South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy’s Workshops – South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy

South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy offers a variety of workshops to meet your individual needs. Workshops can be can be delivered at a central location, your work place or home, or over video and are individualized to meet the specific needs of participants, whether it be an organization or a group of individuals attending.

If you would like more information about any of the workshops below, please contact South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy. If there is a topic you would like to know more about that is not listed below, please let us know, we are happy to create a tailor-made workshop to meet your needs.

Time to Wean!

Perfect for parents and caregivers looking for information about weaning as well as parent groups with babies about to start their journey with solid foods. Topics covered include:

Readiness for Weaning
What do I Need to Get Started?
Traditional vs Baby-Led Weaning
Store-Bought vs Homemade Foods
How (and when) to Drop Milk Feeds
Cup Drinking
Allergies
Weaning Safety

Learning to Love Food: Baby

Designed to support parents and caregivers with babies who have medical and/or developmental diagnoses that may make feeding challenging. This workshop is aimed at parents and caregivers of babies who are not yet weaning age and provides practical strategies that you can implement at home with your baby from birth to prepare them for weaning and support them to have a positive relationship with food. Topics covered include:

How do Babies Learn to Eat?
How (and Why) do some Babies Learn Not to Eat?
Developing the Muscles needed for Safe Feeding
Developing the Oral Motor Skills needed for Safe Feeding
Sensory Exploration
Taste / Flavour Training with Babies

Babies who will benefit from the information covered in our ‘Learning to Love Food: Baby’ workshop include:

Babies with Down Syndrome
Babies Born Premature
Babies with a history of Cardiac Problems
Babies with a history of Significant Reflux
Babies who find Milk Feeds Challenging
Babies with a history of Aspiration or Swallowing Problems
Babies with Sensory Issues
Babies who currently have, or in the past have had, a Nasogastric Tube (NGT) or Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG)

Adapted Time to Wean!

Designed to support parents and caregivers with babies who have medical and/or developmental diagnoses that may make weaning challenging. All topics covered in our standard ‘Time to Wean’ workshop will be covered in ‘Adapted Time to Wean!;’ however, the information will be tailored to specifically meet the needs of babies at risk of weaning challenges including swallowing and/or oral motor difficulties and feeding aversion. Although this is a standalone workshop, it is a perfect follow-up to ‘Learning to Love Food: Baby.’

Babies who will benefit from the information covered in our ‘Adapted Time to Wean!’ workshop include:

Babies with Down Syndrome
Babies Born Premature
Babies with a history of Cardiac Problems
Babies with a history of Significant Reflux
Babies who find Milk Feeds Challenging
Babies with a history of Aspiration or Swallowing Problems
Babies with Sensory Issues
Babies who currently have, or in the past have had, a Nasogastric Tube (NGT) or Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG)

Fussy Eaters: Ending the Mealtime Battle

Designed to support parents and caregivers with understanding and preventing fussy eating. Strategies to support children who are fussy eaters are discussed as a part of this workshop. Topics covered include:

What is Fussy Eating?
Why does Fussy Eating Occur?
How to Avoid Fussy Eating
How to Move Beyond Fussy Eating
Strategies for Your Mealtimes
Does My Child Need Help with Fussy Eating?

Learning to Love Food: Toddler

This workshop is designed to support parents and caregivers of toddlers who are fussy eaters. The ‘Learning to Love Food: Toddler’ workshop provides a brief introduction to fussy eating with a primary focus on strategies that you can implement in your home with your child. After specific strategies are introduced, time will be spent as a group discussing realistic ways you can implement these strategies in your home. Strategies discussed in this workshop are appropriate for children with an ARFID and/or PFD diagnosis, but we request that prior to enrolling, you please advise us if your child has a specific feeding diagnosis so we can deliver the most relevant information. Topics covered include:

What is Fussy Eating and Why does it Occur?
Setting Realistic Mealtime and Food Goals for Your Family
Strategies for Your Mealtimes
Carryover of Strategies to Nursery or Preschool
Group Discussion

When Mealtimes are Challenging at School

Designed to support parents and educators with understanding fussy eating and supporting fussy eaters in an education setting (nursery through secondary school). This workshop covers Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) and Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) and how to support children with these diagnoses with mealtimes at school. Topics covered include:

What is Fussy Eating?
Why does Fussy Eating Occur?
What are ARFID and PFD?
Mealtime Challenges Specific to a School Environment
School Dinner or Packed Lunch?
Strategies for School Mealtimes
When Should a Child be Referred for Feeding Therapy?

Time to Communicate!

This workshop is designed for parents and caregivers as well as nursery and education settings and provides an overview of communication development in children from infancy through the primary school years (specific language ages will be highlighted based on the interests of the workshop attendees). Key language milestones and strategies to support development will be discussed as well as practical tips for supporting your child’s communication. Topics covered include:

The Communication Pyramid
Receptive vs. Expressive Communication
Pragmatic Communication
Speech Sound Development
Fluency
Speech and Language Milestones by Age
Strategies to support Speech and Language Development at home and in a nursery / education setting
When Should I Contact a Professional?

Late Talkers (And How to Help)

Designed to support parents and caregivers who have concerns for their young child’s communication as well as nursery and early education settings who are looking for information to help identify and support late talkers in their setting. Key early communication milestones and strategies to support development will be discussed as well as practical tips for supporting your child’s communication. Topics covered include:

Early Language and Communication Milestones
What is (and How to Identify) Late Talking
Do Late Talkers Catch Up?
Strategies to support Communication Development at home and in a nursery / early education setting
When Should I Contact a Professional?

Ready For School… New School Year, New School Skills

Designed to support parents and educators in recognizing and fostering the language and communication skills children need for school success. Intended for nursery and primary school-aged children; this workshop can be adapted to cover secondary school. Topics covered include:

Key Language and Communication Milestones
Classroom vs Home Vocabulary
Social Language
Speech and Articulation
Supporting Communication in the Classroom
Ready for School Screening
When Should I Contact a Professional?

Supporting a Child with Autism in Your Classroom

Designed to give parents and educators the skills needed to support children with Autism in the school environment. Intended for nursery and primary school-aged children; this workshop can be adapted to cover secondary school. Topics covered include: