A day in my life as an Independent Speech and Language Therapist

ByLondon Speech and Feeding

During the pandemic I wrote a blog on what my working day looked like. Now a good year has passed since coming back to some sort of normality and I thought I would update this ‘day in the life of an SLT’ as my working life has changed of course to reflect the ‘new normal’.

I have become truly busy, perhaps busier than I have ever been to be honest. It’s probably mostly due to the fact that I do most of the aspects of my work myself — though I want to mention two invaluable people here without whom I could not function as well as I do: the excellent Nathalie Mahieu () helps me with my SEO, Insta posts and blog uploading and the wonderful Sue Bainbridge () makes sure that my accounts don’t get into trouble with His Majesty’s tax office.

Attached to our role as Speech and Language Therapists is an arguably enormous amount of administration/paperwork and preparation required for each and every client. This needs to be factored in when deciding how many families I can realistically see each working day. For me it works out as typically 3–5 clients a day, Monday to Friday.

So how does my day typically look? Each day varies a lot depending on what type of client I have, but on average it looks a bit like this:

First thing in the morning — after having a coffee and a quick check-in with my besties on WhatsApp — I do my Buddhist chanting for about an hour. My Buddhist prayers are the base of all I do and get me connected to my higher purpose and how to create value with each activity and each person I see that day. It sets me up for the day, I keep in mind who is going to come and see me and how I can best help them.

Next up, I do the daily ‘spring-clean’ of my therapy room (on all fours! no joke ???? those kids see every speck!), vacuum the floors, wipe down the toys with flash-wipes and tidy up all my boxes, making sure that the battery toys are working, and everything else is in place. On to the guest toilet, the hallway needs to be rid of all the men’s shoes and trainers and coats… It’s endless what needs tidying when you are living with three men… This takes about 45 minutes.

An articulation activity – packaging practice into a little game

Then I prep for all my clients that day. I have now got so much quicker about selecting therapy materials. For one thing I have purchased so many toys and materials over the past five years that I can literally now open a shop and need to consider building an extension! ???? The upside is that it is now very easy for me to select a good handful of toys or games for any one child, even at a minute’s notice. Though, on average, I spend about 30 minutes per child preparing activities.

Hurrah, it’s 11 am and my first client of the day arrives and the fun begins.

When they leave around an hour later, the cleaning and wiping down starts again, this time less extensively. I write up my notes and send homework whilst enjoying a cuppa.

The next client comes at 12.30 pm and once they have left, floor cleaned, toys wiped, notes written it is time for a quick lunch. No more than half an hour usually.

Afternoon clients tend to be one more little one (nursery age) at 2.15 pm and thereafter I see mostly older school children for a variety of reasons (mainly speech production but also some language-based activities). I tend to say farewell to my last client of the day around 6 pm. I spend another hour, sometimes more, on writing up notes, answering new enquiries, blogging and phone calls to keep my service fresh, inspirational and exciting.

And then dinner and the rest of the day rushes by. I tend to finish my day with some more Buddhist chanting, not a lot, perhaps 10–20 minutes to reflect on what has gone well and what could have been better — re-determine to improve or make better as needed.

Tele therapy activity using online materials plus a coreboard

In terms of where I provide a service, I still do a good mix of online clients (tele-therapy) and in-person clients in my clinic, which I love. Occasionally, I visit children in their nursery or at home but this service is now only available for long-standing clients.

Each client is hand-picked to make sure that we are a good fit: no one client gets the same treatment as another; each client is unique, we get to know one another well over the time we work together and they are always highly valued. That takes time and, in reality, each client gets about two hours of my time. That is the actual session plus all the preparation and aftercare, i.e., bespoke hand holding, tweaks, problem solving and reassurance in between sessions.

I absolutely love this way of working and would not ever want to do anything else. Nearly three decades of working both in the NHS and in private practice, countless courses (continual professional development) have enabled me to flourish as a therapist and I know that I offer something special and very valuable to my clients.

My unique way of working affords all my lovely clients the help they need to support their children to make progress; and it gives me the right balance of job satisfaction and work life balance for now. My lovely reviews and testimonials tell me that my clients appreciate my service and this at the end of the day is the most important.

If you are interested in exploring Buddhism/buddhist chanting then check out this link (https://sgi-uk.org/), and feel free to contact me about that specifically, regardless of whether you want speech therapy. I am always happy to chat about Buddhism, it has been so enriching for the last 43 years of my life.

If you need help with your child, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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.

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    Speech prompts and strategies I use in Speech Sound Therapy

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    This particular student has a mild motor planning difficulty and six weeks ago he came to me with a very strong lisp. In addition to the lisp he is struggling to produce a number of sounds, SH and L on its own and all the clusters (FL/BL/KL/PL) but also CH together with some vowel difficulties.

    The prompts are a mix partially from the DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing) model by Dr Edythe Strand as well as phonological models I have learned over the years, and some of them are my own.

    Visual/picture prompts and Images

    Here I use the ‘Flat Tyre’ Sound, to offer as an image for a new S sound and the ‘Tick Tock’ Sound for a new image of the T sound. Both cards are from the Bjorem Speech Sound Deck, which I love and use almost daily.

    Gestural Cues

    I like to use all the ‘cued articulation’ hand cues by Jane Passy for consonants and fricatives. Here we use our fingers and hand to illustrate what our tongue does, and we also show whether a sound is voiced or voiceless. When I use one finger it is voiceless (k/f/s/p) and when I use two fingers for the same cue it means that the voice needs to be turned on: (g/v/z/b/n/m). For vowels I like to use Pam Marshalla’s cue system.

    Simultaneous production

    We say the word together.

    Direct imitation

    I say the word and my student copies me directly.

    Imitation after a delay

    I say the word and then after a little wait my student says the word.

    Spontaneous production

    My student has now learned to say the word by him/herself.

    Offering feedback

    It sounds like… I just heard… I didn’t hear the first sound there? Can you try again?

    Letting the student reflect

    By just shaking my head or by looking quizzical so that my student realises something didn’t quite go right.

    Postitive reinforcement

    ‘Yes that was it, do it again, nice one…’

    Cognitive reframing

    This is a technique where we identify different semantic cues and metaphors or imagery cues, so instead of teaching or focusing on a sound we try out viewing each syllable from a different point of view.

    For example: ‘yellow’. I have had great success with this one: we start with just saying ‘yeah yeah yeah’. I might make a little joke and say something like ‘imagine your mum says tidy your bedroom, what do you say or what do you think?’ Answer: ‘yeah yeah yeah’. Then we practice ‘low’ together, I might blow some bubbles high and low and we talk about ‘low’. And then we put ‘Yeah’ and ‘Low’ together and now we have YELLOW!! It might at first still sound a bit odd, like ‘yea-low’ but we soon shape that up and have the real word.

    Each student is different and having a great rapport is crucial to our success.

    Then a little game break after some 7–10 or so repetitions and always trying to finish on a positive note.

    What game breaks do I use:

    Very quick ones! Students can post something, place a counter in a game, take out a Jenga block from the tower, pop in a counter for ‘connect 4’, stick a sword into the Pop the Pirate barrel or add a couple of Lego blocks to something they are building.

    I hope this is helpful, please contact me for any questions.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Early Intervention Speech and Language Therapist

    Feeding and Dysphagia (Swallowing) Specialist The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    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.

    1
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    Explore the world of speech sound therapy for young children

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    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.

    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.

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    What to do when words don’t come fast enough

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    What to do when words don’t come fast enough

    When children find talking hard, parents often face a difficult question: ‘Should we wait and keep encouraging speech? Or introduce something like AAC?’

    AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) can sound intimidating, but it simply means any way we support or replace spoken words, from simple gestures and picture boards to high-tech speech-generating devices. Far from ‘giving up on speech,’ AAC often becomes the bridge that helps children find their voice, in whatever form that takes.

    💡 What is AAC, really?

    AAC is a spectrum of tools and strategies that help people express themselves when speaking is difficult. It might include:

    • Low-tech supports: Gestures, key word signs (like Makaton), picture symbols, or printed boards
    • High-tech systems: Apps on tablets that speak aloud when pictures or words are tapped

    AAC is not just for children who will never talk. It’s for anyone whose speech isn’t meeting their communication needs right now.

    🤔 When to introduce AAC

    There’s a common myth that you should only try AAC after ‘exhausting’ other speech therapy options. In fact, AAC can be introduced at any stage, even alongside speech development.

    Here are some helpful signs that AAC might support your child:

    • Your child understands much more than they can say.
    • They rely on gestures, sounds, or behaviour to communicate.
    • They become frustrated trying to express themselves.
    • You find yourself ‘reading their mind’ to interpret needs.
    • Speech progress feels slow or inconsistent.

    If you recognise these patterns, AAC isn’t a ‘last resort’. It’s a communication support, not a replacement for speech.

    Recent research consistently shows that AAC does not stop children from talking. In fact, it can encourage speech to develop. A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders found that children who received interventions combining naturalistic developmental behavioural approaches with aided AAC showed improved language outcomes, and that AAC ‘does not negatively impact speech development and may even facilitate spoken language growth’ (Smith et al., 2024).

    🌉 How AAC supports speech development

    Speech and AAC aren’t competing paths: they’re parallel tracks that often feed each other.

    Here’s how AAC helps speech grow:

    1. Reduces frustration: When a child can express their needs, they’re more relaxed and ready to learn.
    2. Provides a visual model: Seeing symbols or words while hearing spoken language strengthens understanding and word recall.
    3. Builds consistent language structure: AAC systems follow the same grammar and word order as speech, helping children internalise how sentences work.
    4. Encourages turn-taking and social connection: AAC lets children join conversations even before speech is fluent, giving them more practice in real communication.

    AAC is not ‘giving up on speech’. It’s giving a child more ways to succeed while speech continues to develop.

    🧩 How to introduce AAC gently and effectively

    1. Start small and meaningful: Begin with a few key messages your child wants to say, not just what adults want to hear. Think ‘I want’, ‘stop’, ‘help’, ‘more’, ‘all done’, ‘no’, ‘again’. These are powerful words for real interaction and autonomy.
    2. Model, model, model: The most important part of AAC success is modelling—using the system yourself as you talk. For example: ‘You want banana 🍌’ and you tap the ‘want’ and ‘banana’ symbols. Children need to see and hear AAC used naturally before they try it themselves.
    3. Use it throughout the day: AAC isn’t a therapy tool to take out once a week. It’s a living part of communication. Model a few words during mealtimes, play, and routines. The more consistently it’s embedded, the more fluent both you and your child will become.
    4. Keep it accessible: If using a device or picture board, make sure it’s always nearby. If it’s in a bag or drawer, it can’t be used in real moments.
    5. Celebrate all communication: If your child points, signs, uses a sound, or taps a symbol, it all counts. Respond warmly and naturally to reinforce communication in any form.

    🧠 What parents often worry about

    • ‘Won’t AAC stop them from talking?’: No. Research shows AAC use either has no negative effect on speech or leads to increased spoken output (Smith et al., 2024). When children feel understood, their motivation to communicate grows.
    • ‘What if I model it wrong?’: There’s no perfect way to start. Your effort and consistency matter far more than accuracy.
    • ‘Will they get ‘stuck’ using pictures?’:  Some children do continue using AAC long-term; others move naturally toward more spoken language. The goal is always functional communication, not replacing one form with another.

    🪞 Bringing AAC into daily life

    Here are a few simple, parent-friendly ideas:

    • Create visual spaces: Post symbols or core words on the fridge, mirror, or play area.
    • Narrate routines: Use AAC during toothbrushing, dressing, or mealtimes; consistent contexts build understanding.
    • Pair speech and touch: Always say the word aloud when you point to or tap a symbol.
    • Involve siblings and friends: Model how they can respond to AAC too. ‘Oh, you said go! Let’s go fast!’
    • Use shared books and songs: Pause and model key words in stories or songs.

    🌱 The takeaway

    AAC doesn’t mean giving up on speech; it means opening more doors to communication. When words don’t come easily, AAC gives children a way to connect, share, and be heard.

    It helps parents move from guessing to understanding, and gives children the power to express themselves on their own terms.

    If you’re unsure where to start, reach out to a speech and language therapist experienced in AAC. Together, you can find a system that fits your child’s strengths, build confidence in modelling, and help every word (spoken or tapped) feel like a step forward.

    And download and print my one page summary.

    Because when communication is possible, everything else begins to grow.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

    📚 Reference

    Smith, K., et al. (2024). The Effect of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions and Aided AAC on the Language Development of Children on the Autism Spectrum with Minimal Speech: A Systematic Review and Meta‑Analysis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 55, 3078–3099. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06382-7

    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    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.

    2
  • · ·

    My child won’t eat! What can we do to help?

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    Image by freepik

    I get lots of enquiries about this topic, parents up and down the country struggle to feed their children. Mealtimes with toddlers can sometimes feel like a war zone!

    Reasons

    The reasons for food refusal are many and very varied. Perhaps your child was born prematurely and had lots of tubes and things sticking to his or her face? Or maybe your child had gastro-oesophageal reflux and this caused pain every time he or she swallowed. Some children have motor problems so it was hard to coordinate swallowing with breathing and caused frustration and anxiety? Many children have sensory integration difficulties and these make it difficult for them to grasp all the different textures and colours they are eating.

    When I take a case history for a new feeding client, I always try to first establish how the child learned not to feed/eat. I use the word ‘learned’ here with intent as eating is a learned behaviour. We tend to think that it must just be instinctive and natural but this is not the case. Instinct is a small part of the very beginning of feeding, in that a baby naturally roots for the breast but this only works out well and leads to more natural ‘instinctive’ feeding if that initial instinct is not interrupted or impacted on negatively by any of the above reasons.

    So just as a baby learns to eat or drink the milk it can also learn not to do so. The baby can learn to avoid eating in order to bypass discomfort, or — and this is another important factor — in order to gain more positive attention from the caregiver!

    Research shows that we learn about food in two ways:

    1. A connection is made between a food and a physical reaction. This needs to happen only once and it can stick: think about feeling sick after a binge on a certain food/drink… You won’t want to go near that very food again for some time, if ever! If a certain food causes pain then that connection can be made quickly and we won’t want to touch this food again.
    2.  We learn through reinforcement and punishment:
    1. Reinforcement:
    • If we get praised for eating our plate with a pudding, then we tend to eat more to get the pudding.
    • Equally if granny sits with us for hours at the table reading us a story because we do not eat or don’t eat much/quickly, we will continue this because we want granny to keep reading for us.
    1. Punishment can work in two ways:
    • Child gets punished for not eating and will eat more to avoid punishment.
    • Child eats less as the fear of punishment is so unpleasant and leads to total lack of appetite.

    As speech therapists we do not endorse any of those above strategies because none of them give us the desired effect.

    What do we want to achieve? We want our children to eat naturally, with enjoyment. We don’t want them to over eat, to binge eat, or to starve themselves. Eating needs to become a joyful, natural and organic behaviour if our child is to be healthy and thrive.

    Recommendations

    Here are three top recommendations I make regularly with good effect:

    1. Structure: have a routine at mealtimes, eating at the table, in the same room with our favourite utensils. Always helping in food preparation, perhaps setting out the table placemats etc, and then tidying up — taking the plate to the kitchen counter, scraping left overs into the recycle bin can be part of this. This way we can introduce repetition to our food/eating learning.
    • Positioning: the right chair with a good footrest, supporting our child’s trunk well, and facilitating our child eating at the table (instead of sitting in a high chair with a tray) is one of my first and favourite tips. I do favour a Tripp Trapp style chair (I have no association with that company).

    Tube fed children ought to also sit at the table with the rest of the family and first of all be offered foods and drinks to handle or play with. Some tube fed children are able to eat a small amount of pureed foods and they ought to be offered this first before being topped up with their tube feeds, whilst sitting down. Lying down for your tube feed is not a normal way of eating. Tube feed infants should be offered a pacifier whilst being tube fed and be in an upright position so that they start having an association between getting full/feeling satiated and their mouth.

    • Sociability: I encourage family mealtimes, or at least the caregiver eating with their child together, so that the child is able to copy and observe what normal eating looks like. We need to be super positive about eating and food consumption so that our child can see and copy this. If the parent is a fussy eater then this may cause the child to copy exactly the same behaviour. Many parents who come to me with their fussy children are themselves also picky about food.

    There are many other tips and strategies and I will be more than pleased to assist, please contact me.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Early Intervention Speech and Language Therapist

    Feeding and Dysphagia (Swallowing) Specialist The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    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.

    1
  • ·

    Transforming Mealtimes

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    Speech Therpaist in London

    Transforming Mealtimes

    Below are two reviews I got from grateful clients over the past 4-6 weeks; this blog is more about how Feeding Therapy can help you than blowing my own trumpet…. though that said, it is always so nice and gratifying to hear when parents are happy and hopeful about their little one’s feeding journey. Feeding Therapy is a substantial part of my work as a Children’s Speech and Language Therapist. One of my specialist subjects is Autism and we find that many children on the Autism Spectrum are very specific about eating, and will often refuse a range of typical family foods in favour of a narrow range of foods/snacks.

    Mostly, feeding difficulties are a combination and complex cocktail of factors that have contributed to the current status quo: sure, there may have been some physical problems to start off with, such as reflux causing the baby discomfort, constipation, a very tight tongue tie or a swallowing problem caused by neurological difficulties and of course sensory processing difficulties are also very physical experiences. We always begin with a very thorough case history taking and information gathering, followed by an oral assessment and observation of the actual swallow to establish what might have been – or still might be – the cause for the feeding difficulties.

    In most of the cases I see in my practice, the original obvious cause is no longer present, especially with older children. So, if the swallowing is fine, the reflux is no longer present, the tongue was divided (twice!) why are they still not eating much, refusing to try new foods, only accept certain textures etc.

    The answer is extremely complex and multi-faceted and this little blog is not covering any factors in detail (we would be here all night) -I mentioned sensory processing difficulties earlier on. These are mostly still present but often not acknowledged or recognised by parents. And it is certainly the case that one of the contributors is parental anxiety; this tends to run very high and has been for many months, sometimes years. This in turn often leads to very tense and unpleasant, endlessly long meal times and many times children are force-fed several times a day in order to “get something down there” as otherwise they would probably starve themselves.

    Additionally, parents end up only offering a very narrow range of foods because that is all their child will eat. This ends up in a vicious cycle of children being fed porridge-style food for all meal times and of course they won’t progress to more mature foods if these mature foods are never on offer.

    In order to help address and disentangle some of the issues I often introduce the “Division of Responsibility in Feeding” as researched and recommended by Ellyn Satter (The Satter Feeding Dynamics Model)

    Here are the main points of her approach:

    Children have a natural ability with eating, they eat as much as they need and they grow in the way that is right for them and they learn to eat what their parents eat. (E Satter). The parent is responsible for WHAT the child eats, WHERE and WHEN the child eats. The child is responsible for HOW MUCH they eat or WHETHER to eat. Satter proposes that parents should guide their child’s transition from nipple feeding through semi-solids, then thick and lumpy foods to finger foods and then on to normal family meals.

    Please note: this model is only appropriate for children where the original physical cause is no longer present!

    Of course it’s not easy! It requires a huge shift in thinking about feeding and it requires to trust our children to know what is best for them. This is very big for most parents, as it is not how we were brought up and it is not commonly known that babies and children know what is good for them!

    However, it is certainly true that parents who follow this particular approach and make small, steady changes in the way the offer foods, and in the way they create family meal times differently, children make very nice, pleasing progress and over some months we often see remarkable positive changes.

    I like to work in a team and especially for this type of problem it is essential to have a multi-disciplinary approach. A knowledgeable dietician is an enormous plus in any feeding team as is of course a

    Paediatrician and/ or a Gastroenterologist and the most important people in the team are the parents!

    Feeding Therapy is all about collaboration and a ‘team around the child” approach. When we have this in place and there is trust amongst the team members then we make fantastic progress.

    Do get in touch with me if you would like some help with your tricky feeder.

    Lovely Reviews

    I visited London Speech and Feeding a couple of days ago with my 8-month-old granddaughter and her mother. Sonja made us feel comfortable and at ease from our first introductions. She was able to pinpoint my granddaughter’s mum’s anxiety around weaning very quickly. She not only gave her the tools to do this successfully, but also really encouraged my granddaughter’s mum and instilled confidence that she had everything she needed to make this sometimes-difficult transition without further anxiety.

    Sonja was very thorough in her initial assessment of my granddaughter’s physical milestones and her developing speech. My granddaughter felt very comfortable with Sonja and happily played along with her. Then came the big moment – trying out various foods! We were amazed to see just how easily my granddaughter, with Sonja’s expert encouragement, took to sampling the wonderful array of different delicious morsels Sonja had prepared for the session. My granddaughter even drank from a cup for the first time! Wonderful!

    Sonja then emailed a summary of the session and an extensive array of resources with suggestions for my granddaughter’s mum which she has now put into action. My granddaughter’s mum couldn’t thank Sonja enough for her caring attitude, extensive knowledge, and warm professionalism. I have no hesitation in recommending Sonja, she’s a fantastic Feeding Therapist!

    –

    Sonja (and her lovely colleague, Sandra) were stupendous. I had brought my one-year-old son to see them as I was concerned that he wasn’t eating enough. They looked at his history and we ate together to make sure they had all the information they needed to give an accurate diagnosis. Whilst our outcome was that Henry was in fact doing brilliantly (and I just needed to chill out a bit!), I would imagine if there was something more serious going on, Sonja would make you feel just as supported and empowered as she did with us. Excellent follow-ups too. Money well spent for a bit of reassurance for a stressed out mama. Thank you, Sonja!

    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.

  • · ·

    Milestones matter: What to expect in your baby’s first year of communication

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    Milestones matter: What to expect in your baby's first year of communication
    Designed by Freepik

    The first year of your baby’s life is a whirlwind of growth and development. While watching them learn to crawl, walk, and grasp objects is exciting, it’s equally important to pay attention to their developing communication skills. Here are some key speech, language, attention, play, and communication milestones you can expect to see between 6 and 9 months.

    Sounds:

    • Babbling becomes more complex, with strings of sounds like ‘bababa’ or ‘dadada.’
    • Your baby may start imitating some sounds.
    • When you call your baby he or she will respond to his or her own name.

    What you can do to help your baby

    First, please don’t panic. Every baby is different and it does not mean your baby is delayed if he or she is not quite ready.

    Make sure you spend time babbling, singing and talking to your baby in a tuneful, happy, sometimes silly! way, pulling faces, smiling, laughing and tickling your baby, all the while sing sing sing and chat!

    Try to imitate your baby’s sounds and actions. You will see that your baby likes this a lot and will reward you with smiles, giggles and after a while your baby will want you to continue copying him or her. At that time you will see that he or she will start to copy you more and more.

    Try and call your baby’s name lots of times. When you re-enter a room having been out for even a short time, say ‘Hello (baby’s name) I’m back’. Your baby will soon learn to look when you say their name.

    Attention:

    • Can follow simple directions (e.g., ‘Come here!’).
    • Shows interest in books and pictures.
    • Begins to understand the word ‘no.’

    What you can do to help attention skills develop

    Get down to your baby’s eye level or make it easy for your baby to look at you, even briefly.

    Try and gain your baby’s attention when he or she is not busy with something else.

    Try and become irresistibly funny and interesting to look at! Think of ‘Mr Tumble’! Wear a silly hat, silly glasses, blow some bubbles, blow a funny horn, stand on your head (joking)… make it impossible for your baby to ignore you!

    Play:

    • Explores objects by banging, shaking, and mouthing them.
    • Shows interest in cause-and-effect toys (e.g., dropping objects and watching them fall).
    • Engages in simple social games like peek-a-boo.

    What you can do to help play skills to develop

    Offer suitable objects that are attractive to look at and easy to hold and shake. Show your baby repeatedly what to do with these objects, bang them together and sing a little song, bang bang bang shake shake shake…

    Offer containers and drop items into them. Shape sorters, metal bowls make a terrific clangy noise when you drop items into them. Blow feathers or tissues and watch them fall. Blow bubbles and watch them pop.

    Sing a range of nursery songs repeatedly and make suitable actions along them. Try and involve your baby by sitting him or her on your lap so he or she can hear and feel you bopping him or her up and down, swinging him or her gently from side to side or row row rowing his or her boat gently down the stream

    Communication:

    • Uses gestures like waving ‘bye-bye’ and reaching for desired objects.
    • May begin to use babbling to express needs and wants (e.g., babbling while reaching for a toy).

    What you can do to help communication progress

    Practise waving ‘bye-bye’ to people coming and going all day long.

    When your baby babbles whilst reaching for a toy, you can copy him or her and then name that toy, for example.

    Baby: ‘gagabbagaga’ – whilst reaching for a shaker – Adult: ‘gagagag I want my shakey! Aargh I am reaching for it but I can’t get it, help me help me… ah there is my lovely shakey shakey!’

    If your baby is not responding to any of your efforts above then please do get in touch with a Speech and Language Therapist near you, or contact me via my contact form. Sometimes one consultation is all you need to get going with helping your baby and before you know it a lots of progress has been made and your baby is on the way to speaking!

    Sonja McGeachie

    Early Intervention Speech and Language Therapist

    Feeding and Dysphagia (Swallowing) Specialist The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    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.

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