can have a look at your child’s phonemic awareness, auditory processing skills, verbal understanding and assess his/her ability and likelihood of reading and literacy struggles. If we find that your child has dyslexia I can refer on to a specialist colleague who can help you further.

Speech and Language Therapy · Top tips

Explore four truths or myths about speech, language, and communication

ByLondon Speech and Feeding November 4, 2022January 31, 2023

There are many truths and myths out there that I’d like to explain to prevent misunderstanding. This will enable you to support your child by seeking the correct information.

Why not have a look at the following statements and decide if you think they are true or false?

Flashcards will fix my child’s speech, language, and communication needs.
Singing to my child will not help their language development.
My child communicates in a variety of ways not just through speech.
Learning another language is good for my child.

Now let’s explore these statements in more detail.

1. Flashcards will fix my child’s speech, language and communication needs – False

To develop your child’s communication skills, you’ll want your child to generalise their skills across multiple areas. I would highly recommend staying away from flashcards if they are only teaching ‘rote learning’. Children need to explore the world through play. However if you’re looking at cards, talking about them and having meaningful conversations, and your child is enjoying it, then there potentially is a use for flashcards. But at London Speech and Feeding, we love innovative activities that your child is fully immersed in.

2. Singing to my child will not help their language development – False

Singing introduces your child to rhyme, and repetition amongst many other benefits. It allows them to attend and listen to you as their caregiver and develop the vital stages of early communication. Singing slows down language so your child becomes more aware of the relationship between letters and sounds. You’re also supporting your child’s oral fluency as well as their memory. Furthermore, you’ll often be face to face with your child singing which allows them to see your facial expressions, lip patterns and eye contact (to name a few).

3. My child communicates in a variety of ways not just through speech – True

Communication is much more than just talking. So, it’s true that communication happens in a variety of ways. Think about it. If you didn’t talk and you wanted to convey a message of frustration, you may show different facial expressions, body language; you may point at something which has caused your frustration. We can communicate through a variety of means (some of which include symbols, gestures, hand signals, and pictures). Can you think of any other ways in which you communicate to others?

4. Learning another language is good for my child – True

Current evidence suggests that speaking another language to your child is a positive. It allows your child to interact with different members of the family or with their friends. ASHA suggests that children who speak two languages fluently often learn new vocabulary easier and find categorisation simpler. Bilingual children have been shown to understand the needs of their communication partner. In addition, increased vocabulary may support better understanding. There are no negative factors about learning more than one language. We would recommend that, whatever language(s) your child is learning, they have a good model of that language, so they learn best practice.

Always seek the advice from a qualified Speech and Language Therapist if you’re unsure of how your child’s speech, language and communication is developing, as there are lots of information online that aren’t always accurate.

I’m always happy to support your family to increase your knowledge and understanding.

You can find support by contacting Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Sonja here.

Speech and Language Therapy

Why teletherapy is great

ByLondon Speech and Feeding October 27, 2022January 31, 2023

Did you know that you don’t have to see a therapist with your child present to have improved communication? For younger children, evidence suggests that regular tailored interaction with parents/carers is as good as seeing a Speech and Language Therapist, with their advice followed. Often your child will respond better because they are in familiar surroundings with their favourite toys present. By learning the techniques I teach you in our weekly virtual zoom sessions, you can support your child’s language and communication every single day. This can be as good and sometimes even better than coming into clinic once a week. You’re embedding and generalising what your child is learning into everyday situations. This is important for your child’s communication development.

It takes two to talk – the Hanen approach

The Hanen approach is about improving your child’s communication by tweaking your own communication style as parents and carers. It looks at your strengths and weaknesses in your communication with your child. You film a session playing with your child, and with a trained Hanen Speech and Language Therapist you review the video identifying strengths and weaknesses in your communication on a regular basis for a set period. For example, you may give your child plenty of time to answer questions, but you might identify from the video that you ask too many questions.

The Hanen approach works well online because:

Parents and carers can concentrate on the information they are given without interruption from their child
It is a process; you’re not told what’s right and wrong. It’s a process of discussion, reflection, and understanding by analysing the video footage
This method can be applied to daily activities, so together we can think about how it can be individualised specifically for your family situation
You can carry out the techniques in your own time when your child is well, calm, and willing to engage.

Online therapy is also ideal for older children (aged 7+) who have difficulties with speech, word-finding, sequencing, or executive functioning (planning and processing information) skills. You can see and hear the therapist and gain knowledge from their valuable expertise whilst saving you time, money, and energy resources. In addition, children tend to love technology, so the online resources are motivating and capture their attention.

Remove the barriers and start your online therapy journey today.

Contact me to learn more.

Sonja is a highly knowledgeable and experienced speech and language therapist. Don’t hesitate to contact her, especially if you are concerned that remote/zoom sessions aren’t as effective as ‘real life’. We have found quite the opposite! She has worked with us on Hanen and now troubleshoots when problems come up. This is such a wonderful way of working. She acts as your indispensable guide (a speech and language fairy godmother, if you like) but make no mistake, it’s your application of what she teaches you, on a day-to-day basis that results in the most change.

P. Goeldner

Autism Therapy

Explore 12 questions to determine whether your child may be Autistic

ByLondon Speech and Feeding October 7, 2022February 10, 2023

A young boy is in the foreground and has turned his head away from the woman sitting next to him. — May your child be autistic?

As professionals, when diagnosing young children with an Autistic Spectrum Condition, it is vital we work as a multi-disciplinary team, so you will likely see many professionals. This may include Educational Psychologist, Dietician, General Practitioner, Occupational Therapist, Paediatrician, Special Educational Needs Coordinator, Speech and Language Therapist and Social worker. Once the evidence is collated, then a diagnosis may be made.

You may be wondering what are some of the early signs of social communication difficulties? Whilst no autistic child is the same and we know Autism is very much a very wide spectrum of abilities and needs there are some autistic spectrum characteristics we do typically see in the early years of childhood. You may wish to think about these areas or presentations to help you prepare for the Speech and Language Therapy appointment.

Twelve questions

Does your child respond to their name?
Are they fixated with watching their hands?
Do they have sensory processing difficulties such as bright lights, food textures, or loud noises?
Are they meeting their milestones or are they delayed?
Do they flap their arms or legs when excited?
Have you noticed any rocking back and forth?
Do they blink excessively or display any facial tics?
Do they play with a particular sort of toy e.g. spinning toys?
Have you noticed that they lack interest in toys?
Have they regressed in their language? Perhaps you’ve noticed they are not using words that they have previously learnt.
Do they use gestures to communicate their needs? How do they communicate their wants and needs?
Do they appear to be in their own world?

You are not alone

These questions are by no means exhaustive and there are many more factors to consider. But it is important to trust your instincts as you are the expert on your child and know your child the best. Regardless of whether you see all of the above points or none, do not hesitate to have an assessment if you are concerned as, even if it turns out to be nothing to worry about, there is always at least one or two great pieces of advice I can offer you on the way and you will leave feeling hopeful and empowered. It’s always best to seek early intervention with communication difficulties. This allows strategies and support to be put in place. Never feel alone, always speak out.

Find communication support here from me, Sonja, (Specialist Speech and Language Therapist)

Autism Therapy · Echolalia · Speech and Language Therapy

Support your autistic child’s communication by learning the stages of Gestalt Language Processing

ByLondon Speech and Feeding September 28, 2022January 3, 2024

If your child is using echolalia and/or has a diagnosis of autism, then your child’s way of processing language is most likely different to the classic way children typically learn language. We call this process Natural Language Acquisition or Gestalt Language Processing.

Let’s explore the following stages of Gestalt Processing:

Stage 1: communicative use of whole language gestalts

(e.g., “let’s get out of here”)

Children and young people in this stage use echolalia. They need to hear more gestalts or scripts. So, your job is to model, model, model and to use functional language that your child can repeat back.

Stage 2: mitigated into chunks and re-combining these chunks

(e.g., “let’s get” + “some more”) and (e.g., “let’s get” + “out of here”)

This is when you take parts of gestalts or phrases and then combine it with other parts.

Stage 3: further mitigation (single words recombining words, formulating two-word phrases)

(e.g., “get…more”)

They are going beyond their gestalts. Furthermore, they may begin to label different objects.

Stage 4: formulating first sentences

(e.g., “let’s get more toys”)

You may see more grammatical errors during this phase as they are creating unique sentences. Please don’t worry about this, it means they are playing and experimenting with language. As communication partners, you could model the correct form of the sentence.

Stages 5 & 6: formulating more complex sentences

(e.g., “how long do you want to play inside for?”)

You can see that language learning is a process, that is trialled and tested, used in different contexts for children to be able to learn and use language appropriately.

My next blog will give you activities ideas and how you might use them specifically with a Gestalt Language Processor.

Remember early intervention is vital. So, if you have any concerns, please seek the advice of a Speech and Language Therapist.

Contact me, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Sonja here.