Frequently Asked Questions

Dear Jacqui, my child may have an auditory processing disorder. Please can you explain about this and how we can have this assessed? […]

Dear Jacqui, My child is 7 years old and has difficulty in social situations. He does not get on with other children as his siblings do. His communication skills are poor. Please could you give us some advice on how to help him? […]

Dear Jacqui, Please could you advise on how to help a student in Key Stage 3 with poor attention and listening skills, and weak vocabulary? […]

Dear Jacqui, My child is now 12 years old. He had ear infections and both his ear drums burst when he was 5 years old. He had some speech and language therapy until he was 9 years old and is currently having his ear drums repaired. He says he is struggling to understand words, and do his homework which is frustrating and upsetting him. Can you help, please? […]

Dear Jacqui, Please could you advise me how to manage the emotional roller coaster of dealing with my primary school child’s autistic spectrum difficulties? […]

Dear Jacqui, I am so glad that I brought my 7 year old to see you with his speech sound disorder as he wasn’t making the expected progress and you also found that he has a Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Please could you assist us further in giving advice to teachers on managing the SLI in the classroom? […]

Dear Jacqui, My son is nearly 4 years old and can’t say certain sounds in words e.g. ‘k’ and ‘g’. He has just started saying ‘s’ at the beginning of words but it disappears again in conversations. Please could you tell me more? […]

Dear Jacqui, My child is in Year 4 and is very slow with reading and writing. He has had ear infections and delayed speech and language. He has problems with his balance and co-ordination as well.  He is no longer motivated to learn, and is anxious and withdrawn. We are worried about how he will cope in Middle school. What do you suggest? […]

Dear Jacqui, Please could you advise me what auditory processing difficulties from prolonged glue ear may look like in my child? […]

Dear Jacqui, I am a teacher and have read your article on Sensory Processing. Please could you tell me more about sensory circuits for children? […]

Dear Jacqui, My daughter is a bright 2.6 year old but has difficulties talking and naming things. Her speech is hard to understand. Other girls her age are talking fluently. Will she outgrow it? […]

Dear Jacqui, My child is in Reception and has difficulties with speech, language, learning and memory. He is also clumsy, has poor pencil grip, is a fussy eater and poor sleeper. He is lovely but can be difficult. Please advise? […]

Dear Jacqui, My son is 3 years old and has difficulties speaking clearly or saying many words. Is this normal, and will he outgrow it? […]

Dear Jacqui, My child is now at Upper school. I have concerns about him because he lacks confidence, and finds it hard to get his thoughts down on paper. I think this will hold him back but school aren’t concerned because he is getting C and D grades. He had a lot of ear infections when he was young, and some early speech and language therapy in the NHS but was discharged. Can anything be done to help my son? […]

Dear Jacqui, We are having a difficult time. My daughter in Year 4 has just been diagnosed with traits of Asperger’s and dyspraxia. We think she also has dyslexia as she is struggling with reading and writing. She is very unhappy at school and is sometimes bullied. She can let out a lot of her frustrations at home. We are concerned about the future, and her education. […]

Dear Jacqui, My son is in Year 7 and has specific language impairment (SLI), dyslexia and dyspraxia, with visual processing difficulties; I suspect sensory and auditory processing difficulties (APD) as well. He was assessed by an Educational Psychologist in Year 5. He has a history of chronic glue ear, from 12 weeks until grommets were fitted at 8 months. He is bright and does okay at school, uses learned strategies and has an excellent attitude. Is there any advice you can offer re: Occupational therapy (OT) support and your thoughts re the auditory processing? I think the mumbled speech remains an issue, and the fine motor co-ordination in practical subjects; he gets tired easily. […]

Dear Jacqui, My daughter is 2 ½ years old and says about 10 words, which are not clear. She learns new words very slowly but she is pointing to make herself understood. She is agile physically. I am wondering if her speech will catch-up to her peers? Sometimes I am not sure if she is hearing me or just ignoring me? […]

Dear Jacqui, My child’s Lower school and then Middle school have been telling us not to worry about our son. However, he is just completing Year 9 at Upper school and there are issues around the time he takes to write an essay, and his spelling and grammar. He can read but doesn’t. He is better at Maths but English and all other Humanities are being affected. The Upper school can’t assess this nor do they have much knowledge about it. They feel that it should be addressed in the Lower and Middle schools. Is it too late for our son? Can you do any training to schools to inform them about specific learning difficulties? […]