This blog post comes thanks to a Parent who asked me a question on Twitter. Thank you for all your questions, it helps me to understand what you need from me. In this case, the child was using a low-tech AAC system, but being considered for transition to a high-tech system. The Parent wanted...

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You may notice that all the blogs I am writing this month are loosely arranged around a theme of "do your best, don't beat yourself up". This is because this pretty much summarises how I encourage families to think about their child's Speech Therapy. I truly believe that beating yourself up is...

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It is traditional at the beginning of the year to either set a big audacious goal, or to shrug and say you won't be bothering (has anyone noticed that the world seems to have got together and decided to have a 'word of the year' instead of resolutions, when did that happen? Was there a...

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I have been ill all over Christmas. One of those bugs that deceives you into thinking it is going and then just moves to a slightly different part of your head and throat. I am usually pretty good at being ill- I am a big believer in resting and hydrating and letting your body do what it needs...

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In the UK, it's the week where the John Lewis Christmas advert comes out. This is something of a pre-Christmas tradition these days, and the ads have a reputation for being heart-warming. In this year's ad, Edgar the excitable dragon tries hard to join in with the same things that everyone else...

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I am an NHS Speech and Language Therapist, and run my business on the side at the moment. When you work in the NHS, you don’t really need to worry about ‘finding your market’, because we all know that there is way too much work for our NHS Speech Therapists to do! It’s a bit different when you...

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I'm squeaking in at the end of feeding tube awareness week with a post for anyone who has ever wondered why children would have feeding tubes. My special area of interest is in working with children and families who are tube-dependent (in fact, I'm hoping I will get to do research in this area...

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It can be confusing working out whether your baby is at the right age for weaning. Should you go by corrected age, or uncorrected? What if your baby has developmental delays, or additional medical needs? The short answer to 'when do I wean my baby', is 'when they are ready'. In many ways,...

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It can be confusing working out the best way to introduce solid foods to your premature baby. There is a lot of advice available, from Professionals and friends and family ,but the truth is that the research isn’t yet definitive. This means that advice can be dififcult to apply to your...

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One of the skills that babies need to develop is their suck-swallow-breathe co-ordination. This skill is something that develops with maturity, and not practise, which is one reason why we have to chosoe our starting point for oral feeding very carefully. Sometimes at the beginning of oral...

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