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Children's Speech and Language Therapy

Information and Advice

Where do we work?

  • Child’s home
  • In mainstream school
  • In special schools
  • In nurseries
  • In playgroups
  • Children’s Therapy Department (clinic)
  • Hospital wards for feeding
  • CDU

What we do

  • Provide general advice, support and information.
  • Provide specialist assessment
  • Agree and set joint goals
  • Provide specialist advice and support for families and ‘the team around the child’ to be able to implement strategies and achieve goals.
  • Deliver clinic-based individual and group therapy.
  • Support staff in educational settings to set up and run their own groups.
  • Provide specialist training for parents and staff in settings.
  • Provide training to develop the wider children and young people’s workforce.

Service Summary

We are a team of Speech and Language Therapists who provide a child centred and family oriented approach.

Working closely with our partner services in Health, Education and Social Care, we contribute our expert knowledge of communication, speech, language, and feeding and swallowing to the team of professionals working with the child and their family. 

We provide support for families and staff from a variety of settings, so that they can help the child to reach their full potential in their everyday lives.

We focus on meaningful targets, jointly agreed with families, which promote the child’s wellbeing and independence as well as supporting their learning.

Useful Links

  • www.ican.org.uk
    I CAN is a UK charity for children with communication difficulties. It provides a combination of specialist therapy and education for children with the most severe and complex disabilities, information for parents and training and advice for teachers and other professionals. They also work to ensure that the needs of these children are taken into account in all children's policy and carry out research to find the best ways to support these children.
  • www.afasic.org.uk
    Afasic is a UK charity, established to help children and young people, their families and the professionals working with them. Afasic is also a recognised training provider that offers a range of services that include a helpline, publications, support groups, and membership.
  • http://www.ace-north.org.uk/
    The centre provides specialist support and expertise in the field of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and Assistive Technology (AT).  The team can provide a range of core specialist services including assessments, equipment loans, training and information.
  • http://www.afasicscotland.org.uk/Secondary.htm
    Afasic Scotland/Secondary provide some useful information on working with children with specific language difficulties in secondary school.
  • www.commtap.org
    For specific advice around differentiated speech, language and communication targets for both early years and primary.
  • The following websites have excellent information, advice, support and resources on a wide range of speech, language and communication needs:
    www.talkingpoint.org.uk
    www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk
    www.webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/...org.../every-child-talker-ecat
  • For advice around quality first teaching and inclusion for children with speech language and communication needs in schools:
    • Advanced training materials for speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).
      Module 5, units 10-18
      www.education.gov.uk/lamb

For advice on stammering

  • www.stammering.org
    The BSA is your first point of contact for information and support on stammering. Specific advice on the educational problems of a child with a stammer is available from the British Stammering Association Officer.
    The BSA also provides a Teachers’ Video Pack and CD Rom, and a variety of practical guides for professionals working with primary and secondary aged pupils with a stammer.

For advice around Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Social Communication difficulties:

The The Early Years team work with children aged between 0-5. We work closely with parents and other professionals involved in your child’s care to develop and support your child’s communication skills.

Ages and Stages

Communication pyramid

The pyramid outlines the way that a child’s skills develop. Skills at the bottom of the pyramid have to be in place before they will develop skills at the top. Click on the area of the pyramid for our information sheets about what to do if your child has difficulties in that area.If you have tried these activities and are still concerned, please see our Making a Referral section, to refer a child for an assessment with a Speech and Language Therapist.

Pyramid diagram thats links to other leafletsLinks to the Speech Sounds leafletLinks to the Expressive Language leafletLinks to the Receptive Language leafletLinks to the Play Main leafletLinks to the Attention and listening leaflet

Other useful links and resources for children in the Early Years

Creating Opportunities for Communication
For support with language using sign:The early years signing pack
For support for children that are reluctant to communicate:Encouraging Confident Communication

Hanen

For lots of handy tips and resources please see Hanen the website

Information sheets about the parent training programmes we offer:

Katie Myers, Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist

"­Hi, my name is Kate Myers and I oversee the day to day running of the stammer service. I'm trained in Palin parent-child interaction, cognitive behavioural therapy and solution focussed brief therapy.

My main areas of interest are working with children in Key Stage 2 and preparing children in Year 6 for their big move up to high school.

The highlight of my job is seeing our children connect with each other in group therapy and having lots of fun along the way."

Preeti Nirmal Kant, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

"My name is Preeti Nirmal Kant. I am passionate about working with young people who have a stammer. I specialise in working with teenagers and their families.

We are currently offering group interventions for teenagers or bespoke 1-1 sessions. I am trained in Solution Focused Brief Training and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy .

I absolutely love seeing how a young person's confidence grows through our therapy programme."

Year 6 Transition Group

Getting ready for high school can be daunting for any young person, especially those with communication differences. 

Our Year 6 transition groups take place during the summer holidays and are a great opportunity for children to come together, learn more about their stammer and consider how to advocate for themselves in their new high school. 

The children have the space to explore their feelings as a group, develop strategies to feel prepared and confident, ready for their first day.  Our groups are a mixture of fun online and face to face sessions. We focus on team working, problem solving and communication in escape rooms and orienteering challenges. We also incorporate physical challenges such as rope climbing, caving and bouldering which encourage children to step out of their comfort zones and develop resilience. 

As part of this therapy package we also offer their new high school some training in how to support children with a stammer.   

It is very common for children to start to stammer and trip over their words between the ages of 2 and 5. The cause of stammering is not yet fully understood but we know that this is an age where children are rapidly developing lots of different speech and language skills and co-ordinating them all can be difficult for some children. 

If you have any concerns with your child's stammer they can be referred to us by following the 'make a referral' link

When your referral has been received you will be invited to a Parent Advice Group. This is a virtual session which aims to provide parents and carers with a deeper understanding of stammering and what they can do to help at home. 

For those that require more support, we may offer bespoke therapy sessions which focus on making changes to the child's environment and adult's interaction style which can have a positive impact on the child's difficulties. 

To learn more about stammering in young children please see the website and videos below.

Support Groups

 

There is an excellent support group on Facebook for parents of children who stammer which you can ask to join if you think it might be helpful:

Here’s a link to support from the charity Stamma, including parent groups:

Useful Websites

Please follow this link to the Michael Palin Centre which gives lots of information about stammering including top tips for communicating with a young child with a stammer:

Here are some websites which have activities and resources to help children to regulate their emotions and build their confidence.

Helpful videos

This video is a great one to watch together with children:

Why do some children stammer?

This is a lovely video of a therapist explaining about how to keep things balanced to maximise smooth speech.

Why do some children stammer (Youtube)

Understanding stammering in more detail

This is a great video to help you identify factors which may be contributing to or maintaining your child’s stammer.

Understanding Stammering in More Detail (Youtube)

The Communication Chain

Steph Burgess specialist speech and language therapist provides a good insight into how  your child’s language development  may relate to stammering.

How stammering relates to speech and language development (Youtube)

Key Stage 2

Our KS2 stammer therapy groups are a great opportunity for children who stammer to come together and realise they are not alone! When asked, 100% of our children said that meeting other children with a stammer has made a difference to them. 

Our groups provide a safe space to learn more about stammering and explore it's impact. We aim to build knowledge and resilience while having a lot of fun along the way and supporting children to realise that it is OK to stammer. We also have a unique partnership with ROKT Foundation who provide exciting activities such as bouldering, climbing and caving which we incorporate into our therapy to really boost confidence in our children. 

Our KS2 groups are a blend of online group sessions which children usually access from their schools and a face to face session at ROKT Foundation. As part of this therapy package, we also provide a parent advice group and a training session for schools. 

Making a Referral

Who can refer

Referrals can be made by GP’s, Consultants, Health Visitors, Parents/Guardians, Schools, and other Health Professionals.

How and when to refer

Please look at our service guidelines leaflets or detailed information.

For referral forms and guidelines to make a referral to Speech and Language Therapy:

Please complete the referral form and send to the Children’s Therapy Service administrative team in Huddersfield (Princess Royal Health Centre) or Halifax (Broad Street Plaza).  Please see main Children’s Therapy page for our contact details.

Contact us

Please see the 'Making a referral' section if you are concerned about your child's speech and you are new to the service.

Please use the following contact details if your child is already registered with our service and has a named speech and language therapist. 

Who to Contact for Support:

  • Text or call the Stammer team on 07825341197
  • Text or call us on a Tuesday morning to request a call back. Please leave your name, number and the name of your child.
  • Email us directly at: bev.blinkhorn@cht.nhs.uk 
  • Telephone the Children’s Therapies admin number: 01422 261340/ 01484 344299 and leave a message.