Ethos…

First and foremost: I love being a Speech & Language Therapist. I have always believed that a good Therapist is a way of 'being' and not simply 'working'.

I believe in enabling every child's voice to be heard, and developing their true communication potential. I strongly believe that parents are the best vehicle for change in a child - they are the experts in their child/ren, and it is my aim to skill up and give confidence to all the parents that I work with.

Origins…

Firstly, the name. The name VeriVoice is made up of two different meanings stuck together. 'Veri' is short for my own name Verity, which means 'truth' (taken from the Latin word 'veritas' meaning truth) - it conveys the message of being real and true. 'Voice', as well as meaning the physical sound that comes out of your mouth, is also widely used as an expression for getting one's message across, getting your voice (your message) heard.

I have put VeriVoice together to create the meaning 'True Voice' and hence true communication. VeriVoice Speech & Language Therapy is about enabling every child's voice to be heard, and developing their true communication potential.

Secondly, the logo. Speech & Language Therapy is about communication in its entirety, a phrase SLTs use is 'total communication'. We communicate with our entire being, from body language, to hand gestures, to eye pointing, to listening, to facial expressions. Communication is not just about the words which come out of our mouths. At VeriVoice I am a great believer in looking at each individual child as a whole, and understanding their communication on every level, because every level is important.

The hand as a speech bubble, encapsulating the body parts (which additionally gives the sense of a face / person), succinctly conveys the message of total communication. Also the lines of the thumb and index finger show a 'V' - a mirror image of the 'V's in VeriVoice.

Communication is key to every area of our lives, from the social to the emotional, from the academic to the vocational. Without communication we cannot ask to get our needs met, we cannot comment on the people / events around us – imagine going into a bakery but not being able to ask for a simple cheese sandwich! There are several reasons that could cause this to be the case for someone.

Speech & Language Therapy is not always about ‘fixing’ the problem; it is often about enabling someone to communicate to their best potential, and making everyday communication possible.

The need:

“Effective oral language skills are the building blocks on which subsequent literacy and numeracy development is based. Without solid foundations in language and communication skills, children run the risk of school failure, low self-esteem and poor social skills. Yet up to 80% of children in some areas of the UK are starting school without these vital skills.”

(The Cost to the Nation of Children’s Poor Communication. ICAN Talk Series, Issue 2. Page 3.)

Your child is not alone:

It is estimated that around 7% of children in the UK have specific and primary speech and language impairments; other children have speech & language difficulties as part of more generalised difficulties or another condition.

(Tomblin, J.B. et al (1997) Prevalence of Specific Language Impairment in Kindergarten Children Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research 40 in Lindsay, G. and Dockrell, J. with Mackie, C. and Letchford, B. (2002) Educational Provision for Children with Specific Speech and Language Difficulties in England and Wales CEDAR)

Communication difficulties can have devastating long term effects:

Recent research indicates that approximately 40% of young offenders are likely to have difficulty with negotiation involving spoken language.

(Bryan, K. (2004) Preliminary Study of the Prevalence of Speech and Language Difficulties in Young Offenders IJLCD Vol 39)

For the above reasons and many more, I am passionate about developing truly effective communication for everyone.

VeriVoice Speech & Language Therapy.

Owner: Verity Hunt, BSc. (Hons), HPC reg., Cert MRCSLT, MASLTIP.