Let's Talk Small Talk

Libby discusses the upcoming conference on 7th September in London with Lucy Sanctuary and Ruth Fine: 'International Developments and Perspectives in Autism Research and Clinical Practice.' Understanding of Autism has changed considerably since it was included in the DSM-3 as “Infantile Autism.” However, research highlights what we don’t know, as much as what we do. Even though there is a diagnost...

All HCPC registered staff are required to have supervision; Libby interviews Rachel Jackson,  who is a very experienced clinician but also a very experienced and skilled supervisor. Indeed, she has over 30 years of experience as a Speech and Language Therapist — including 10 years as an NHS Team Leader — and more than 15 years delivering clinical and operational supervision to AHPs (such as physio...

Libby Hill talks to Rike Brand about PDA and Rike's new book. It has been a best seller in Germany for a while and is now available in the UK. Rike is a mother of two. It was her journey as a parent which sparked her interest in PDA. With a background in cultural anthropology, she has spent years deeply immersed in the PDA community, learning from families, advocates, and lived experience. A seaso...

In this episode, Libby is joined by author and advocate Elly Chapple, founder of Flip the Narrative and writer of Diagnosis Human . Elly shares the deeply personal story behind her book and the lessons she learned from her deafblind daughter, Ella — lessons about identity, presence, and seeing the world differently. Together, they explore the realities many families face when navigating education...

Libby interviews Rishi Kaushal who has created " The Speech Heroes " to empower children with speech and language delays, inspired by his son Aryan's journey. Following a diagnosis, Rishi used music (song "Speech Bound") and authored the book The Speech Heroes vs. The Word Stoppers (released Feb 2026) to help children find their voice. They talk about what led to this and his personal journey. His...

The podcast episode focuses on the intersection of autism and OCD, featuring the amazing speaker Dean Beadle sharing his personal experiences and insights. Dean explained how OCD manifests differently in autistic individuals, emphasising the distinction between autistic rituals and OCD compulsions. He describes his own struggles with OCD, including recent flare-ups triggered by life changes, and s...

Hallie Sherman, M.S. CCC-SLP has worked with older students for many years.  She has a practical, pragmatic approach to her work to make sure her therapy is effective. She prioritises using students' interests in order to keep them engaged and making progress.  She has made lots of resources to help SLT/SLPs save time and energy.  Her book came out in November, which is great 'The Secondary SLP Ro...

Libby Interviews Ruth Rowntree, Speech and Language Therapist and Founder of Speech Apraxia UK dedicated to information, advocacy and support for individuals with Speech Apraxia. https://speechapraxia.co.uk/ Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is the new term which was previously known as verbal dyspraxia in the UK but Ruth is keen that all types of apraxia is supported. Speech Apraxia UK are a grow...

"Did you know that some children talk freely at home but can’t get a single word out at school?  It’s not stubbornness, and it’s not shyness — it’s something called selective mutism , an anxiety condition that literally freezes a child’s ability to speak. In this episode of Let’s Talk Small Talk , we dive into the most common questions parents and teachers ask. What causes selective mutism? How ca...

Libby talks to Cathy Wassell who is the CEO and founder of the Autistic Girls Network Charity and founder of The Haven online provision. She is also author of 'Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person: A parents handbook to supporting newly diagnosed teens and pre-teens.' This is the website where you can also learn more about the charity itself and also The Haven https://autisticgirlsnetwork.org/ Thi...

Libby talks to Joel Roskin, who was diagnosed with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) as an adult. He is an amazing advocate for DLD and has a story that both inspires and informs. He is happy to be contacted and would make an ideal speaker for your CEN or support group. I certainly want to pick his brains for several projects that I have in mind and look forward to working with him again soon...

Libby interviews Cathy about Gestalt Language Processing and the natural language acquisition process. Listen to her explanation and rationale for working in a different way to previously, how the approach embraces a nuero-diveregent affirming style and has completely altered the look and sound of the clinic rooms at The Speech Den. They also touch upon the fact that not everyone agrees with them....

Join us for a fascinating conversation with  Dawn and Libby as they discuss her  new book Born Naughty? Decoding PDA – A Decade of Discovery in Practice . Drawing on over ten years of clinical experience, Libby shares powerful insights into Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), exploring why it's so often misunderstood and how we can better support children and families. Whether you're a parent, pr...

Libby interviews Sally Cat about this lesser-known type of PDA. Many of us are confident we know what PDA looks like but what if we are missing a huge group of people who don't show overt signs of PDA? Read more here http://www.sallycatpda.co.uk/2024/10/a-quick-guide-to-internalised-pda.html Sally Cat's blog is full of information that you might not have come across before including her Big  Trait...

Libby talks to the lovely Anna Biavati. Anna Is a multilingual speech and language therapist specialising in selective mutism and multilingualism. With years of experience, she has developed a unique and holistic approach that focuses, not just on speech, but on building resilience, self esteem, and fostering independence in all aspects of a child's life. Anna is the creator of the brave muscle me...

Liz is an award winning Occupational Therapist (OT) with 25 years of expertise. As someone who is dyslexic and part of a neurodiverse family, Liz brings a unique perspective to her work. She is passionate about collaborating with children, young people, parents and caregivers, supporting them to discover understanding, connection, neuro-affirming and trauma and sensory responsive tailored solution...

Dawn interviews Libby about her new book 'Doing what it takes' which is about Libby's work with children and young people with selective mutism. Available from Amazon https://amzn.eu/d/6niLwWK

Libby interviews the wonderful Ali Battye, Speech and Language Therapist on Ali's three passions. She has written books about all of them. We love all her books but her latest book is definitely her best work yet.  https://amzn.eu/d/gkW4FqJ

Libby, Donna and Bernadette were on the advisory panel for the NHS England commissioned Autism and parental blame study. In this episode they they discuss their reasons for wanting to be involved, the implications of parental blame and some of the other aspects covered by the report. You can access the report in full https://www.wm-adass.org.uk/improvement/autism-and-parental-blame-research. They...

Libby interviews Jodie about autistic burn-out. This is a topic everyone needs to know about as it is certainly on the increase and is very damaging to the child or young person. Jodie is an independent specialist working with autistic children, their families and their schools, who has written two books on the topic.  One for children and young people: 'Young, autistic and burnt out' https://amzn...

Dawn interviews Rachel Winder about what it really means to be neurodivergent-affirming. Rachel was diagnosed as autistic with dyslexia and ADHD in her forties, has become an 'accidental' neurodivergence influencer. We have known Rachel a number of years now while we have been on our journey to get it right. We realise that it is a work in progress but we are passionate to make it the best it can...

DLD is the biggest learning difficulty you've never heard of. 2 out of every class have it. At Small Talk most of the SLTs have extra training in order to be confident about diagnosing it and working with children with DLD. We are passionate about making a difference for children who have it. Listen to Libby and Dawn discuss their views.

Libby discusses the new book that she has been working on with Georgina Smith and Laura Graham. Georgina Smith, a specialist  dyslexia  tutor, and Laura Graham, independent occupational therapist and sensory integration practitioner teamed up with Libby on this project to look at why many children are struggling at school with literacy but it's not all due to dyslexia. This team of professionals a...

Libby interviews the lovely Danielle about her experience of PDA and also her new book Black Rainbow about a family's PDA journey through  https://amzn.eu/d/9pr6aGQ

Cathy organised 2 very successful conferences last year. This year she is going bigger and better! She has all the experts on NLA in one place including Marg Blanc and Barry Prizant. It's online over 5 days with the recording available to tickets holders for 6 months. Check out her website for details of the conference and to buy tickets. https://thespeechden.com/ Parents recieve a discount and th...