Last year we spent a huge amount of time going through the evidence base and finding the most effective programmes to support our families with children on the autism spectrum. The research shows that there is a change in mindset over the past few years and understanding autism is key to helping families. From this evidence search, the one that we found that is proven to make a significant difference for families is the Hanen More than Words programme. This programme is a prescriptive course and we are excited to promote our parent-child interaction programme (Hanen, More than Words) on Saturd ..read more

Hollie recently had a placement with us at C&D! She is studying Speech and Language Therapy at the University of Essex. The Essex Team loved having her with them! Here are some of Hollie’s favourite parts of the placement, as well as her tips for future students.    What have your days looked like on placement and who have you been working with in the C&D team? My days on placement have all been so different. My days have included working with speech sound difficulties, social interaction, play, turn taking and language difficulties. Throughout my placement, I worked with Cas ..read more

Did you know that reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income? Today is World Book Day and the mission of this day is to promote reading for pleasure in children and young people (read more here: About World Book Day). As Speech and Language Therapists, we are big fans of World Book day! Reading or listening to stories has a big impact on children’s vocabulary and narrative skills. It’s also a lovely way to spend time with young children as it offers some special ..read more

It has not been a typical week here at C&D! In light of the coronavirus situation, we have had to completely rethink our therapy structure. This is something very new and exciting for us, so we have all been learning to adapt, setting up our home offices and going digital! What are C&D doing? Our therapists have been working very hard this week to give parents and children multiple options for continuing therapy. We have sent out packs for children, consisting of individually tailored resources and activities to suit the needs and targets of the child. We then maintain contact with pa ..read more

Our final Toy Tuesday comes from Gail, who shares her ideas for using one of our favourite activities – bubbles! Everyone enjoys playing with bubbles and they’re great for motivation and building rapport in speech and language therapy sessions.  However, they can also be used as a therapy tool in their own right. Developing interaction skills: Watching for anticipation of more bubbles and waiting for eye contact before you blow more Taking turns – “my turn”, “your turn” to blow and to pop the bubbles. This is great practice for turn taking in conversation. Asking for help to remove ..read more

Alice, a first-year speech and language therapy student from the University of Essex, has just completed a placement with C&D therapist Natalie. Here, she shares some of her experiences, favourite moments and tips for future students. As this was a paired placement, Alice was working alongside a fellow student – stay tuned for Shannon’s blog later this week! Did you have any rewarding moments with a client? It was really rewarding to see one of our clients achieve an SVO (subject-verb-object sentence) target after just a few weeks of therapy with us. She has made such an effort to focus on ..read more

Although going back to school after the summer holidays can be really exciting, for some children and young people it can be a time of anxiety and apprehension. For children with Speech, Language and Communication needs, going back to school can be all the more daunting so here are some top tips to support your child as they settle back into school this month! Help them to understand their routine (Example of symbols for a visual timetable, taken from Twinkl) Where you can, try and establish a regular routine and, if needed, prepare a visual timetable for the child to refer back to. This wi ..read more

Today is a very special day… it’s Pancake Day! Pancake day is the perfect opportunity to get the whole family together to eat lots of yummy pancakes and practise some key words. Here are some ideas for you try at home…     1.  Give your child their own mixing bowl and model word such as ‘pour’, ‘mix’, ‘stir’, ‘whisk’, and ‘open’.    2.  Line all of the ingredients up in front of your child and ask them to help name them.     3. Give your child lots of simple instructions and then gradually make them a little bit harder if they are following correctly ..read more

Are you a Speech and Language Therapist looking to take on new responsibilities and challenges in your next role? Are you wondering what progression might look like in the private sector? One of our therapists in the South West, Sophie, started a new role this year as a Senior Speech and Language Therapist. In this blog, Sophie will be sharing what it’s been like starting this new role at C&D!   In your own words, can you summarise how your new role differs to your previous role? My new role now consists of more managerial duties which I am really enjoying as a new challenge. I am gl ..read more

     Entering the world of work as a Speech and Language Therapist for the first time can be daunting! However, with a friendly and supportive team it doesn’t need to be so scary! In this blog, one of our therapists in the South West Team, Molly, shares what it was like joining C&D when she was a Newly Qualified Practitioner (NQP). What did your caseload look like in your NQP year? I had a mixture of school-based contracts and private individual clients in my NQP year. In my NQP year I was looking for a varied caseload so that I could gather lots of experience early on in m ..read more