FAQs

Communication skills are related to the way we listen and understand, the way we use speech and language to send a message and the way we make and maintain friendships with other children. Some children can find communication challenging and Mable speech and language therapists can help. We provide assessment and therapy to children with communication needs. We also offer expert advice to teaching staff to help them support students across all areas of the curriculum.

If you have concerns about a student's speech clarity, their ability to learn new words at the same rate as other children or their social interaction skills, then they may need support. If you're not sure simply get in touch. You can speak with a qualified speech and language therapist straight away and they'll be able to advise you,

Mable therapists are able to provide intervention for a variety of presenting issues. For example, Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Hearing Impairment (HI), social communication needs, communication difficulties associated with mental health, speech sound delay and disorder and literacy difficulties. If you're not sure, the best thing to do is call and speak to one of our therapists. Unfortunately,  we're unable to deliver direct intervention with children who have a profound visual impairment or those with profound and multiple learning needs.

Yes, within our network we have experienced therapists working with all age groups. Specialist skills are necessary to engage and support this age group which is why we only hire experienced therapists who have an excellent understanding of teenagers and the secondary curriculum.

You’ll start by completing a brief referral form. This is so we can ensure the student is matched with the best therapist for their needs. In the consultation session, the therapist will take a case history to gather some background information and will then advise if the student needs an assessment or can go straight ahead with therapy. The assessment session is usually 45-50 minutes long and will assess the student across a variety of areas, based on what the concerns are. You’ll then receive a full report within seven days.

Usually we recommend an assessment as the therapist needs to get a baseline of the student's needs. The assessment can also be useful as it provides strategies to support the student in class. In some cases, we don’t need a full assessment, for example if the student has one from within the last six months which the therapist feels contains enough information. There are also some instances where the only concern is a mild speech production difficulty, so a full assessment isn’t required. The therapist will advise you if an assessment is needed in the initial consultation session.

Mable online assessments are Dynamic. Dynamic assessment (DA) is a method of conducting a language assessment which seeks to identify the skills that an individual child possesses as well as their learning potential. The DA procedure emphasises the learning process and accounts for the amount of support and structure of the therapist.

Yes, the Mable Speech and Language screener investigates all areas of speech and language development. Specialist subsets can be administered for children and young people with specific needs and the results of these can be reported for use in EHCP assessment.

Following an assessment, we will send you a draft provision map with an estimate of sessions required in order to meet initial targets. However, until we know more about your student’ difficulties;  their learning style and their speed of progression it is difficult to say how many sessions they will require in order to reach their full potential. Good communication between parents, school and other practitioners as well as regular assessment will allow your therapist to give you a good idea of prognosis.

You can contact the therapist directly through the Mable platform. You’ll be kept up to date with information about all your students including activities for the student to do between sessions.

All our therapists are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT). We only hire therapists of NHS Band 6 and above, so they have all had several years of experience before starting to work with Mable.

If a student has a change in circumstances, such as a timetable clash, it's very simple to change therapist. Contact your school account manager or message us using the chat option and we can organise a new therapist.

No, if you have concerns about the communication of one of your students you can start Mable straight away. You must gain parental consent before discussing specific details about a student with us but you're welcome to give us a call and talk to a therapist straight away about the needs in your school. We are also very happy to work alongside NHS practitioners as required.

At Mable we believe the impact of assessment, intervention and training should have a measurable effect on a student’s wellbeing, their access to the curriculum and most importantly their functional communication. Mable’s detailed reporting function enables schools to track cost against actual student outcomes. Mable provides weekly data to not only demonstrate impact but to assist in measuring the direct impact of the intervention against student functioning in the classroom. Mable gathers student opinion through self-evaluation at the start and end of every speech and language intervention session and can support schools who want to develop case studies in order to illustrate how speech and language therapy support has an impact on engagement and behaviour.