Small Talk Speech and Language Therapy comes to Derbyshire

Georgina White, speech and language therapist is very excited to be leading Small Talk Speech and Language Therapy in Derbyshire; as she lives in the area. ‘I am particularly excited as I know what great results Small Talk Speech and Language Therapy can achieve as I have been working for Small Talk in the South Staffs area for nearly 12 months; and they have been achieving great results there since 2007.’

Small Talk Speech and Language Therapy are a team of speech and language therapists and assistants who work independently with children, from babies to teenagers. They can deal with a wide variety of speech, language and communication problems including, speech sounds, autism, problems with understanding and expressive language difficulties. They specialise in complex communication and ASD but can see any child about whom a parent is worried. The waiting list is usually less than 2 weeks from initial enquiry.

Small Talk Speech and Language Therapy visit children where they are most comfortable, either in nursery or at home. Georgina believes that this is far better for little ones who may be intimidated by a clinic setting, ‘Sitting with a child on the floor playing with their own toys makes them feel more relaxed so we can establish a rapport much more quickly. This means I can assess the situation more easily.’

Georgina White says, ‘We give parents a choice but, can also support the work of NHS Speech and language therapists.’ This is very important as 40,000 children start school each year without the necessary levels of spoken language (Wright, J., 2008); and a Government report in 2008 showed that this can be as high as 50% of children in some areas (Bercow, J.). But, there is so much that can be done to prevent this and to help when things go wrong.

It is these sorts of concerns and evidence that led Libby Hill to set up the Smart Talkers pre-school communication groups which are for all children to encourage confidence and the best communication possible. Libby Hill says, ‘We can give advice and support to parents of little ones who are not developing their speech and language as expected’. Georgina will be starting Smart Talkers pre-school communication groups soon in Derbyshire; she will also be offering training opportunities for parents and early years practitioners.

To find out more please visit www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk , and http://www.smarttalkers.org.uk/ for current pre-school communication groups; or please ring 0844 704 5888.