Children’s first words usually begin to develop between 8- 12 months and they begin combining words together by 24 months, with full sentences present by 3 years. Sometimes this is late starting, and your child may need a little extra input in order to help them catch up. Our team will help caregivers to develop the skills they need to support their child’s Language Development.

Speech and language disorders are complex long-term difficulties. We offer the full assessment and the ongoing support children will need to develop their skills. The team will also provide functional strategies to lessen the impact of the difficulties.

Selective Mutism is a commonly misunderstood phobia of talking. Children and young adults are unable to talk in certain situations or with certain people. Our team can work with your child and the adults in their life to help them to understand what is happening and to reduce the impact on their functioning.

This service is led by fully qualified and highly experienced dysphagia (swallowing problems) therapists. They offer full dysphagia assessment, advice, management and training, and sensory feeding. We can also offer joint sessions with an SOS-trained OT.

At TCT our speech and language therapy team are trained in and registered to deliver the Meaningful Speech Natural Language Acquisition therapeutic approach for supporting gestalt language learners. Gestalt language learners access language learning in chunks or phrases rather than in single words (as analytical language learners do). Sessions are child led and play based and support the child and their family to decode language for gestalt learners so that they can begin to build new language with added variety.

Sometimes children can be unclear when they first start to talk, they may have lots to say, but people who are not familiar can find it difficult to follow. This is normal when beginning to use words, but your child should become clearer as they practice their words. If clarity is not improving as they approach 30 months, then we can provide the extra help they need.

Sometimes children and young adults have difficulty with the social interaction elements of communication. At TCT we provide support for non-verbal communication, non-verbal language difficulties and more. Plus training and advice for families and educators in this specialist area.

Our SLT team has specialist training for working with stammering.  They will support individuals, and also tailor support for families and educators to provide a joined-up service that meets the needs of the child/young person.

Our Alternative and Augmentative Communication services include comprehensive assessment of AAC needs, help for overcoming barriers, assistance to set-up low and high tech communication systems and signposting to access support for AAC needs.

We provide a range of additional  SLT services as outlined in the flyer here. These include assessment and reporting for EHCP, therapy for Autism and Down Syndrome, and our SLT therapists can support your child as part of TCT's diagnostic teams.