A tailored service in speech therapy

Speech and Language therapy focusses on diagnosing, treating and providing support for children who may find some aspects of communication difficult. This could include speech and language difficulties to include sounds and in understanding language or difficulties in producing language. PlayTalk will build a profile of your child’s communication skills and identify areas where input is needed to support these specific communication skills. 

All children develop their communication skills at different rates but when we know what is typical, we can decide if children may need extra support. PlayTalk is here to provide parental support for child speech therapy. We are ready to talk through your concerns and point you in the right direction. Whatever the age of your child, if you are worried about any aspects of their speech, language or communication skills then do get in touch. 

Speech is the sounds we think about, made with our mouth, and how we string the sounds together to make words. Language is about understanding and using words and sentences and communication is how we get our message across and relate to others. This includes non-verbal communication and/or when a child has stopped communicating.

A speech and language assessment involves an initial discussion of your expectations of speech and language therapy and any issues relating to your child’s development. An informal observation of your child will be carried out through play/conversation and informal tasks and activities in a fun play-based style. Where appropriate, more formal standardised tests may be used. 

PlayTalk will discuss the outcomes of the assessment with you and will develop a treatment plan. This may mean a block of speech therapy sessions, further assessment, referral to other professionals or a therapy programme to be carried out at home or school/nursery. 

Yes. Speech and language therapists need to have obtained effective assessment information before making decisions on a course of treatment. This is in line with guidance from our professional body, The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). 

If your child has had an assessment with a qualified speech and language therapist within the past 6 months, the information from this may be used to contribute to the assessment requirement. In these cases, where you may have already undergone plenty of assessments, the speech and language therapist will talk to you about different options of assessment through therapy. 

Yes. It is important that you let the PlayTalk speech and language therapist know that you are, or have been seen, by another therapist as some assessments cannot be repeated within a certain timeframe. Also, it is greatly effective when professionals work together. PlayTalk welcomes working in partnership with other professionals. 

This will vary depending on the child and their specific goals. PlayTalk will recommend a block of therapy sessions, such as 6 or 8 sessions. It is common for children to have weekly sessions at the start depending on the goals and needs of the child. The response of your child will be reviewed throughout the block of therapy. 

There will be plenty of opportunity to discuss recommendations within each speech therapy session. For example, a further therapy block may be recommended straight away or sometimes a break in one-to-one therapy may be advised so that your child can consolidate all that they have learnt. The number and frequency of sessions will be reviewed throughout the process based on how the child is progressing and the needs of family life. 

Yes. PlayTalk welcomes and encourages partnership working with other professionals. 

Yes, a PlayTalk speech and language therapist will come and visit you and your child face-to-face in your home. This allows for making recommendations that can most easily be implemented at home. The therapist may also do sessions in your child’s educational setting such as nursery or school. This can be effective for joined up working so that school staff are confident to implement any strategies that have been modelled and recommended and the therapist can gain a holistic understanding of your child’s skills and needs in a different setting.

A standard speech and language therapy session usually lasts for 1 hour. This includes interventions with the child as well as discussion with the child’s supporting adults. 

If sessions are at home, then yes parents need to be present. The aim of each session always includes time to demonstrate strategies so that parents can be guided and supported with continuing speech therapy in between sessions. If sessions are in school or in nursery, a member of staff needs to be present for either all or part of the session so that strategies can be modelled and explained. This will help staff to continue the speech therapy in between the sessions and will help to identify what is working well for your child. 

All children develop their communication skills at different rates but when we know what is typical we can decide if children may need extra support. For example, children usually say their first words at 18 months and at around age 2 they begin to combine words together (e.g. “Mummy juice”). PlayTalk speech and language therapy is here to help you with this. If you have any concerns or worries about your child’s talking, or your child has stopped communicating, please get in touch. 

There are a variety of reasons that some children may experience speech and language difficulties and therefore not develop the right speech and language skills within the typical milestones. PlayTalk will build a holistic profile of skills (strengths as well as challenges) and will aim to break down and identify what support is needed and why. This may take several sessions alongside therapy input. We may recommend referral to other professionals so that we can gain as much information as possible to make an effective treatment plan.  

There can be various reasons why a child might stop communicating through speech and language. It's important to note that each child is unique, and the reasons can be complex and interrelated. PlayTalk provides parental support for child speech therapy, so if your child suddenly stops communicating through speech and language, please do get in touch and we’ll discuss your concerns and point you in the right direction for the support that you may need.