Language Therapy

Therapy for children and young people with speech and language difficulties and for adults who have had strokes.

Language Therapy is based in Sheffield and provides services in Bradford, Leeds, Derby and all areas between.
We are dedicated to providing high quality, effective and fun help for everyone to develop their understanding, spoken and written language skills.
Language Therapy provides:

Comprehensive Assessments of Speech and Language
Speech and language therapy for individuals and groups
Specialist assessments and therapy for Children with Down Syndrome
Specialist assessments and therapy for children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Computer based language training

Services are provided at your home, your place of work, college or school or at our offices at The Portergate on Ecclesall Road, Sheffield.
Language Therapy is managed by Mary Hampton, a speech and language therapist and dyslexia tutor who has over twenty five years experience. Mary has been the Chair of the Association for Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice ASLTIP and has represented private speech therapists on the council of the Royal College of Speech and language Therapists

Speech and Language Difficulties

Speech and Language Therapy

The Speech Therapists at Language Therapy provide Speech and Language Therapy for children and young people who have speech difficulties, Down Syndrome, Autism, or Cerebral Palsy
We also provide Speech and Language Therapy for adults who have suffered strokes and for adults with learning difficulties.
We work with people and their families / carers on an individual basis. All treatment is tailored to individual needs. We are able to provide paper based resources and recommend other equipment. On occasions it is possible to loan games etc which are used in the therapy programmes

Referral

Clients can be referred for speech and language therapy by their relatives or by schools / colleges in conjunction with parents, and therapy can be carried out at any convenient location including home, school / college or nursery.
Therapy
Individual assessments are provided followed by regular therapy on a weekly or more frequent basis, with support for parents and workers in the child’s school or nursery. Parents and support workers are encouraged to observe and participate in the therapy sessions, and are expected to continue specific exercises outside of the therapy times.
Written assessments can be provided and Individual Education Plans can be drawn up in conjunction with the child’s teachers.

Therapy approaches used include:
The Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme,
The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS),
Fast ForWord computer packages
PROMPT a tactile approach to developing sounds
TalkTools oral motor programme
In addition Language Therapy Ltd encourages the use of signing and symbol systems to support language development such as Makaton, Paget Gorman Signed Speech, and Cued Articulation

Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Autistic Spectrum Disorder is a label which covers a spectrum of difficulties in socialization, communication and behavior. As the name "spectrum disorder" suggests, Autistic Spectrum Disorder applies to a number of conditions that share some characteristics such as Autism, Asperger Syndrome and Pragmatic Language Impairment or Semantic Pragmatic disorder.
Difficulties in communication are seen as one of the essential diagnostic features of Autistic Spectrum Disorders and often it is the delay or atypical path of language acquisition that is the most visible for parents and the first sign that their child has a difficulty.
The communication / language problems in Autistic Spectrum Disorder vary significantly from one individual to another. Some maybe unable to speak, whereas others may have extensive vocabularies and maybe very articulate about topics of special interests whilst they have great difficulty in social conversations. Most people with Autistic spectrum Disorders manifest problems in both verbal and non verbal communication.
Children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders have the following communication characteristics. (Used in ICD -10: WHO 1992 and DSM-IV: APA 1994 based on the triad of impairment)
Delay in or total lack of the development of spoken language, not accompanied by attempt to compensate through alternative modes of communication, due to lack of appreciation of social use of language.
Lack of understanding that language is a tool for communication.
Lack of reciprocity in conversational interchange: for example the inability to initiate or maintain a conversation with others. May be able to ask for their own needs but have great difficulty in talking about / understanding emotions, feelings, thoughts and beliefs of their own and other people.
Idiosyncratic language (echolalia, literal use of language etc).
Lack of use and understanding of gesture, miming, facial expression, vocal intonation, etc. as tools of conveying information impairment in make believe or social imitative play.
Inadequate emotional reaction to verbal and non verbal approaches by others.
Research has shown however that it is often not the lack of communicative intent (the desire to communicate) but rather a limited ability to use verbal or non verbal communication for a range of different purposes, and often the use of unconventional means of communication (their own means of communication and language we do not share) that is different for people with Autism and Aspergers Syndrome.

Mary Hampton has completed the specialist speech and language therapy course run by the Down's Syndrome Association and works with The Downs Syndrome Training and Support Service in Bradford and Down's Syndrome Derby as well as a number of individual children, .
The Speech Therapists at Language Therapy have trained to use TalkTools therapy to address oro motor difficulties in children who are experiencing speech motor difficulties. In addition, Mary Hampton has completed the level 1 and level 2 course as well as being trained in the use of TalkTools to address feeding problems.
"Children who have Down's Syndrome face complicated challenges in mastering and using speech language and communication skills. With the right opportunities and support they can develop communication skills that help them to make relationships and socialise, communicate wishes needs and aspirations and use language effectively as a tool in all sorts of situations. It is vital that pupils with Down's Syndrome and the staff who support them have access to specialist input from speech and language therapists throughout their school careers"
Taken from the Down's Syndrome Association leaflet speech and language therapy provision for school aged children who have Down's Syndrome.
The needs of children with Down's Syndrome tend to be different to the needs of other children with learning difficulties, because of their hearing and speech motor difficulties.
People with Down's Syndrome require direct teaching of specific aspects of language and communication skills as well as good language models and general language stimulation to support language learning.
Greatest gains in language are usually made when intervention is started early, however people who have Down's syndrome can benefit from speech and language therapy throughout life.
"speech and language therapy should continue for all teenagers. . . as for the primary age group" Sue Buckley and Patricia Le Provost.
Mary Hampton has completed the specialist speech and language therapy course run by the Down's Syndrome Association and works with a number of individual children, The Downs Syndrome Training and Support Service in Bradford and Down's Syndrome Derby .
Language Therapy Ltd therapists have trained to use TalkTools therapy to address oro motor difficulties in children who are experiencing speech motor difficulties. In addition, Mary Hampton has completed the level 1 and level 2 course as well as being trained in the use of TalkTools to address feeding problems.

Dyslexia

Language Therapy Ltd provides assessments and tutoring to children who are struggling to develop their literacy skills
Assessments
Children’s reading and spelling levels are assessed, in terms of their ability to read single words, and connected prose, together with their understanding of what they have read. Children’s spelling of irregular and regular words is assessed together with their ability to produce a connected piece of writing, depending on their developmental level.
In addition to examining children’s ability to read and write, underlying skills such as the children’s ability to break words down into their sounds and to recombine sounds, is assessed as well as their rhyming and alliteration skills –These skills combine to become known as: Phonological Skills.
Many children diagnosed with Dyslexia have difficulty recalling words they want to use in their speech and writing –this is termed: Word Finding Difficulties, and many children have a weak memory for things they have heard - Auditory Memory Difficulties.
Children with literacy problems often have speech and language difficulties, such as delayed speech and language development, persisting articulation problems and grammatical difficulties. These difficulties will inhibit and disrupt their emerging literacy skills and therefore it is important to identify them and provide opportunities to enhance these skills.
Language therapy Ltd provides a comprehensive assessment that examines all these areas and is particularly experienced in providing tutoring to address the skills underlying a child’s literacy difficulties.
Literacy packages used include
The Dyslexia Institute Literacy Programme,
The Phonological awareness programme,
Cued Articulation with colour coding
Sound Linkage
Fast ForWord computer programmes
Tutoring is provided at a convenient location which may be the childrens' school or home.

Mary Hampton

Mary Hampton manages Language Therapy Ltd. She qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 1985 and worked for the NHS and education services before setting up her independent practice in 1995. She formed Language Therapy Ltd in 2002 when she moved from Kent to Derbyshire.
Mary has extensive experience in working with language disordered children in mainstream and unit provision, and she completed an Masters degree in 1996, when her research focused on children with written language difficulties. In 1998 Mary was awarded a post graduate diploma from the dyslexia institute. She trained at International House, London to teach English as a second Language in 1988. Mary is a registered with the Health Professions Council as a Speech and Language Therapist, and is a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, as well as a member of the Dyslexia Institute. Mary has been a member of The Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice, (ASLTIP) holding several positions within the organisation, she is currently the Chairperson of the association.
She has a particular interest in Language Disorder, Dyspraxia, Autism, Dyslexia and Down's Syndrome.