What Parents Have Said About Say and Play

***Our GP gave us 'Say and Play's details when our two year old's speech was causing some concern. He had been born very prematurely and was generally doing very well but did have a few issues. The health visitor suggested we explored his speech further when she did his two year check and he wasn't saying many words.

At this stage I looked at Say and Play's website and found some very useful ideas for me to use at home.

Subsequently I got in touch with Say and Play again. They were able to use the assessment we already had and our child then began small group sessions once a week. I was very impressed with the content and how the children are managed. He took a few weeks to settle but now loves going. He then started school but continues to come and is withdrawn for Say and Play one afternoon per week. He also receives NHS therapy and the communication between the two is excellent. He benefits from both and we are extremely happy.

He has made slow but steady progress. At 5 years old he is now able to say all his individual sounds and is working on blends. He has grown in confidence too. I can understand him most of the time and others now find him a lot more intelligible. We are very glad to have found Say and Play. The other benefit is that I feel as a parent I have been greatly supported and it has given me the chance to meet other parents facing similar issues. All in all, a great find!

***Our child has been coming to Edenside Clinic for 2 terms now. He has greatly benefited from his 2 ¼ hours a week of speech and language therapy.

He is taught in a small group with one speech and language therapist and one assistant. He is very happy to go to the session. The lessons are very well planned and the feedback after each session is very useful. The homework at home is a great way of extending what he has been learning. The staff are always available and helpful with any queries.

We can see how much our son's speech and language has improved and that all his needs are well cared for.

***We attended Say and Play with our four-year-old boy who was unable to sing a simple song, recite a nursery rhyme or even say his sister’s name. Most pitiful were his attempts to sing songs and his failure to manage to get his tongue around even a single line of words.

His knowledge of language was found by Say and Play assessments to be at the level of a child of nearly eight years old yet he was unable to express his thoughts and feelings adequately which led to a lot of tantrums and frustration for him. His rudimentary speech held him back in imaginary play and even from communicating effectively with his own parents.

We are delighted with his progress in just four months. It is as though his brain has been ‘turned on’ to language. He is now five and at last beginning to really enjoy language as I remember his very eloquent sister doing at the age of three or four. Best of all for us is that he sings songs all the time and is able to share all his wonderful ideas and questions that arise in his clever brain. The world seems to be opening up to him and we feel very grateful to have received the right help. We would fully recommend Say and Play assessment and therapy to anyone with concerns about their child’s linguistic development.

***Patrick is now 6 years old and has been coming to Edenside Clinic for 3 years. The improvement in his speech and language is marvellous - most people now do not realise he has difficulties whereas when he first came he couldn't string 3 words together. A year later his teacher could only understand about half of what he said to her. Nowadays we have times when it can be difficult to understand him but on the whole he is very understandable.

We felt incredibly frustrated by the lack of facilities, support and help provided by the NHS and were relieved that Say and Play were able to provide the help that Patrick needed.

For us one of the key things Say and Play has done is to give us as parents the confidence to set firm boundaries. This is almost as important as the actual speech and language therapy itself.

When we first started I couldn't go anywhere with Patrick unless I had a very tight grip on his hand. The use of "Good walking/sitting/listening" etc was revolutionary in both Patrick and our lives. Therapists at Say and Play have experience of dealing with the behaviour of challenging children and they were extremely helpful to us.

They were also able to visit Patrick's schools to provide assistance and tips to teachers in how to help him with his communication and deal with his challenging behaviour. They actually understand what is going on inside his head and could explain to us why he was behaving in such a way. We find that understanding Patrick is half the battle.

A major breakthrough in dealing with Patrick has been the administering of Ritalin. The effect of his speech and language therapy sessions has had a much greater impact now that he can concentrate.

Patrick loves coming to Say and Play - the therapists go out of their way to make the sessions fun whilst getting the learning points across. One of the most important things they do is to educate us the parents to help our children – after all we have to deal with them the rest of the week!