Frequently Asked Questions

What are your fees?

Hourly rate £70 per hour (2022).

If you are looking for several assessments or to commission a regular speech and language therapy service, a discount may be applied. Contact us to arrange a chat.

Commissioning a SLT service for your school/setting may appear complicated, but it’s easy if you take it step by step. It helps if you know what you are trying to achieve and who you are helping. Then we can talk through the options and practicalities with you. Take a look at this ‘one stop guide’ to commissioning SLT services, produced by ICAN. https://ican.org.uk/media/3238/schools_commissioning_guidance_update.pdf

Where do you offer your services?

We work with schools and nurseries in south Manchester and Stockport.

Are you professionally registered?

Yes. We are registered with the Health Care Professionals Council and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. This means that we have a professional responsibility to ensure high standards of care and continue to develop our clinical skills.

Rachael is also registered with the Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice and is a member of the North West ASLTIP group.

We have Medical Malpractice and Public Liability insurance through membership with Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. A certificate is available on request.

Sound Talk SLTs have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service certificate. We are happy to provide you with our DBS details in advance of working with you, so you can check our certificates online.

Some of our pupils are already on a waiting list for a speech and language therapy assessment with the NHS. Can they see you as well?

Yes. If you are unsure of timescales but need a pupil to be assessed as soon as possible, we can do this while they are on the NHS waiting list. However we’d recommend that you contact the local NHS SLT Team to inform them if the NHS assessment is no longer needed, to avoid the pupil having to be assessed twice.

Alternatively if the pupil is waiting for an assessment or therapy for speech sound difficulties or stammering, they can access Sound Talk SLT in the mean time without affecting their place on an NHS waiting list (this particularly applies if the pupil lives in Manchester). Once they have been seen by an NHS therapist, with parental consent we will liaise with them to ensure a joined-up approach.

How do we pay?

An invoice is provided to your school business manager or setting manager at the end of each month, for hours or days worked. Alternatively if you need a one-off assessment or number of assessments, we can provide an invoice on a monthly basis, or as each assessment is completed. You only pay for work that is completed. Payment is accepted by bank transfer. There is an administrative charge for payment by cheque.

What is the role of the Speech and Language Therapist in Educational Settings?

We work with children, families, teachers, early years practitioners and teaching assistants. First, we accurately identify speech language and communication difficulties. Then we develop personalised strategies to support a child’s individual needs. We support the team around the child to apply these strategies in real life situations, whether this is at home, nursery or school. This can make a massive difference to the child and have a significant positive impact on learning, behaviour and social and emotional wellbeing. We aim to remove communication barriers in the environment to make everyday communication more effective for the child. We also provide training to identify the signs of speech, language and communication needs and support pupils appropriately.

How do you work with bilingual children and families?

Bilingualism is the ability to understand and/or use two or more languages. This encompasses ‘multilingualism’, which is the knowledge and/or use of several languages.

You may be surprised that over 150 languages are spoken in the Greater Manchester area. Almost half of school pupils in Manchester have a home language other than English. Bilingualism has many advantages (cognitive, linguistic, cultural, economic, and social). Speaking more than one language does not cause or contribute to speech and language difficulties. It does not make children confused or delayed. From a global perspective bilingualism is considered the norm!

With support from schools/settings and trained interpreters, we meet with families to take a case history in the home language. In order to make an accurate diagnosis, we assess all the languages the child is exposed to. We do this through qualitative and informal assessment, often using play and pictures. We then feedback to families and provide verbal advice with support from an interpreter in home language. This is so that families fully understand how to help their child’s communication development at home. We always advise families to keep speaking home language/s, as this leads to best outcomes.

It’s worth noting that when working with bilingual children and families it can take at least double the amount of time to achieve the same positive outcomes as monolingual clients, and therefore deliver an equitable service. Please be aware that it is the responsibility of school to arrange and fund interpreters.

What are the outcomes?

We always want our work to lead to positive outcomes for the child, whether this is working directly with the child or indirectly through families and educational staff. We obtain a baseline measure for every child. This can then be measured again at a later date to establish outcomes.

Desired outcomes may include:

Mum & child with book