So pleased we discovered Kate (Biss) two years ago -  we could understand our son and knew he was a bright boy but in a school environment his lack of speech was really impacting on his learning, social confidence and self esteem

following the unexpected resignation of our NHS therapist when Shaun was 7 (he had been under the care of Speech Therapy since 2 1/2 yrs old ) and little chance of a new one being employed due to our geographical location we searched around and discovered Kate Biss and we arranged for an initial assessment of our child

and wow! The first meeting with Kate was fantastic- Kate played with land rovers and toys on her lounge floor and within half an hour had engaged with Shaun and he was happily playing and talking with her  - we had never seen him verbally engage with someone So quickly

Over the next few weeks Kate carried out a series of comprehensive assessments and Shaun was diagnosed with speech sound production difficulties with specific literacy needs attached - phonics, phonemes, rhyming words taught in P1 and P2 meant little to Shaun as he couldn’t pronounce the sounds

Having a diagnosis was a mighty relief - at last we were given a light at the end of a dark tunnel

The past two years have been a steep learning curve for us as parents but Kate has been fantastic in educating us and school - every weekly session one of us, Shaun's parents, sits in on the Skype or clinic session but when I say clinic it is a fabulous wooden heated fun Armadillo (like a wigwam) in Kate’s garden. Kate produces a clear session plan with goals set out , we receive a session report and homework - the homework is clearly explained and at first is daunting but over time makes sense. Kate, with our permission shares her session reports with Shaun's school and support for learning - essential in helping everyone to support E’s speech needs and progress

and WOW! Two years later, we are thrilled with  the transformation in Shaun, he is one sound away from producing all his sounds - with each new sound perfected (and it takes time, sometimes feels like your child won’t get there but click and he does) his confidence rockets and we have a happy, growing in confident Shaun, who is able to express himself clearly through speech and has even set himself a target of saying one word in this years Christmas play

Kate has always been happy to answer our questions, lift our spirits when we have struggled, liaised with school via emails and attended meetings when we have asked and has been fantastic at making her teaching techniques relevant to a biker mad, 4x4 crazy boy.

Having the option of clinic or Skype sessions has been great - a round trip of 110 miles each week would have been too much and helps keep costs down.  But we see the financial investment we have made in Shaun’s speech as essential in giving him the best chance in life - to be able to speak freely and clearly has been amazing for him

We would happily recommend Kate Biss to children and adults who require Speech and Language support”