"I never felt judged just supported and that makes such a difference."

My child was referred for SALT last year after his pre-school had noticed that his language had not developed as it should, and he also had difficulty in expressing himself with others and this caused him distress on occasions.

We received an Appointment for an initial session in August, which I was pleased about, as it meant we would be getting the support he needed, but also apprehensive, as I wasn't sure how he would react - new situations can be distressing for him.

However, once we arrived and met Julie Spencer (the SALT assigned to our child) and she introduced herself and most importantly gave him the chance to have a look at the surroundings and play with the toys whilst we chatted, he relaxed and interacted with Julie looking at his book with her. This made the first visit a very positive one for us all.

We were allocated a block of 6 sessions in a small group with 2 other children and we had to leave the room to allow Julie and Azra to work and observe the children. Seperation from me can be hard at times for my son but he separated well and as the weeks went by he looked forward to his sessions and formed friendships with the other children.

Full credit to both Julie and Azra for making him feel so secure and comfortable.

All the children greeted each other with big smiles and waited outside to go in they were that keen to start the session.

I did have one week where he had a bit of a meltdown and didn't want to go in, in a waiting room full of patients looking at you and offering no help, just unhelpful comments I admit it was a tough time for me. However, Julie came over to us and managed to get him in the room for the session (with me sitting in a corner as reassurance for him), without her intervention I honestly think I would have admitted defeat and gone home. I never felt judged just supported and that makes such a difference.

The sessions after this went ahead without any problems :O)

I cannot fault the support and help we received, it has made such a difference to his speech his has become a chatterbox and this has helped in others areas, such as making friends etc.

I would only fault the waiting room, as this is a busy clinic with various other services on offer, it wasn't exactly child friendly and perhaps other users could understand that it is such an achievement to get your child feeling secure about attending and that for them to play and interact with the other children is such a positive thing - surely that is better than having them upset, we were there for a medical reason and had not mistaken it for a play centre and hurtful comments do not help when you are doing your best for your child. Some patients did say they enjoyed seeing the children happy and playing.