Our Huddersfield Children’s Speech and Language Therapy team recently conducted an audit of their Hanen* - More Than Words parent training courses, and it's clear the training is having a huge impact on how parents communicate with their children. 

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with 100% of parents reporting they changed how they interacted / communicated with their children, and that without doubt the way their child communicated had changed too.

Parents gave us the following messages to encourage other families to attend;

• “You are not alone; let’s learn from others too”
• “Massive impact on our family life”
• “Great opportunity to understand more about your child”
• “It’s helped us learn the best possible way to improve his development”
• “Don’t be worried about the home videos. These are the most useful, worthwhile tools used in the program”
• “It’s a nice, relaxed atmosphere and the therapists are lovely teachers!”
• “It helps you to understand the difficulties your child is having and how to support further communication”
• “I have met some great parents all in similar situations with a shared understanding of our experiences as parents”
• “Provided me with strategies and techniques around engaging with my child”

Speech and Language Therapy run the Hanen; More Than Words course in Huddersfield and Halifax. It is provided as a treatment option for families of children with Autistic Spectrum Condition or Social Communication Needs, typically in the preschool years. It runs twice per year, with a total of eight parent teaching sessions and three home video coaching sessions with their child.

Speech and Language Therapist, Philippa Berry (pictured), said: "I am grateful to work as part of a team who put so much energy and enthusiasm into delivering the best possible services to parents, and I'm thrilled that this has been reflected back in the feedback from the families themselves."

*Hanen’s philosophy is for therapists to work in collaboration with parents and care givers to integrate strategies into their day-to-day interactions to achieve the best possible outcomes, alongside helping them to understand their children better and connect and have fun. As the course is delivered in group training sessions this provides parents and care givers with the opportunity to form a community to support and learn from each other.