Hanen More Than Words Parent Course 25th March-21st June 2021

Hello there! Thanks for visiting. Places are now available for a Hanen More Than Words Course for parents, entirely via Zoom from the comfort of your own home.

Eligibility: Parents of 2-4 year old children with Social Communication Difficulties and / or ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder). Please discuss with your current SLT first to see if this course is suitable for you.

Location/Time: Your own home via Zoom, from anywhere within the Republic of Ireland. Parent group sessions will be in the evening time to enable both parents to participate (where possible). There will also be 4 daytime Zoom sessions with you and your child.

Duration: February – June 2021, involving 13 weekly sessions in total.

The course starts with a free 2 hour Orientation information evening on Thursday 25th February 2021 (via Zoom), Once you have decided if this course is for you, we organise an individual Zoom session with you and your child so that we can all get to know each other a little. Then we do 8 weekly parent group sessions with 3 child video feedback sessions. These sessions run from Monday 12th April – Monday 21st June 2021.

Suitable Technology: Ideally participants need a high speed connection and a normal – large sized iPad / Tablet / laptop / desktop computer for parent group sessions. Smartphones and small-sized tablets are not suitable.

Find Out More: Please visit the Hanen Website to find out more about the content of this course.

Contact: Email thespeechgrove@gmail.com or call / text 0894034184 to book your place or to find out more.

The programme consists of:

A (free) Orientation evening parent group session (up to 2 hours) with important information that you will need to participate in the programme. This session involves an interactive powerpoint presentation. Following this session you can decide if you wish to take part in the programme. A deposit is due at this point to secure your place (see fees below).

– A Pre-Programme session, this is an individual daytime appointment with you and your child in order to establish a baseline and discuss goals for the programme (1 hour approx.).

– An evening ‘Meet and Greet’ session on 1st July, where you get to informally meet the other parents involved (Up to 2 hours) Date tba.

8 evening weekly parent group sessions each lasting 2 hours and 45 minutes approx. Starting 12th April, programme ends 21st June 2021.

3 daytime Video Feedback sessions throughout the programme. These sessions are individual appointments (not group) where your child is recorded interacting. We immediately review the recording and work together to apply the strategies we have been learning about in the evening sessions into your every day routines. (Usually 1 to 1.5 hours)

Opportunities to link with other parents with children with similar challenges through informal social evenings via Zoom ‘breakout’ rooms (to be arranged according to group needs).

– The fee for the Hanen More Than Words parent programme includes a deposit of €162.50 payable after the Orientation session, followed by 6 further payments of €81.25, payable on the day of each evening parent session from session 1 through to session 6. Some parents opt to pay in full. Receipts are provided that you can use to claim with your health insurer. It is clients’ responsibility to check their health insurance policy cover for speech and language therapy costs. If you opt out after having committed to the programme by paying a deposit, a cancellation fee of 50% of the overall programme cost will apply.

– In order to participate in the programme, you must also purchase a copy of the ‘More Than Words’ book. You can access a downloadable version here, or a hard copy here. You are also free to access it via your own means. (A hard copy of the book is recommended.)

Please contact Carolyn at thespeechgrove@gmail.com or call / text 0894034184 if you would like more information or to reserve your place.

Author: Carolyn Webb

Carolyn is a Speech and Language Therapist and Author of 'A Parent's Guide To Early Communication', working independently and based in the Sandyford area of South Dublin, Ireland. Most of Carolyn's work consists of parent coaching in a supportive practical way. A parent coaching package will be available soon consisting of 7 weekly individual sessions, working through each strategy in the book 'A Parent's Guide To Early Communication'. Carolyn also runs Hanen 'More Than Words' programs on a regular basis through telepractice with families all across Ireland. The More Than Words program offered is a 3-6 month speech therapy program for parents of children up to age 4 years with social communication difficulties, including challenges interacting with others. Some participating children are not yet using words. Some are using words and language, but find it difficult to have to and fro conversations. Some of the participating children have a diagnosis of Autism, and some do not. Please visit the blog to learn more about the '7 Strategies' package and Hanen programs and click the link to register your interest in attending a free information / Orientation Zoom session.