Online Speech & Language Therapy
for Children
Specialist Support for Selective Mutism
Worried about your child’s communication?
You’re in the right place.
Every child communicates differently, but these are some of the most common concerns parents come to me with. You may recognise one area clearly or your child may fit into more than one. That’s okay – an assessment helps us understand what is happening and what support would be most helpful.
Your child may:
- Use fewer words than others their age
- Find it difficult to put words together into sentences
- Struggle to explain what they want, need or how they feel
- Give short answers when you know they have more to say
- Avoid talking when finding the right words feels difficult
- Become frustrated when they can’t get their message across
Your child may:
- Be understood by close family, but not by other people
- Leave sounds out of words
- Replace one sound with another
- Say words differently each time
- Become upset when people ask them to repeat themselves
- Avoid talking because it feels too effortful to be understood
Your child may:
- Know what they mean but struggle to put it into words
- Use vague words like “thingy”, “that one” or “you know”
- Talk around an idea because they cannot find the exact word
- Give short answers or say “I don’t know” when they do know
- Talk a lot but still leave you unsure what they mean
- Struggle to explain events clearly or in the right order
- Become frustrated because they cannot get their thoughts across clearly
Your child may:
- Need instructions repeated several times
- Seem to “not listen” or appear distracted
- Misunderstand questions
- Struggle with longer sentences or explanations
- Rely on gestures, routines or watching others to know what to do
- Find it hard to follow conversations, especially in busy settings
Your child may:
- Seem unsure, quiet or withdrawn in class
- Try hard but still struggle to keep up
- Copy what others are doing instead of understanding the task
- Avoid tasks that involve listening, talking, reading or explaining
- Say “I don’t know” or “I don’t care” when work feels difficult
- Seem well behaved at school but become exhausted or upset afterwards
- Act silly, distract others or become the “class clown” to cover up difficulty
- Get told they are not listening, not trying or not concentrating
- Seem capable in some situations but overwhelmed in others
Your child may:
- Prefer to spend time alone or avoid joining in with others
- Prefer certain people who feel more predictable
- Find conversations or group situations difficult
- Misunderstand jokes, sarcasm or social rules
- Take language very literally
- Find it hard to read facial expressions, body language or tone of voice
- Become upset when interactions feel unpredictable
Your child may:
- Be overly trusting or very eager to please others
- Struggle to recognise when someone is being unkind or taking advantage
- Find it hard to tell the difference between joking, teasing and bullying
- Be easily influenced by peers
- Struggle to say no or set boundaries
- Misread other people’s intentions
- Find it difficult to explain what happened after a social problem
Your child may:
- Avoid speaking up in groups
- Let others answer for them
- Speak quietly or give very short answers
- Avoid asking for help when they do not understand
- Seem more confident at home than in school or unfamiliar settings
- Become anxious when attention is on them
Your child may:
- Speak freely at home but not in nursery, school or public places
- Speak to some people but not others
- Freeze or go silent when asked a question
- Avoid situations where they may be expected to speak
- Whisper, nod, point or use gestures instead of speaking
- Become anxious when attention is on them
- Find everyday situations difficult, such as saying hello, answering the register, shopping or speaking in front of others
Your child may:
- Repeat sounds, parts of words, whole words or phrases
- Get stuck when trying to say a word
- Stretch sounds out
- Show tension in their face or body when speaking
- Avoid certain words or speaking situations
- Seem more fluent some days than others
- Become upset, frustrated or self-conscious about talking
Your child may:
- Sound hoarse, husky, croaky, breathy or strained
- Lose their voice often
- Speak much louder or quieter than expected
- Have a voice that sounds unusually high or low
- Seem tired after talking
- Have a voice quality that has changed and not returned to normal
Your child may:
- Have speech that sounds unclear, slurred or effortful
- Find it difficult to control the movements needed for speech
- Struggle to express their thoughts clearly
- Need more time to process and respond
- Use alternative ways to communicate alongside speech
- Become frustrated because they understand more than they can say
This may include children with complex needs, cerebral palsy, brain injury, genetic syndromes or other medical or neurological needs.
Not sure where your child fits?
That’s completely okay. You do not need to know the reason before asking for help.
A speech and language assessment can help identify your child’s strengths, needs and the most appropriate next steps.
Already have a diagnosis or concern?
I also support children and young people with identified needs including Autism, Developmental Language Disorder, speech sound difficulties, delayed language development, Selective Mutism, stammering, voice difficulties, learning difficulties and communication needs linked to medical, neurological or developmental conditions.
Not sure whether your child needs speech and language support?
If you’re worried about your child’s talking, communication or confidence, I’ve written a short letter for you.