Independent speech & language therapy service for children and adults across East Kent.

**Who** am I?

My name is Caroline and I am the founder of The Willow Tree Speech and Language Therapy Service. I am a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist and have experience working with a wide range of clients and speech, language and communication difficulties. I am a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and Health Care Professions council. I am also registered as an independent therapist with the Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice (ASLTIP).

About

**What** do I do?

I provide specialist support to people with speech, language and communication difficulties, tailored to their individual needs.
I have experience working with people of all ages; from early years to adults with specific needs.

I support people with a range of needs, difficulties and diagnoses, including:

Attention and listening difficulties
Speech difficulties
Difficulty understanding language
Difficulty using language
Difficulty using grammar and sentence structure
Difficulty recalling spoken information
Language delay or disorder
Fluency difficulties (stammering)
Social communication difficulties
Autism
Learning disabilities
Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) users

My Process

1 - Initial Consultation

First, an initial phone consultation will be offered to discuss your concerns and the needs of the child/family member free of charge. We will chat about what you are looking for, discuss your expectations and some of the key issues your family member is facing in relation to their speech, language and communication skills. If appropriate, I will offer an assessment session and discuss further support with you. If the individual does not require my support but needs to be referred to another service, I will be happy to support you with this.
2 - Assessment

An initial assessment is carried out to gather an understanding of the individual’s speech, language and/or communication needs. For children, assessment will take place at home or at the child’s school or nursery/childcare placement. For young people and adults, assessment can be conducted at home, college or day centre. The assessment typically lasts 60-90 minutes and involves information gathering and direct contact with the therapist.
3 - Support Report

Following an assessment, I will provide a report outlining the client’s strengths and areas development. The report is described as a ‘Support Report’ as it is designed to support the child and their families.
The Support Report:
Provides advice and strategies to support client/child at home
Provides advice to school or nursery staff outlining ways to support the client in an educational setting
Identifies individual goals/targets for the client (as required)
Includes individualised resources to print and use at home/school (as required).
Gives recommendations for therapy or further input required from other professionals
4 - Next Steps

I no longer deliver ongoing therapy sessions or blocks of therapy for the majority of clients. There are a number of reasons for the change in my practice (please get in touch if you’d like to know more!). Primarily, though, it is in my experience that the wonderful parents and carers I work with are the best therapists for their child - with the right support - and ultimately, they are the ones who lead to the best speech, language and communication outcomes for their child.
This might sound daunting for parents who are concerned about their child and have no idea how to help them… but I am here to support YOU to support them. With that in mind, our journey together does not have to end following assessment and the Support Report!
Here are some of the ways I can continue to “indirectly” support you and your child post-assessment:
Check-in emails and regular email contact with parents (included in the package)
Telephone calls to parents (included in the package)
Developing and sourcing appropriate resources (see prices)
Liaison with teachers, carers or other practitioners (see prices)
Review visits including follow-up assessment, observations and goal monitoring (see prices)
Parent training - face-to-face or Zoom (see prices)
Individualised indirect support tailored to the child and family needs

Prices

Other Services

I provide bespoke speech and language therapy packages for schools and other educational settings. I can support you in a number of ways, including carrying out assessments, providing direct support for children with identified needs, providing communication programmes, ensuring that your service is ‘communication friendly’, providing training sessions for staff and parents, and much more.
I curate bespoke speech and language therapy packages for care providers (e.g., residential homes, day centres, etc) who support specific client groups including people with learning disabilities, people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), people with autism and AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) users. I can support you in a number of ways, including providing direct support for any service users with identified communication needs, supporting service users to find the communication system appropriate for their needs, providing advice and strategies to support the communication of service users in your setting, ensuring that your service is ‘communication friendly’, and much more.
I provide specialist training sessions for individual or groups of parents, carers and school/residential care staff. Training can be conducted in person or online, as required. I deliver training in a range of areas including:
Identifying and supporting speech, language and communication needs
Individual specific training sessions related to a client’s individual needs
Supporting TAs/LSAs/carers to deliver speech and language therapy programmes
Supporting parents to support their child’s speech, language and communication skills at home
Neurodiversity and Communication
Specific communication strategies/approaches (e.g., use of AAC, social stories, Makaton signing, etc.)
I may also be able to offer other training packages. Please contact me directly to discuss your training options.

**Where** do I work?

Assessment is carried out at your home, school or care setting across East Kent. For suitable clients, assessment can be provided via online platforms.

Why choose The Willow Tree?

Honesty & Transparency

I understand that for parents and families of those with speech, language and communication needs, you will do whatever it takes to support your loved one to develop their skills and reach their full potential. With this in mind, I will always be open and honest about the support needed and the support they will really benefit from. This means that:

o A client will only be seen if they require, and can truly benefit from, the support I can provide.

o A client will only be seen for the amount of time they need and are making progress.

o A client will only be seen if their needs are within my skill set.

Holistic & Person-Centred

I understand that everyone is an individual, with their own strengths, difficulties, likes, dislikes, wants and needs. With this in mind, I adopt a person-centered approach which ensures that all services, interventions and resources are tailored to the individual with their well-being in mind. Intervention will always be functional and meaningful to the individual. AND I love to make our sessions fun and exciting to keep people of all ages motivated and engaged in the process!

Teamwork & Cooperation

Parents and carers know their loved ones the best and as such YOU are the best therapist and teacher for them. With this in mind, I like to work closely with families and can provide strategies, advice and training packages to enable you to support your loved one to develop their skills outside of speech and language therapy sessions. I also understand the importance of working with other professionals including, teachers, learning support staff, care staff and other health care professionals. I’m also very happy to liaise with NHS speech and language therapists working with the client to ensure consistency.