Where it all began
In my ‘day job’ as a Speech and Language Therapist, I spend a lot of time working with SENCos, Teaching Assistants and Learning Support Assistants.
Their skills, knowledge and experience vary and there are always requests for ideas or resources to help them help the children that they are working with.
Resources and ideas
I tend to send out a lot of picture resources and activity ideas with the reports and programmes I write but I have noticed that this is not the case for every child who sees a Speech and Language Therapist and not all children have even been seen by a SaLT.
Some TAs have not known where to start looking or which strategies to use, others have grown bored of the pictures and games that they have been using for ages.
Some children need to move onto slightly more challenging games and others need a little more variety to keep them motivated.
Many of the SENCos I have worked with are keen to upskill themselves and some of the staff they work with on areas of SLCN so that they can best support the children in their schools, but courses can be expensive or time consuming or not even exist in the first place.
I know that I can help.
I have a lot of experience and creativity that I just don’t need to keep all to myself. There are tons of tips, strategies and ideas that I’d love to share so that children with speech, language and communication needs can be helped to reach their potential and overcome barriers to their learning.
I'm looking forward to helping you help your SLCN children.
Beth xx
An important note: if you have any concerns about the speech, language or communication skills of a child you work with, your concerns should be discussed with their parents and the child should be referred to your local Speech and Language Therapy service (whether NHS or Independent).