Monique Tobin

Testimonials

 

Working with Monique.

"I normally do not write testimonials or leave reviews with recommendations, but I want to share with others my appreciation towards Monique’s kind, genuine and professional support in helping my 3 yr old boy. We have had sessions with Monique for only about three-four months, but R. has noticeably improved his eye contacts, paying attention to others, listening skills and requesting to name some interactional and communication skills.

 

Monique is amazing! She is patient and worked with my child at the pace he needed. I have learnt so much from her besides the strategies you can implement with your child at home. I felt that she really cared for R’s development and supported me throughout the time we have spent together. She not only helped R. showing care and encouragement but she also helped me as a mother with a child with ASD to be more kind to myself and, I have gained great positive energy that I did not expect or imagine I would receive from a SaLT. 

 

I believe that Monique really does go beyond her job and genuinely cares for children with speech and language delay. 

R. enjoyed going to sessions with Monique and he now waves and says ‘ba bye’ which he did not do three months ago. This is such a joy for us, and I do feel R. enjoyed learning with Monique in her well planned sessions.

I think it is so important to meet and work with a SaLT who is experienced not only in her work but also who knows how to work with people in needs of her expertise and professionalism. And we are so fortunate to have met Monique and for everything that she has done for us."

 

- C. & R.

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"Dear Monique,

 

We are very grateful for all your hard work and input that lead to such an amazing improvement in Z’s speech. I was able to learn from you effective communication skills that I am using every day with Z to help him change wrong pronunciation habits.

 

He is now making effort to say his T and S sounds in sentences. And he is correcting his mistakes when I remind him. He likes to repeat the words with T at the beginning and at the end after me and I always point out each word that has those sounds in them. 

 

Thank you again for all you did for Z, we will definitely recommend you if anyone from our friends or family will require your services."

Martina

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"I. was four years old when we finally decided to contact Monique. I.’s speech and Language development was very slow as a toddler and we knew that he was presenting with significant difficulty with his speech and language. I was nervous about contacting Monique because I. is a very shy child and is aware of his speech difficulties, but what became very apparent from our first session is Monique’s high level of expertise. Monique immediately created an environment that was safe, friendly and fun. Monique suggested a more diagnostic approach to the assessment in order to get to know the ‘real’ I. that was hiding behind the shyness.

Throughout the sessions Monique used a number of activities, games and puppets to make sure I. never felt like he was ‘working’ and sometimes I. would even bring along his own toys to take part. Monique was able to adapt each session to I.’s ability and will always try to ‘win’ him back when he started to lack focus and concentration.

Monique’s approach to therapy is very collaborative and this is what I loved about our sessions. We all worked together each week and the outcome was amazing. I. went from being shy and self-conscious to a more confident little boy and his difficulties with speech and language began to improve. 

I.’s confidence flourished over the sessions and I am amazed how vocal and a little cheeky he became as the therapy progressed.  It was the first time I heard I. communicate with another adult without feeling shy or self-conscious.

I.’s speech and language has improved enormously as a result of our 1:1 sessions and this was due to the fact that Monique does not take ‘a one size fits all’ approach to therapy. The therapy was bespoke and planned to meet I.’s abilities.  Monique really valued I.’s strengths and used them to help I. engage in all the activities. Before contacting Monique we were a little lost and needed reassurance and some independent advice. Monique was able to give us this and more. We now have strategies to help and support I. as he transitions to reception year. We do have a long way to go but now feel confident as a family in supporting I. with his difficulties. Thank you so much, looking back I don’t know why I was so nervous to just pick up the phone!"

Shadia

"Monique has been seeing N since he was 2 years old.

He is now 4 and she has been working with him just over two years.

She has helped us as parents to support our child the best way we can.

She has a very patient attitude and was in tune with N's needs as well as us as a family.

 

There are skills and support that we received from her that have helped us all to become better communicators. N has improved over the years and the support has been invaluable with Monique by our side. She was always genuine and honest with us which came from her experience and expertise of working with a child like N. 

N has now been diagnosed with Autism. And we know as a family now, how to support him.

 

Thank you very much."

Sabina

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"Thank you for the amazing transformation we've seen in E's speech since our sessions. He's gone from one new word a month, to one new word a week, to one new word a day, to basically just talking in sentences now. It's magical and he's so much happier. There must have been so much he wanted to say and he couldn't get the words out. We're absolutely delighted with his progress! We're currently singing your praises far and wide to anyone who will listen....

Trish'

 

"Monique worked above and beyond the call of duty to support my colleagues and I to deliver speech and language therapy programmes to the pupils in our specialist provision. The pupils had a range of complex Special Educational Needs, including Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Monique always remained completely calm, however anxious and distressed an individual pupil might be. Monique also had an amazing ability to remain calm however stressful a situation might be. Monique was professional through and through and she was highly respected by teachers, teaching assistants and parents. The pupils were always enthusiastic to attend their one-to-one therapy sessions and achieved good outcomes. The quality of Monique’s work and her contribution to the pupils’ provision has never been forgotten."

 

Gill

 

 

Dear Monique, 

Thank you so much for all your hard work helping A. find her words. Every session was planned so well, and A. really enjoyed the clever games (she didn’t even realise she was learning!)

Clare.

 

Working with Monique

 

"I am a mother of 3 children. When my middle child was a baby and then throughout her early years, we became concerned that her baby babbling and then speech, wasn’t developing. In fact, she was far behind her peer group and where her sister had been at the same age. The older she became the more we became aware that she couldn’t communicate with her friends or tell us anything about her day. However, it was very difficult to get an initial referral to a speech therapist and appropriate treatment due to her young age and the range of speech levels expected of young children. Thankfully, a friend put us in touch with Monique Tobin who had experience working with children with unusual speech disorders.

 

Monique developed a specialised programme to unlock my daughter’s disorder and over time, and with hard work, we celebrated our daughter’s transformation as her speech emerged from small sounds into words and then eventually sentences. It was a long and at times painful journey, but with Monique’s expertise and support and a lot of hard work, our daughter now communicates as well as any other child of her age. The main features of Monique’s approach that I valued were as follows:

 

To Monique’s credit, she validated my concerns and properly investigated my daughter’s condition - even though my daughter was young, and other medical professionals had thought she was too young to diagnose. Monique developed therapy and interventions that were appropriate to a two and half year old child, to the extent that my daughter was very happy to go to speech therapy and enjoyed the speech exercises that we had to do at home as well. Early intervention was critical to my daughter’s success in learning new muscle movements and sounds before old habits became entrenched.

 

Monique encouraged us to work together as a team with her leading and creating the interventions which we would practise daily at home. She also encouraged a multi-disciplinary approach and we worked closely with the ENT department at the hospital, the school and the GP. Monique prepared reports which I shared with the school and the ENT team to help develop a holistic picture of the complex features which combined to result in my daughter’s condition. This collaborative approach meant that we had the benefit of medical intervention working alongside therapy sessions towards a shared goal.

 

My daughter’s success did not happen overnight. In fact it was the result of nearly 3 years of speech therapy (at first weekly, then fortnightly, then termly, then every six months). In the early years we had to practise speech sounds and related games several times a day. It became part of the family routine. Monique was committed to my daughter’s success but it was also a partnership and equally we were committed to maximising on Monique’s input.

 

There is no doubt that recognising that your child has difficulties, whatever these might be, is painful. But identifying the correct expertise and interventions, along with commitment to follow the therapy programme can yield transformative results. Monique has extensive expertise, experience and a passion for results which is framed in a desire to see children flourish. I am so thankful that we have been able to benefit from Monique’s expertise; without which my daughter’s outlook could have been so different. My daughter simply has happy memories of her therapy sessions and over the last few years has made a gradual transition into being a confident speaker and clear communicator."

 

Sarah

 

 

 

Dear Monique

It has been such a pleasure to work with you over the last year. You have been endlessly helpful and flexible and your insight and advice have been invaluable to staff and families. The pupils have so enjoyed spending time with you too! You have made such a difference in their lives.
 

Louise, School SENCo

 

 

Our daughter was referred for speech therapy due to concerns over her speech development at the age of 3. We met with Monique once a week for a few months leading up to her starting at primary school. The change and improvement in her speech over this period, and as a result her confidence too, was amazing. We found Monique to be extremely patient, and the sessions were both effective and enjoyable for our daughter. 
 

Rachel

 

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We have been associated with Monique for just more than a year for our 5 year old son who is on the spectrum and is non-
verbal. Monique brings in years of NHS experience to her current practice, which is easily seen in her approach and
professionalism.
She takes ample time to understand our kids’ needs and creates customised goal plans accordingly. Having said that we will
never feel we are stuck at a certain level, as she makes sure we progress gradually, one or more baby steps at a time.
Monique takes an all rounded approach, not just limiting to speech goals. She uses a plethora of activities to increase cognition
and understanding, keeping in mind the sensory needs of the kid, which was our case.
As parents of special kids, the most important trait that we look in a therapist is good listening and empathy and Monique just
aces in these! We have always appreciated the way Monique has handled us as parents by giving us good advice as and when
required.
We are very happy with Monique’s therapy and would definitely recommend her!

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Rishi, Veena & Sunil