Children's Speech and Language Service - Livewell Southwest

Learning to communicate with others is one of the most important skills we develop. Unfortunately, it is common for some children to experience difficulties with speech, language, and communication as they mature.

If you have concerns about your child's speech, language, and communication, we are happy to hear from you.

We have an open help system, which means that anyone living in Plymouth can phone us and request support.  When you call, we will ask you to leave your name and contact number, and a therapist will call you back to discuss your concerns with you.

During this call, we will ask you for information about your child's development, how they communicate, and what their difficulties are.  We will be able to give you advice and ideas to try at home with your child if needed.

We work with children within the i-Thrive model.  This means that we provide support to children and families, even if they are not on our caseloads, through free training for parents, pre-schools, and schools, as well as access to signposting, advice, and resources through our Request for Help call system. 

Following the Request for Help, some children will be placed on our waiting list to be seen for an assessment.  Assessment takes place in clinics across the city, in pre-schools, or in schools.  We are also able to visit children's centres or your own home.  Assessment will determine whether your child needs support from us, either through advice, modelling, and training for parents and settings or through direct work with the child themselves.  Therapy sessions might be arranged in pre-school, in school, or at home, and virtual appointments will be offered when appropriate.

Speech and language therapists work with children through play and engaging activities that are designed to target specific areas of communication.  You will be encouraged to participate in intervention sessions if therapy is recommended and will be provided with ideas, activities, and resources to help you continue to support your child at home or in school / preschool.

The service helps children who have difficulty with:

• Talking clearly
• Expressing themselves
• Social communication
• Understanding what is said to them
• Talking fluently / stammering
• Voice quality
• Feeding / swallowing

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