Children's speech and language development is a dynamic process that begins in infancy and progresses rapidly in the early years of life. By their first birthday, most infants begin to babble and use a few simple words. By two, a child's vocabulary typically expands to around 50 words, and they start combining them into two-word phrases like "want milk." As they approach their third and fourth birthdays, their sentences become longer and more complex, and their articulation becomes clearer. They start to use plurals, pronouns, and verb tenses correctly. However, development can vary, and some children may need extra support to reach these milestones. Early intervention is crucial for those who may be experiencing delays.

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How we can support within therapy

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We currently offer our 'Under 4s' package with our Specialist, VERVE trained therapist, Becca. This involves a hands-on approach of empowering parents to learn the skills and strategies involved in developing their child's speech and language skills. These sessions include evidence-based strategies to help families to build strong language foundations in their everyday play and communication, guided by a specialist. Our families within this package benefit from:

- 1:1 coaching of communication support strategies

- Advice and leaflets within the session to allow parents to practice strategies at home

- Access to our online support videos to refer back to at any time

- 6 flexible sessions of therapy that can be taken within a  3 month period to suit your families needs

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VERVE focuses on supporting children in  developing their :  

• Self-regulation  - Remaining calm and focused and having confidence in having a go.

• Face watching- to monitor others, initiate, manage communication and synchronise ideas and feedback.

• Attention – remaining with one activity both on their own and with others

• Listening – following requests one to one and in a group context

• Exploration and experimentation with a variety of equipment and tasks within play and across the curriculum.

• Resilience in seeing activities through to completion.

• Communicative intent - Interest and confidence in Interacting and communicating with adults and peers.

• Understanding of what is being said to and requested of them (individually and within a group context).

• Use of language in terms of vocabulary, sentence structures and engagement in dialogue and conversation.

• Underlying phonological development for speech and literacy.

• Rate of learning.

• Peer interaction, social confidence and group participation.

• Learning self identity -  believing in their own abilities 

• Mental well being.