I graduated from Cardiff with a BSc. (Hons) in Speech & Language Therapy in 1992 and have undertaken post-graduate training to ensure my continuing professional development. This includes:
I am a certified member of the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (RCSLT) and a member of the Association of Speech & Language Therapists in Independent Practice (ASLTIP) and I hold a DBS enhanced certificate (to show that I am safe and suitable to work with children).
To see further testimonials you can also visit my Google Reviews.
"I fully recommend Gillian as a SaLT. VERVE wasn’t what I expected when I looked into speech therapy, but I am really glad we used it. It is much more empowering to be given the tools to help your child with their communication rather than taking a backseat and letting the therapist lead. It’s been so lovely to see my son progress over the last two years, VERVE has really allowed us to bond together as a family." - JW, from Rugby
"Using VERVE has been a great tool for me and my daughter, this has taught me to listen and watch her more for signs that she is communicating with me, it has given her the confidence to talk and communicate effectively. We use VERVE in everyday communication this has helped us with clarity of speech and sounds, I highly recommend to parents to give this a try, Gillian is great at delivering the sessions and makes you feel at ease when watching yourself back on video! The sessions are absolutely good value for money and we have taken a lot out of them. Yes I would recommend VERVE to other parents as this has made me listen more and given my daughter the ability to talk and communicate effectively without me talking for her, she has definitely become more confident and the clarity of words and sounds has improved greatly. " - Wendy, Parent of 6yr old with Down Syndrome
"Gillian has helped our son to become more confident and talkative in such a short time. It has been such a positive experience for us; improving his communication by focusing on what he can do. " - Parent of 3 year old
"We have been working with Gillian and our 5 year son with Down Syndrome since the beginning of this year. She suggested the VERVE approach and it has worked wonders in helping our pre-verbal son to develop a range of communication skills. At first videoing ourselves playing with our son, to send to Gillian, felt quite odd, and it was even odder watching it back as part of the session. However, it soon became apparent in the reflection parts of the session just how useful video is as a tool to really focus on communication and what was going on during the interaction. The videos allowed us to see what was working and what we could do to further improve communication with our son. The VERVE sessions have given us as parents a really active part in helping him to develop his speech, which felt lacking in the traditional therapy delivered via school. We are seeing huge development in our son’s speech since undertaking VERVE, this is something school has also commented on, so we would have no hesitation in recommending VERVE to other parents, it is a natural, soft approach to SLT that has huge benefits, while working through play, so the child doesn’t even recognise that its therapy! Gillian’s approach is calm, professional but approachable, she has made us feel comfortable every step of the way and has given us a range of tools to support our son’s language development. We really can’t recommend both Gillian and VERVE highly enough It has been such a positive experience for us; improving his communication by focusing on what he can do. " - Kelly P, Parent
"RM has really progressed with his understanding and speech with Gillian’s verve technique. She is really patient and understand RM’s pace. She help us to use different ways to encourage RM’s speech. We would definitely recommend Gillian. " - Parent of 3 year old
"We contacted Gillian because we were concerned about our child’s speech and language development. Since day one Gillian has offered lots of support to our family. She is kind, compassionate and offers a very thorough service. Speaking to Gillian has enabled us to understand how to best support our son and we have seen significant improvement. The use of videos has also provided the opportunity to look at ourselves and reflect on the way we interact with our child. We particularly enjoy VERVE and have incorporated the techniques we have learnt into everyday life. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Gillian for all her hard work." - Mum of a bilingual toddler with language delay
"Gillian was a fantastic support to our child’s language development.The initial detailed report on his current language skills and areas that required support was so helpful as it allowed me to understand exactly what was going on and gave further activities to support them. The home visits were very helpful, our child can be very shy and become mute around unfamiliar people but he responded well to Gillian (who was very calm and patient). From observing Gillian work with our child, we felt more confident in our supporting play and language activities at home. His language has flourished and we are so happy with his progress." - Rugby mum of a 3y old
"M immediately interacted with Gillian, without having never met before, Gillian put us at ease and everything felt very relaxed which helped us and M. M looked forward to the weekly Zoom sessions and we have seen a huge improvement with her Speech, Language & Communication. Gillian is someone I would highly recommend if you are looking for additional support for your child." - Neil, Parent of 4 year old M in Rugby
"Today I received my son's spring progress report. After three months of working with Gillian Bolton, he is finally up to his level (30-50 months). As a parent, I am over the moon. Three months ago he could only say couple of 3 words sentences and really struggled with expressing his feelings. He wasn't concentrating a lot as well and was playing with cars all the time. But after working with Gillian, he has changed so much, even the school teacher says that he is far more happier and confident than he used to be with everyone. As for my self, I have learned so much about how I need to work with him and that helped massively. Thank you so much Gillian for all the advice and hard work! This is the best decision I have ever made. And now he's nonstop talking.!!!!!! Thank you" - Mrs H.M., mother of 4-year-old from Rugby
"My son won’t be in this place without your amazing support. When you started with him, he was unable to say more than couple of words. Now after nearly 1 and ½ years - since from reception - of hard work, I am so proud of my son’s achievement. He is now 5 and ½ years old and doing extremely well in school. Thank you Gillian for helping (him)... (and when he was discharged)...Thank you so much for everything you have done for our family specially (my son) ... I don't have words to explain how much we are grateful to your extraordinary work! The work you are doing can change whole future of a child and everything around him as well.... I will definitely send you his progress through coming years. Thank you for being part of his pillar of life" - Mum of a bilingual 5y old
"Would I recommend Gillian to other parents? Absolutely. Her report organization is detailed and accessible to
professionals and parents. She is highly responsive, available by phone and e-mail to consult with.
She did an initial evaluation that was very thorough and gave me a detailed report of my son's development.
As a parent I was worried about his language and social skills as he was struggling in nursery and I wasn't sure why.
Gillian has a very pleasant demeanour and is professional and thorough beyond belief.
From the initial contact regarding the evaluation she will conduct, she was welcoming, friendly and put my son and
myself at ease. At the end of the evaluation, plenty of time was taken to explain her findings and observations.
As a mom of a child who wasn't sure of her son's developmental progress, I really can only say THANK YOU to Gillian
for the professional, insightful, high quality evaluation. She perfectly and totally captured my son's skills and
provided extremely valuable feedback. I finally felt informed about my son's development and progress far beyond
his speech and language skills. Gillian also provided advice and hands on ideas for his future speech and language development.
Consulting with Gillian proved to be an excellent investment of time and money.
Thank you so much for everything." - J. Lee, Mum of 4-year-old
"Gillian has been working with a child with speech and language needs in our Nursery for two terms now. She has provided fantastic support for this child, both in his home and at Nursery. The child has subsequently made accelerated progress and we have really seen an improvement in his communication! " - Amy, Nursery Class Teacher, Rugby
"Gillian has been a fabulous help to our setting with a child requiring support with SEND. Gillian has shared her knowledge of SaLT and VERVE which has positively impacted the outcomes for the child we are supporting. We have found VERVE very interesting and very useful. Thank you for your continued support. - Nursery Manager, Daventry
"I'll be sorry to see you go, we've spoken a lot on the phone about clients and you’ve always been very helpful and knowledgeable, patient and understanding. I hope you do very well with your independent practice." - Sarah, Health Visitor
"Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to your job whilst you've been working in Rugby. No one could ask for a more committed therapist and you always strived to do the most you could to support your children and their families." - SLT Clinical Team Lead, SWFT
After graduating I worked for Milton Keynes Community NHS Trust as a Speech & Language Therapist in the paediatric team, working with pre-school and school-age children in clinics, nurseries and schools. I also worked in two schools for children with special educational needs.
In 1996 I took up a 'Special Needs Specialist' post for Rugby NHS Trust, providing the service for Brooke Special School and working within the multi-disciplinary team in Rugby Child Development Centre (CDC). The CDC team provided assessment for all pre-school children who were referred due to developmental delay, including autism, and we monitored and supported the development of children with diagnosed conditions such as Down's Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy. At Brooke School, working collaboratively with the staff, I was able to review and change the nature of service provision and implement initiatives focusing on total communication and staff training.
When I left the NHS, to raise my own children, I began work on a training package for Speech & Language Therapists to use in special schools. My enthusiasm and positive experience of collaborative working in the special school environment led, over the next 9 years, to the development of a training package called 'Assessing and Promoting Effective Communication (APEC)'. APEC2, published in 2004, is still in use across the UK. I began to deliver training days for Speech & Language Therapists, delivered the APEC course to teaching staff in two schools in Bedfordshire, and provided an independent review of the Speech & Language Therapy service provision in two special schools on behalf of Warwickshire NHS and the Local Authority. I was able to share what I had learnt, from working in the school environment, in articles for several professional publications.
A Special Education, Gillian Bolton & Susan Kidd (2006)
In 2010 I returned to clinical practice in Rugby (now South Warwickshire Foundation Trust), providing speech and language therapy for pre-school and school age children, through a series of bank and fixed term contracts, working flexibly whilst continuing to enjoy raising and home educating my own children.
My new venture into Independent Practice began in January 2019 with a fond farewell to the Speech & Language Therapy team at The Orchard Centre. I retain good working links with the SLT team at The Orchard Centre so that, with parent's permission, we can work together to support the children that we see.
Copyright © 2019-2023 Gillian Bolton
