MISSION
Our mission is to empower children and their carers to transform lives through effective communication, dedicated to supporting children, parents, carers and professionals in the development of speech, language and communication skills.
aBOUT SPEECH BUDDIES
Speech Buddies was founded by our Clinical Director Emma Harrison back in 2017.
Following a 20-year career as a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist within the NHS, Emma knew deep down after the birth of her second baby that it was time to make a change.
She knew that she had so much more to offer as a therapist and her number one priority was to impact more families than ever before.
Emma stepped out into the world of independent practice and founded ‘Emma Harrison Speech and Language Therapy’.
Her passion was to create a service…
that would work for families desperately in need of support.
that could work in sync with NHS Speech and Language Therapy Service.
that would use the changing forms of technology to enhance the world of Speech Therapy.
that had its clients at the forefront of its care above all else.
Emma built her Independent Practice on her own for 5 years, helping families and schools in her local area, offering assessments, therapy and in-house training, whilst also developing online courses and material to help parents support their children at home.
In September 2022 Emma began to expand her services by growing a team of Independent Associate Speech and Language Therapists which enabled her to impact even more families across the North East.
The team has now grown to include 10 Therapists which means that appointments are now readily available during the week and on a Saturday.
In 2023 Emma was awarded the ‘Team Player’ award byThe Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice (ASLTIP) to recognise the success of her business!
During the summer of 2023 Emma began to create the brand you see today, Speech Buddies.
Speech Buddies aim to be recognised as the company that ‘empower children and individuals supporting children with speech, language and communication needs so that they can become the best version of themselves’.
MEET OUR FOUNDER
Emma is our Clinical Director and Specialist Speech & Language Therapist.
She has a career spanning 20 years in the Speech and Language profession and worked passionately as an NHS therapist for most of her career, before stepping out into private practice almost 6 years ago.
Emma adores supporting preschool and early years children and has a range of specialist skills with her particular interests being in:
Preschool language development and child lead intervention
Speech sound delays and disorders
Autism (including Gestalt Language Processing )
Neurodiversity
Emma and her incredible team work to provide current, research driven and ethical speech and language support into a range of different settings.
Emma’s determination, drive and commitment to communication is at the heart of our practice. We strive to develop effective input for a range of children, families and education facilities across the North East of England.
our values
our Vision
To make effective communication, a human right, accessible and achievable for all.
To ensure parents and professionals feel supported in meeting the needs of every single child that requires speech. language and communication enhancement
