The Speech Grove Speech Therapy Service

20/11/2025

📣 Announcement! I'm honoured to have been asked to present an online webinar on ‘Making the Most of Natural Everyday Moments’ date: 2nd December. Full details below:
🔗 BOOKING LINK- https://buytickets.at/seedling/1946152

Delivered by Carolyn Webb - Senior Speech and Language Therapist, Parent Coach & Author
Early Intervention & Speech & Language Support

This session will provide parents and caregivers with four simple, evidence-based strategies that support early communication at home. Together we will explore how to follow your child’s lead, respond in ways that build confidence, model language naturally, and create short, repeatable games. These practical tools are easy to use in everyday routines and play, helping your child connect, interact, and communicate in meaningful ways.

Date: Tuesday 2nd of December
Time: 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Location: Online Via Zoom

Overview
This session aims to give parents and caregivers four practical strategies, grounded in evidence-based approaches, that can support early communication development within the home environment.

The presentation will highlight the key role of parent support, which research shows accounts for a significant proportion of communication progress in young children. With clear, structured strategies and when we understand why we use them, we can create more consistent and effective opportunities for communication growth.

The first strategy looks at what “following a child’s lead” really means in practice: tuning into what the child is attending to in the moment. Together, we will then explore how to respond in ways that affirm our children’s communicative attempts, building trust, confidence, and motivation to keep interacting. The third strategy focuses on how to model language effectively: providing short, natural phrases, sound effects, and comments that reflect the child’s perspective, with pauses to allow for processing time. Finally, we will see how to bring these strategies together in predictable, short repeatable games and routines, giving children the structure they need to understand language and the opportunities to use communication in meaningful ways.

By combining these four approaches, parents and caregivers will leave with practical tools that can be integrated into daily routines, play, and family life. The emphasis will be on strategies that are straightforward and quick to use, sustainable over time, and adaptable to each child’s unique communication profile.

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How to Book: Secure your place using the link below. Please be aware that spaces are limited, and new training dates are updated regularly. The information will also be available and accessible on the Children’s Natural Environment Assessment Practice Instagram page.

• BOOKING LINK- https://buytickets.at/seedling/1946152

15/09/2025

Registration 👉 http://bit.ly/47CxEFH 💜 Only 2 days to go!
Don't miss this opportunity and feel free to share if you know someone who could benefit from this FREE parent/caregiver webinar to support communication in respectful neurodivergent affirmative ways. (Aimed at ages 2-5.)

I can't tell you how many times I have worked with families where simple tweaks have started a cascade of events leading to improved connection, interaction and communication.

This is why I do this work - I KNOW that tiny adjustments make all the difference, especially early on.

On the one hand, parents are told to 'wait and see' but at the same time, they are told that 'early intervention is best'. The stress of waiting on lists to see a qualified professional, and the heartbreak when offered an assessment but then being told they have to go back on a waiting list for therapy.

You don't have to wait - you can get started now. These easy strategies - when consistently done in small doses - really can set your child on a path towards more communication. Sign up using the registration link.

I'm Carolyn, a Speech and Language Therapist of 30+ years and I specialize in supporting parents and their chidren with early intervention strategies.

Registration 👉 http://bit.ly/47CxEFH 💜

12/06/2025

Join the Reading Room to receive one of my colouring books (for free!) with language and communication strategies inside! Closes Friday - Don’t miss it! 📚
Link to join: https://www.thereadingroom.club/forreaders?

25/11/2024

Busy writing my 2nd (follow-on) Book... Enjoying the process!
📖🖋😃

28/07/2024

We are told to standardise our children. We compare and contrast, from the off. We buy books of expectations which tell us when they are meant to first smile (6 weeks) and roll (4 months). And when they don’t do it on time, we fret. We worry about what that might mean, and what we could do about it – can you compel a baby to smile? What if they are just feeling serious?

We’re told about the standards everywhere, the developmental milestones. Do they have a pincer grip yet? Are they showing an interest in letters? Can they button their coat themselves? Childhood becomes a long list of things they should be doing now – and therefore things they aren’t doing yet.

Is that handwriting good enough, for a 9-year-old? Should an 11-year-old be able to pack their own lunch? We compare, and as we do so, we panic and we rush. For no one wants their child to ‘fall behind’. No one wants their child to be the one who can’t do what the others do, and so we worry, and then we push. We try to get them ready for each new stage, and so we make them doing things before they see the need.

What’s lost in all of this is how different children are. We don’t hear enough stories of varied developmental trajectories. Of children who learn to talk late, and then just can’t stop talking. Or those who have no interest in letters at all, until they are ten and see that reading an instruction manual might be useful. We don’t hear about the children who only eat noodles and nuggets for the first twelve years of their life, and then widen their pallet to include pretty well everything. The ones who don’t join in, until suddenly they want to do it all.

We don’t tell enough stories about how children change in unexpected ways. We’re encouraged to think that child development is a straight road or flight of steps, when really it’s a meandering path. We think there’s only one way to adulthood, when in fact there are many.

Our task as the grown ups is to hold their options open for them, to give them the space to change when they are ready. Our job is to make sure they are allowed to travel their path. Not to lock them down to how they are now, not to hem them in with evaluations like ‘not good enough’ or ‘behind’. Not to compare them to others their age and find that they are wanting.

Our task is to show them that many ways can be the right way, and that we’re right alongside them as they find their own.

07/05/2024

💜Autism can look very different on the outside from person to person and be experienced very different from Autistic person to Autistic person. It can look like the girl on the left, the child on the right, a combination of the two - or even have little in common with these two profiles.

Autism is a constellation of characteristics with differences (not deficits, not weaknesses - but differences) in social communication and interests, routines, and sensory processing.

♾️ 🌈 Want to learn more about Autism? I have an Autism Handbook that helps professionals and caregivers develop a better understanding of Autism - from a positive standpoint- as well as answers all the questions! Comment Handbook and I’ll send you a link!

07/05/2024

04/05/2024

🎁🎉FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY!! 🎉🎁

If you're interested, send me a DIRECT MESSAGE for instructions!

'A Parent's Guide to Early Communication' will help you to help your young child if they are not using many words yet, or if you are waiting to access Early Intervention services. Jump-start your child's language towards words and phrases, with 7 easy strategies you can do at home.

23/04/2024

We are delighted to be hosting from the US, Elizabeth Bonker, Executive Director of Communication 4 All who will share her journey with non speaking Autism and answer questions typing live. This is a wonderful opportunity for the autistic community and those supporting or working with them to learn how to support them in their learning journey. This is a free event and extremely worthwhile. Be sure to put it in your diary. Please click on the link below to register your interest as places will be limited.

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/teach-your-non-speakinglimited-speech-child-to-type-workshop-tickets-885410174667

Western PeopleMidwest Radio Western Care Association Mayo News Sport The Connaught Telegraph Mayo.ie Mayo County Library Mayo Public Participation Network - PPN Asiam.ie Castlebar Autism Friendly Town Mayo Sports Partnership Westport Family and Community Resource Centre Balla Community Centre fans Ger Deere - Mayo County Councillor Castlebar Municipal - Fine Gael Rose Conway-Walsh Cllr Donna Sheridan Donna Hyland Mayo Autism Camp North Mayo Group Balla Secondary School Davitt College North Mayo Heritage Centre Ros Na Réaltóg Ballyhaunis Family Resource Centre St. Attracta's NS, Charlestown Visitbelmullet.ieClaremorris Family Resource Centre Castlebar Primary School Love Castlebar RPM North West Ireland Get Autism Active Communication 4 ALL