Annette McLaren,
Independent Speech and Language Therapist
What others have said...
We went to Annette for support for our then 2 year old who had very limited speech and very rigid play. Since having 2 blocks of therapy including nursery/home visits he has come on leaps and bounds due to Annette's hard work and being able to show myself as a parent the best way to help my child. We very much appreciate her help and advice.
A's mum, Perthshire
I strongly recommend Annette if your child is struggling to find their voice. When my son J didn't hit his milestones we reached out to Annette. Best decision I've made so far in getting him the support he needs. She started J with PECS and we had parent coaching sessions to give us the tools we need to work with J at home. In the space of a few short months my just turned 2 year old has progressed through phase 1 and 2 and we are nearly nailing phase 3 of PECS. I feel Annette genuinely cares about his progress and celebrates his gains with us, she has a really natural way with him and he took to her instantly.
J's mum, Dundee
We all want what is best for our children and when our little boy started showing delays in his speech development during lockdown and we were at a loss as to how we could help him. LA assistance during this time was non-existent and we signed up Annette to initially help us to understand what we can do to help our boy who was also showing signs of ASD. Although Annette could not meet with our boy due to restrictions, she provided us as parents great support and assistance during this time suggesting a number of different techniques to try. Once lockdown restrictions eased, Annette was able to meet our boy at his nursery where she not only worked with him on PECS but also helped train us as parents and also the nursery staff to ensure we are delivering the S&L support consistently. Our little boy’s communication has improved so much, and we are feeling so positive about his future thanks to the progress he is making with Annette. Annette has been worth every penny and we cannot thank her enough for her help and guidance.
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B's mum Swindon
Annette has been very helpful: thanks to her support, in just 2 months our son has improved a lot in his communication skills. She is also always nice and our son is looking forward to seeing her again!
A's dad, Chippenham
Annette has been working with my son for a number of weeks now, focusing on particular areas of concern. She has worked alongside the school and his NHS S&L Therapist and liaised with all the members of his support team. Annette has been brilliant, starting to unlock the potential in him that we know is in there!
H's Mother, Crudwell
I can't thank Annette enough for how she's helped my boy find his voice. Since introducing PECS L's speech has improved immensely and hopefully this will carry on. Lovely person and very easy to talk to as she loves to see your child succeed as much as you.
L's mother, South Cerney
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We initially found and reached out to Annette for help when our son was 2 years old, it had been brought to our attention that he was delayed developmentally in several areas mainly communication. He was initially assessed by a SLT on the NHS however due to waiting timescales for regular therapy we decided to go private as we had learnt that early intervention is key. When A started with Annette he wasn’t saying any words and had no form of communication which we all found extremely difficult.
A. would become extremely agitated and frustrated when he was trying to communicate his wants/needs but couldn’t. Annette has now given A. 2 ways to communicate, via PECS & Makaton. That has only been possible with Annette’s consistent, patient and imaginative therapy methods that have allowed A’s attention to be held for long enough that he was able to start to learn other forms of communication other than just speech. In the time he has worked with Annette he has even started to try and pronounce words when communicating.
I would highly recommend that if anyone’s child is showing signs of communication difficulties then get in touch with Annette. She is a warm, friendly but very professional lady who has the parent’s & child’s best intentions at heart and does whatever she can to work with the parents and child to break down barriers when it comes to communication. Our only regret is not contacting her sooner.
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A's parents, Inchture, Perth
My Autistic son has a language disorder, he has social communication and interaction difficulties with rigid and repetitive thinking. We have received direct 1:1 therapy and indirect support for us as parents and school. The therapy input has been fortnightly however when we first started out we had weekly and twice weekly input which was required at the time. Annette has supported my son and us as a family for almost 4 years now.
My son has made progress we only ever dreamed he would make. At the beginning of our speech journey with Annette, my son was non-verbal and had no method to communicate and his behaviours are challenging. M. found his voice and has make incredible progress. We are now developing his verbal and social communication skills. His behaviours have improved and his frustration over using words has decreased. Annette has been the only consistent and honest professional on our journey from the beginning (age 2.5 now 6) The most valuable bit about the service is not only her care and compassion for the child who she works with, adapts too and really understands but the support we have received as a family. It has been invaluable. As time has gone on and M’s therapy needs have changed, and therapy now takes place in school I have less to do with the direct therapy sessions, but Annette still guides me and mentors me indirectly. We work well together and have agreed outcomes for M.
Annette is a highly skilled and adaptable SALT, and she really understands the child’s needs, she is definitely someone you can trust, be open and honest with and really work together as a family towards common goals.
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M's mum Swindon
Annette has been working with our son for just over a year. He quickly built up a good relationship with her and really looks forward to her visits and what she might bring in her bag! Annette has been a great support to us, both in terms of offering advice and suggestions in relation to our son's language development and also in terms of providing resources and activities that have engaged him and really helped to develop his language skills and ability to structure sentences. We are very grateful for all Annette's help and support.
O's mum and dad, Purton
We decided to get in contact with Annette as we felt G was struggling with his speech and language. We were amazed with the amount of passion and care Annette put into each and every session with G. Very quickly we saw a huge improvement. G can now say some simple sentences which was such as struggle before. We would like to thank Annette for everything she's done for G and us as a family.
G's parents, Lyneham
Annette is extremely professional, knowledgeable and more importantly devoted to helping our daughter, E to reach her potential. Annette has liaised with the school and myself really well in this time and ensured the tasks ( E's programme ) is achievable and allows growth.
E loves going to see Annette and she quickly created this trust and bond between them.
E's mother, Luckington
We originally noticed our daughter's speech regression just before lockdown and whilst she was referred for help on the NHS it was going to be many months before we could practically do anything. We were feeling increasingly lost about how to help her re-engage with the world. We contacted Annette and she offered us a block of parent coaching sessions over Zoom.
Immediately Annette set us at ease and alleviated the panic by explaining some of the difficulties she could witness in L's communication and giving us (and nursery) strategies we could immediately implement to help her improve. Her speech is slowly progressing but her engagement, playfulness, understanding and gesturing is markedly improved already. We can't wait to see further improvements in the coming months!
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L's mum, Swindon
Due to Covid 19 my son wasn’t able to attend speech and language therapy but kindly we were offered a zoom session with Annette McLaren. I was a bit sceptical to start with as I couldn’t imagine how my son is going to connect with some stranger over video conversations. Annette proved herself to be an amazing therapist. Very professional, interesting , engaging sessions have helped my son so much that even the nursery said it is a different child ! My son is looking forward to our time with Miss Annette and he is eager to spend time talking and playing with her . Without any doubt I would recommend Annette McLaren.
O's mum Tetbury
