Specialist Assessments
I provide a range of specialist assessments, including:
EHCP assessments
Autism diagnostic assessments
Specialist technique assessments
Further information on these specialist assessments is detailed below.
EHCP assessments
Some children have complex speech, language and communication difficulties which affect their academic progression, friendships, behaviour and confidence. You’re going to need expert advice.
A detailed assessment may be recommended if I need to carry out a thorough, ‘leave no stone unturned’ investigation. This can last between 2-3 hours and may take place over 2 sessions. Further sessions, such as a home or school/nursery visit may also be recommended. This will always be discussed and agreed with you beforehand. Following the assessment, I’ll complete a detailed analysis of any formal assessments, language samples and observations carried out at the assessment session. I will discuss my findings with you and will complete a detailed report of my evaluation and recommendations.
Autism diagnostic assessments
Are you wondering if your child has Autism? If you are, then you will need to have a diagnostic assessment.
The ADOS -2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule – version 2) is one of the few standardised ‘gold standard’ Autism assessments and in the U.K. is recognised by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as one of the key diagnostic assessment tools. Some people think that the ADOS is the test for Autism that you either pass or fail. It isn’t. The ADOS is only one part of the whole assessment process. There are other pieces of critical information that are needed to make a judgement as to whether a person meets the criteria for Autism or not. These include background information such as family history, medical information, speech, language and communication, general learning abilities and observations in social situations. It’s recommended that this information is collected from several professionals including Clinical Psychologists, Speech and language therapists, medical practitioners as appropriate such as paediatricians or psychiatrists to build a holistic picture of the person over time in terms of how they react and respond in different circumstances.
I work with different excellent Health Professional partners in delivering Autism diagnostic assessments.
If you would like to contact them directly, please do:
If you’re in the Leeds/West Yorkshire area
Northern Clinical Psychology Service
Dr Adele Parker
info@ncps-uk.com
If you’re in the York area
Ebor Psychology
Fiona Lattimer
fionalattimer@eborpsychology.co.uk
Robert Caswell
robertcaswell@eborpsychology.co.uk
If you are interested in finding out more about the ADOS, take a look at my blog in my ‘Getting to Grips with SLT’ series.
Specialist technique assessments
Some children have very particular problems that need particular solutions. In my 35+ years I have learned and developed wide-ranging specific techniques and skills to create individual solutions to individual problems.
TalkTools
TalkTools can be beneficial for people of all ages and abilities. It is especially helpful for people who find it challenging to access more traditional approaches focusing on speech.
‘TalkTools’ or ‘Oral Placement Therapy is a therapy approach devised by an American Speech and Language Therapist called Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson. It combines auditory, visual and tactile (touch) stimulation to support the development of speech. It can also be used to support early feeding development, as this and speech development go hand in hand.
Over the years I have had huge success using TalkTools alongside traditional therapy approaches to support children and young people who have:
Dyspraxia
Dysarthria
Cerebral Palsy
Down’s Syndrome
Developmental delay
Hearing Impairment
Complex needs
Phonology delay and disorder
Autism Spectrum Condition
This is not an exhaustive list, if your child has a diagnosis or needs which are not listed above, please feel free to get in touch to discuss whether TalkTools may be helpful.
If you would like to know if TalkTools is suitable for you or your child, please give me call.
Want to know more about TalkTools? Check out my blog in my Getting to Grips with SLT series.
PROMPT
PROMPT stands for PROMPTs for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets.
It’s an approach which uses tactile (touch) and auditory stimuli to support speech development, with the therapist using their hands on the client’s face to guide their jaw, lips, and tongue to help them produce speech accurately.
Over the years, I have used PROMPT successfully to support children with complex communication difficulties such as:
Dyspraxia
Dysarthria
Developmental delay
Hearing Impairment
Cerebral Palsy
Down’s Syndrome
Complex needs
Phonology delay and disorder
Autism Spectrum Condition
If you would like to know if PROMPT is suitable for your child, please give me call.
Want to know more about PROMPT? Check out my blog in my Getting to Grips with SLT series.
Autism Therapy
The good news is that with the right therapy at the right time, children can make progress.
I can help:
Thoroughly and accurately assess your child’s communication
Devise the most effective, personalised intervention plan for your child
Make therapy fun and engaging
Work with families and teaching staff to provide practice programmes to support children with achieving their individual goals
Provide coaching and support to parents and teaching staff to support children with ASD
I include specialist therapy approaches such as:
TEACCH
Visual communication approaches – PECS, PODD
Social Communication Intervention Programme (SCIP)
Hanen
Parent-Child Interaction
Intensive Interaction
Using visual supports
Do you have a child with Autism and are completely confused about what is the best therapy approach? You have come to the right place. For the last 30 years I have specialised in treating children with Autism and am trained in and have experience of a wide range of Autism-specific interventions.
The complexity of ASD and its underlying causes is still being researched. This means that we don’t have a ‘one size fits all’ therapy. There are many interventions available, some have more evidence behind them than others and some will be more effective than others.
My therapy programmes are unique to your child and use a blended, holistic approach using a SCERTS (Social Communication, Emotional Regulation and Transactional Support) model to evaluate and measure progress.
I draw on evidence-based techniques as used in Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) and social interactive programmes such as ‘Intensive Interaction’, ‘Lego Therapy’ and ‘Social Thinking’ as well as incorporating ideas from other disciplines such as sensory integration to get the best outcomes for your child.
At The Talking House, you can be assured that you will receive the most up to date, research-based therapy for your child.
Want to know more about some of these techniques and approaches? Take a look at my blog.