LET'S TALK. Gill Pote's Speech and Language Therapy Room

07/12/2025

MY MESSAGE TO:

Dyslexia, Specific Learning Disorders of Language and Literacy, Dysgraphia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, PDA, DLD, Apraxia, Phonological Processing Disorders, Slow Processing, Poor Working Memory, ADD, ADHD… and many more.

You are ever-present in my therapy room. You form part of the makeup of the children I am privileged to sit with and support. You are woven into the fabric of who they are. You often bring heartache, confusion, misunderstanding, bullying, tears, frustration self doubt and pain.
Yet you also bring a paradox—different minds, creative thinkers, and young people who show us that the world can be processed in extraordinary, beautiful ways. Colours are felt differently. Sounds land differently. Touch becomes unique. Introspection becomes powerful.

To the children who embody all of this and more:
I am honoured to honour you.
To learn from you.
To seek.
To question.
To change.
To discard what no longer serves.
To grow.
To evolve.

I have had the privilege of witnessing moments that move the soul:
• First reciprocal interactions
• First words spoken or read
• First accurate processing and responding
• Writing that carries meaning
• Capital letters and full stops checked with pride
• Moments of focus, connection and courage
• a smile, replacing a tear

My gratitude is immense.
My fight for understanding, inclusion and change, unwavering.

I know I will meet you all again, year after year—intricately woven into the DNA of the incredible children who walk through my door.

And each time, I will endeavour to discover, unravel, and help bring about change that truly changes lives.

From My Room 🩷🎄🩷

29/11/2025

29/11/2025

Keeping head above water.
Just.😁🩵
What a busy time it is....In My Room.
Countdown to year end.

🎄🎄🎄

16/11/2025

My sentiments exactly. Eloquently expressed. Thank you 🩵

Recently, a professional wrote that presuming competence is dangerous because it leads us to overlook vulnerability. That by presuming competence, we fail to protect, fail to offer help, fail to teach and assume people already know skills they have not yet learned. The professional’s stance confuses competence with current performance and support with correction or training.

This is not presuming competence. This is neglect.

Presuming competence is not an instructional strategy nor a belief about skill level. Presuming competence doesn’t mean assuming the person already has every skill but not demanding of someone to prove their right to access before we are willing to help them learn.

To presume competence is to recognise that a person’s understanding, agency, emotional depth and capacity for meaning-making exist regardless of whether they can demonstrate those things in neuronormative ways.
We do not treat a person as less intelligent because they communicate, learn or express differently.
We should assume cognitive presence, even when expression is delayed, non-linear or happens through non-speech communication.
We must provide access, support, scaffolding and alternative communication methods without requiring someone to prove they deserve them.

Presuming competence is an ethical stance that does not reduce someone to what is observable, nor treat one's humanity as being contingent on performance.

Moreso, vulnerability and competence are not opposites... A person can be deeply vulnerable and competent at the same time. Presuming competence allows us to support that vulnerability with dignity, instead of controlling it through fear of what might happen if we get it wrong.

Bottom line is that we don’t presume finished ability. We presume capacity, presence and potential and we support the person in accessing and expressing it.

16/11/2025

There truly is an epidemic of reading failure that DEMANDS acknowledgement and teaching action!

There is too, an epidemic of language skills failure that DEMANDS acknowledgement and action.

How are our learners ever going to master crucial language/literacy skills that a successful life demands?

As a profession of Language Therapists, we cannot address this fall out alone.

15/11/2025

Did we need evidence?
Well here it is.

If you ever needed (more) evidence about the enormous advantages bestowed by reading to your kids…

14/11/2025

I couldn't agree more!!

" Learning only happens when a child feels safe enough to stay"

If we supported safety like we chase attendance, fewer kids would break. 💔

Because attendance isn’t the measure of success — safety is. When a child is scared, burnt out, or emotionally flooded, forcing them back into school doesn’t rebuild trust. It reinforces trauma.

So many families are living this reality right now — navigating threats of fines, letters, and pressure — while their children are silently falling apart.

If we want attendance to improve, we need to start with safety. And that means understanding why a child can’t attend, not punishing them for it.

Safety first. Always.

Because learning only happens when a child feels safe enough to stay.

If you're currently in this position there is help available.

Drop the word RESOURCE below for my free EBSA & school avoidance guides — with information to help you advocate for your child’s needs and next steps, as well as what to do if you're being threatened with fines.

14/11/2025

HAPPY SPEECH THERAPIST DAY MY DEAR COLLEAGUES🙏🩵