Children's Speech and Language Therapy
Contact us
Ashford team
Telephone: 01233 651927
Location: The Rainbow Centre, Great Chart Road, A28 Bypass, Ashford, TN23 4ER
Folkestone team
Telephone: 01303 854461
Location: The Beacon, Park Farm Road, Folkestone, CT19 5DN
Dover team
Telephone: 01304 222521
Location: Children’s Assessment Unit, Buckland Hospital, Coombe Valley Road, Dover, CT17 0HD
What we do
Our children's speech and language therapy service assess and support children with conditions that affect speech and communication skills.
We see children aged 0-19 in a community setting. This could be at our clinic, in your home or your child's school.
We help children with:
language and communication needs
speech sound difficulties or verbal Dyspraxia
Developmental Language Disorder
dysfluency (stammer/stutter)
selective communicators/reluctant talkers
voice disorders
feeding difficulties
complex needs, such as Downs Syndrome, Fragile X, global developmental delay
Autism
cleft lip and/or palate
hearing impairments
We also offer a walk-in speech and language service (Talking Walk-ins) for pre-school children.
We work closely with other services, such as physiotherapy and the Specialist Teaching and Learning Service, to achieve the best outcomes for your child.
Where to find us
Our service is mainly provided within community settings such as:
schools
family hubs
in our own clinics
Rainbow Centre, Ashford
The Children’s Assessment Unit at Buckland Hospital
The Beacon, Folkestone
For speech and language therapy in schools, the link therapist will attend the school and work with the Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCo).
Please note children and young people with a Canterbury, Faversham or Thanet GP need to refer to Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust.
How to use this service
You do not need to use the referral portal for children with Speech and Language Communication Needs.
Pre-school children can attend the walk-in speech and language service (Talking Walk-ins).
Support for school age children is accessed via school link therapy meetings and your SENCo. We use the Balanced Systems© approach, and every school has a link Speech and Language Therapist. If you have concerns about your child’s speech, language and/or communication skills, please speak to your school SENCo as a first step. They can then speak to their link Speech and Language Therapist.