Generally, you should follow your gut instinct and contact a Speech and Language Therapist if you have any concerns about your child’s speech, language or communication skills. In most cases, the Speech and Language Therapist will have a brief conversation with you on the phone and can then recommend a potential course of action.
At Kids First, we offer an initial consultation of 30 – 45 minutes for parents who are not sure whether their child should come for an assessment. This consultation is a chance to speak with one of our Speech and Language Therapists who will give you unbiased and impartial advice on what she recommends you should do next.
An Occupational Therapist will support all children with fine motor, hand eye co-ordination, feeding and sensory integration difficulties. If you are concerned about your child posture, hand writing.
Yes, please discuss this with our Practice Administrator or with your therapist. We do charge for travel to and from home/school (£12) to cover the therapist’s time but otherwise, we can see your child in the most appropriate environment for their needs. Should we need to go in to school, your therapist will liaise with your school SENCO to arrange a convenient time.
Of course, our specially designed Sensory Integration space cannot be moved to your home or school. In cases where your child requires Sensory Integration but you cannot get to us at Kids First, your OT will bring as much equipment as possible to home or school but she will aim to use whatever you have accessible.
Your therapist will not give immediate feedback after the assessment as she will need to analyse the results and consider her recommendations. You will (unless otherwise agreed), receive a detailed report with a summary and recommendations for next steps. If therapy is recommended, you do not have to attend therapy at Kids First – you are welcome to find another therapist closer to home or select one of your choosing from the website www.helpwithtalking.co.uk
We request that parents take part in at least some of the therapy sessions so that you can use the strategies and techniques at home. We believe in up-skilling you – the parents or carers – so that you can infuse therapy into your daily lives. This will really help to speed up progress and allow your child to reach their goals as quickly as possible.
This will depend on the assessment results and the recommendations of the therapist (as well as your budget and schedule). In most cases we recommend at attending on a weekly basis. Your therapist will agree targets with you and will work towards these over the course of 6-12 weeks. Many of our clients are ongoing but ideally we aim to get your child to achieve their goals and discharge them from our service to go and achieve their potential.
Yes we do. If your child has an EHCP, it your child’s right to access therapy as outlined in the EHC plan. We work through a number of Local Authorities to meet the needs of children. In this case, please contact your LA and put them in touch with Kids First. We will take it from there.
Yes we do offer training to schools. This is a great way for your child’s school to understand his/her needs in class and to support your child to achieve their potential. We guarantee that your child will not be the only one with similar needs so by offering training to schools, we can support lots of children at the same time. Please ask your therapist about training and she will contact school to set this up. Alternatively, your school can contact us directly and we can discuss a training programme directly with them (to benefit all children).
Please download our brochure with costs here. We know everyone is on a tight budget so please discuss costs with your therapistsand work out a schedule of support that best meets your childs’ needs and your budget.
How do I get in touch to book an appointment or ask more questions?
You can contact us any time on the Kids First email address or call our Centre on 0208 4070746. The phones are manned 3-4 hours per day but we will call you back as soon as we receive your message.