When attending an unfamiliar appointment, many children and their parents find it helpful to be prepared with some information about what is going to happen.

Of course the information you give them will vary according to their age, their level of understanding, their anxiety level, their personality and their interest in such information.

Here are some examples of what you might choose to tell your child:

For a young child

“We are going somewhere special today to have a play with some toys, to look at some books and some pictures.

There will be a friendly lady who will talk with mummy/daddy and who will then talk to and play with you.

“We can take your favourite toy/book/game to show the lady”.

For the child who understands a little more you could then say:

“The lady will be listening to your talking and asking you to listen to her too.”

For an older child it is often helpful to have a little more information such as:

“Today we are going to see the Speech Pathologist. She is someone who helps children with their listening, understanding words and with talking (and for older children reading/writing)”. We are going to see her because............

……eg “You are very good at lots of things, but I wonder if ???? (spelling/reading) is harder for you than it needs to be. Do you think we could make it easier for you?”

We will see her together. She will have a chat with me/us and with you. Then she may have some pictures to look at, activities to do together and/or some games. After we have finished, she will talk with us about what things you do well and if there are any things that are a bit tricky. Then we will work out together the best way to help you with things you find a bit tricky.”