All services provided are bespoke so that the needs of a child, young person, family or education setting are met most effectively. Below is a list of core services offered but further options can be discussed during initial consultation. Services are charged at £65 per hour of therapist time. If you are unsure where to begin please click here to arrange an initial consultation with Lucy.

Initial Consultation

• Email or phone consultation
• Opportunity to discuss issues & services that may suit your child or setting
• Time: Up to 30 minutes
• Cost: free of charge

Assessment

• Face to face assessment session and relevant consultations with nursery/school/parents
• Full written report including recommendations/targets if therapy is indicated/required
• Time: 1-4 hours (Time depends on the complexity of the assessment and age of the child I.e. speech assessments for younger children are shorter than fully comprehensive speech and language assessments for school aged children).
• Cost is £65 per hour of time spent completing face to face and administrative procedures.
• Travel is charged at 55p per mile from the SLT Peebles office for home or education setting visits outside of Peebles.

Therapy

Therapy sessions can be booked following an initial consultation or assessment. Lucy offers two therapy delivery options;

Regular Direct Therapy

• Individual therapy sessions delivered by Lucy on a weekly or fortnightly basis
• All resources required for sessions and homework between sessions
• Time: 30-60 minutes per session plus therapist time to create resources
• £45 for up to 30 minute session, £65 for up to one hour session
• A summary report will be provided at the end of blocks of 6 sessions or more.
• Time for liaison with education staff/parents is expected during blocks of therapy so this is offered as part of therapy block and not an additional cost e.g. short e-mail summaries of therapy sessions. However, attendance at meetings outside of therapy session times are charged at the rate of £65 per hour.

DIY Therapy

• Demonstration and coaching sessions for parents or education staff to address therapy targets at home or in nursery/school through sessions delivered by them and not by Lucy
• A pack of resources for home/school practice
• Time: 1 hour per demonstration session plus one hour of therapist time to create bespoke home practice pack
• £130 for one hour session and resource pack

Additional

Additional services provided during or following therapy sessions including review assessments, target resets, consultations with other professionals, training for teaching staff etc. can be arranged as required. Costs for such additional face to face or administration services will be charged at £65 per hour.

Education Settings & Staff

Lucy Benjamin has experience working with children and teachers from nurseries, primary schools and secondary schools. This has included providing assessment, therapy, training and consultation services. Members of school staff can book an initial consultation to discuss the service they wish to access from Lucy.

Assessment or Therapy

Assessment, therapy or additional services as described above can be booked by a parent or by a school (with parental consent). Services can be financed by school or parents and this will be agreed at point of booking.

Consultation

Nursery, primary or secondary school staff can book Lucy to request generic advice or advice about pupils and adapting teaching methods for children with speech or language difficulties. This may be selected so that SLT input can be provided when writing IEPs, inputting to Universal Plus Meetings or having discussions about how to support the learning of a pupil or to set up new initiatives within education settings to support children with speech and/or language difficulties. If a child or young person’s name will be used during these discussions, parent consent must be sought in advance of the appointment. These sessions are charged at £65 per hour.

Training

Lucy has extensive experience providing bespoke training and workshops to parents and professionals. Please note that Lucy’s training programmes are different to those provided by local NHS services. Training or workshop sessions can be designed based on the requirements of the education setting and the age and ability of pupils. Some examples of the types of trainings and workshops Lucy could deliver are noted below;

• An introduction to Speech and Language Difficulties (for new/newly qualified staff)
• Supporting children with speech sound production difficulties
• Supporting children with language difficulties: comprehension, vocabulary, grammar
• Supporting children with attention, listening and memory difficulties
• Supporting social skills of children at nursery/school
• Supporting children with weak phonological awareness skills

Training and workshop sessions can be booked following an initial consultation to discuss the content of the course requested. The agreed bespoke course can be provided to an unlimited number of staff from one setting. Training and workshop sessions will be charged at £180 per hour, including the time required plan and create the bespoke training session. Bespoke resources related to the training can be provided at an extra cost (£65 per hour of time required to create and produce these resources).

Dr Lucy Benjamin Equity Endeavour

In the interest of closing gaps in equality amongst children and young people, every 10th assessment, therapy or training appointment booked by a school, or by a parent following school’s direction towards private SLT input, will be provided free of charge for a pupil the school believes would benefit from a private SLT service but may not have the financial support to access it.