Beyond The Therapy Box

13/01/2026

I don’t think we consider this enough anymore. …

What do you think ?

Don’t people realize how it possibly affects young infants when what they CAN do is not appreciated but what they CANNOT do is expected? What a sad and confusing experience it must be to grow up never living up to your parents’ expectations. And how frustrating it must be for parents not to be able to enjoy what their child is actually doing. It seems to me everybody is losing.”
- Magda Ge**er

10/01/2026

Yes you want to build a snowman ! 🙌🏻

Building a snowman is such a WONDERFUL example of how Speech and Language development can be supported through SIMPLE, FUN and meaningful PLAY.

While it supports early language skills, it also helps older children develop higher-level skills such as storytelling,
collaborative communication
verbal reasoning,
planning,
negotiation,
perspective-taking,
reflective language…
the list goes on !

If this kind of play-based communication support is something you’d love to explore more , I share ND affirming, low pressure , play based speech, language & communication ideas via my email list. You’re welcome to join me there…

Just c.omment SNOW or m.sg me and I’ll send you over a l.ink !

08/01/2026

One of the hardest parts of stepping away from schooly models of learning & development is trusting what you can’t see.

We’ve been conditioned to think that “learning” and “education” needs to look a particular way …

But you’d be surprised how much children are learning when they’re “doing nothing”

👉🏻 Learning doesn’t always “announce” itself.

Or look anything like it does in a school.

Especially if your child is neurodivergent

Often it grows quietly,

It’s always rooted in the need to feel safe

and in play & curiosity.

It’s the same for child led speech and language therapy

It can look very different to what parents expect

But they’re “just playing” or they “don’t want to do anything I try”

To be child led we need to let go of what we think a child “should” be doing and learn to trust their innate drive to thrive .

All children have this - no matter their “ability”

Or their lack of interest in “educational” activities.

Worried that your child isn’t “doing enough” ?

Ask questions, share your fears 🙈
You’ll find you’re not the only one,

I’ll do my best to ease your doubts.

Follow along for more relationship led support 🌱

06/01/2026

This is literacy.

Literacy development doesn’t have to look anything like school.

How many literacy skills can you spot?
👇 Comment with what you notice
or
💬 ask for the detail behind any slide

04/01/2026

I’ve spent a lot of time recently supporting parents of children who struggle in traditional learning environments.

A common worry I hear is:
“What if the local authority doesn’t recognise what my child is doing as literacy?”

Here’s what I want parents (and LAs) to know:
📚 Literacy does not only develop through books, worksheets or formal teaching.
Especially for neurodivergent children, and autonomous learners .
Literacy instead grows through play, connection, meaningful activities and lived experience.

Children may be developing their literacy skills when they are:
• Negotiating roles & telling stories in play
• Watching subtitles on YouTube
• Dictating stories, messages or game plans
• Engaging deeply with interests (Minecraft, maps, animals, recipes, scripts)
• Using voice notes, symbols, memes, lists, signs
Reading menus, instructions & playing games ,
• Telling, retelling, questioning, persuading
And so many more ways ….

It doesn’t have to look like an essay , a lesson or a traditional piece of writing to be valuable. It doesn’t have to be measured against school standards to be progress. In fact you can’t truly compare a home educated child’s progress to any other child , especially those in schools. There is no “standardisation” in home education. That is it’s very beautiful essence 💕

As an unschooling Speech & Language Therapist, my work is guided by my ROOT values :
That is 👇🏻
🌱 Relationship-led
👀 Observing & tuning in
🏡 Offering opportunities in daily life
🧰 Tools & resources that serve the child’s not the adults agenda .

Research consistently shows that language and literacy develop best when children feel safe, connected and intrinsically motivated , not pressured to perform or meet someone eises goals.

More on how this looks in real life (and how to evidence it clearly) coming soon !
Including practical guides & research for parents navigating LA conversations.

You’re not doing it wrong.

You’re doing it differently.

If you’re home educating what ways has your child developed their literacy skills that looks nothing like school ?

02/01/2026

10 things to leave behind in 2025, from
an unschooly neuroaffirming Speech & Language Therapist - for parents raising children outside the education “system”

Unlearning matters.

So many of us were taught ideas about learning & development, language & literacy that don’t actually serve our children .

It’s time to leave these behind in 2025, in 2026 let’s choose connection & joy not coercion & pressure 🤍

👉 Save this if it resonated
👉 Follow for unschooly, neuro-affirming SALT support
🙏 Tag or share with a parent who might need to see this ..

26/12/2025

Seeing the person, listening to the person , wanting them to feel safe and meeting their needs 👌🏼
This is a powerful example of the importance of being relationship led with people of all ages … 👇🏻

I was visiting a short-term assessment unit for people with intellectual disabilities, one of those places where “short term” often quietly becomes permanent.

It was late afternoon, dinner was coming, and he was pacing the room, hands moving fast. I overheard a staff member say he was “escalating.” I saw two others standing close to him, discussing his restraint procedure. I feared the worst.

But one member of staff stood to one side, close enough to be present, far enough not to crowd him. She told the other two staff to go to another part of the home.

Moments later, he stopped pacing and looked at that staff member. “Too loud,” he said. Just two words. Not aggressive. Just honest. She asked him what would help. He pointed to the back door. They went outside, and I followed. The air was cooler. His shoulders dropped. His hands slowed. The crisis everyone was preparing for quietly dissolved.

After he wandered back in, she told me she had learned something important from him over time. When his hands moved like that, he was trying to tell you something. She had learned this by paying attention, by being with him, by letting him lead through his own warning signs.

I said how relieved I was and said, “You handled that well.”
“I didn’t handle anything,” she said. “He did. He told me what he needed.”

She said she believed him, which made me think not everyone did.

It’s too easy to forget that the person in front of us has been living in their body far longer than we have been supporting it.

The real experts on a person’s life are the people themselves.
..

ID: Image shows two staff restraining someone on the floor. Text reads: He wasn't escalating. He was communicating.

25/12/2025

Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄⭐️
Make the most of it! Sharing magical joyfilled moments together = how children bloom ❤️

23/12/2025

We don’t do compliance-based goals here 🎄for anyone - neurotypical or neurodivergent.

If you’re wanting to work with me you need to know that I don’t do compliance based therapy goals for any child.

The naughty or nice list might work for Santa but not here .

These “behaviours” might go on a traditional “Naughty” list 👇🏻
❌ Didn’t follow the instructions
❌ Said no
❌ Can’t sit still

And lead to compliance based therapy goals.

But if you look at them through a relationship led , strength based lens the child actually 👇🏻
✅ Advocated
✅ Communicated a boundary
✅ Regulated their body

These are important strengths to build upon - not things to see as “naughty” or fixed .

What behaviours do you think might be traditionally seen as “naughty” but really might be sending you an important message about your child ?