ANNA BIAVATI

During 2019 we approached Anna for help with our Spanish pronunciation. As adult learners we wanted our British mouths to make more Spanish-sounding vowels and consonants, and I was... read more having real problems trying to roll my “r’s” convincingly. Anna quickly devised a short programme to meet our requests, and also devised exercises to improve our intonation and to help make our sentences flow. We enjoyed the sessions, and we feel that we made good progress. Muchas gracias, Anna!

Anna has been incredible over the past year working with us to help our son overcome his SN. Anna's passion for working with children has undoubtedly changed our lives. We... read more felt so lost before we had Anna on our side as SM is very rare. Anna has fantastic strategies and works closely with other professionals that are in your child's lives. My sons nursery teachers couldn't praise her enough. We wouldn't have had the success we had without her. Thanks Anna!

Anna was a wonderful speech therapist for my son. She was endlessly patient and always had a treasure of fun activities for him to do. He really enjoyed all her... read more sessions and his speech problems improved a lot. Thank you Anna!

Anna has been so supportive of both me and my four year old son over the past 18 months. Our sessions whilst challenging at times were also great fun... read more and my son enjoyed every single one. Anna approached his speech delay from a different angle to that of the nhs therapists, taking a step back and looking at the cause. All of the activities done in clinic and the resources provided for use at home were tailored very specifically for his needs as opposed to using a boiler plate approach. Anna was a great sounding board for me to bounce ideas off and provided invaluable input at meetings and with forms. She provides an all round service, employs innovative ideas and techniques and most importantly set my son at ease and helped him to have fun whilst progressing his speech. Would highly recommend.

Anna has worked with my son for over 2 years and has been an absolute pleasure to have. She has become a friend and a confidant as well as an... read more incredible speech therapist. She goes above and beyond to ensure everyone's comfort and happiness and is a true professional. She helped my son overcome his selective mutism through working with us as a family to help us understand the condition and how to help, as well as with the school to help them adapt to his plan and understand his condition. She provided all parties with a tailored program and I can honestly say that without her generous, patient spirit he would not have made it. She is kind, supportive and truly lovely and her program has made this the best journey possible.

Thank you for the excellent training in SM which was relevant and empowering as Anna really got across with energy and enthusiasm that we can make a difference. Since the... read more training I have been able to put the strategies into practice and spread the knowledge and information on SM to pupils, parents, fellow teachers and professionals. We realise that making a positive difference is a long drawn out process but it is heartening being armed with some strategies and understanding into the condition. I particularly found it useful chatting to other parents, teachers and professionals and one recovered adult who suffered from SM as a child. Thanks again!

Anna is our second SLT, she was amazing. Before she came, I was very confused about my girl's language development. The NHS SLT said she was fine and no... read more longer need further therapies. But she only has 20 words at age of half two, Anna told me, although she will catch up, but yet she didn't, that is the very first time I felt being understood by someone finally. She can always bring me lots of ideas about playing with kids, she can also quantitatively tell me how will my girl develop, (I think this is very very special and important). after few months therapies, my girl was totally changed, she is now not that sensitive and becomes outgoing, now we finished our therapy, but my daughter still miss her very much. I am so grateful for her help. She is very friendly and responsible, I think all people talked to her will know what I mean.

I found Anna when my son was very young and not speaking very much at all. I was feeling very hopeless and desperate to help my son, I started looking... read more around for specialist Speech and Lanaguage services. Although there was quite a distance to travel, we came to see Anna weekly for quite some time and she was a great support to me as well as a great therapist for my son. Anna identified that he had a phonological disorder and she supported us not only with a programme of things to work on at home, but she also helped educate me on how what strategies would be effective in helping my son to converse and with his sounds. She has great enthusiasm for what she does and is very positive. I would highly recommend Anna without hesitation to anyone who needs Speech and Language input.

I took my six year old grandson to see Anna as he had a problem pronouncing certain letters. Anna quickly established there was no physical problem for this and... read more set in motion a lesson plan to help him overcome this. She is a lovely lady who is clearly knowledgeable in her field and has such a lovely way with the children that my grandson did not have a problem going to see Anna and indeed looked forward to it. Her lessons have helped immensely and gave me the tools to continue her good work. I am happy to recommend her.

Anna worked with my son before and just after he started school and the results were fantastic. He now has lovely clear speech and we are so grateful. Anna was... read more friendly and put him at ease right away. The therapy was all based around games and fun exercises and Anna took the time to teach us how to continue the therapy with our son between appointments in order to get the best results. I would highly recommend Word Steps.

We approached Anna to help with our little boy when he was 3, he had a severe phonological speech disorder. Anna seen us every 2 weeks and straight away we... read more felt so supported and comfortable with her. We loved how she included the whole family in the sessions. I always felt so at ease that with a typical lively 3 year old Anna would always make sure he wasn’t just sitting still, he would be jumping and playing whilst always learning. We are now finished with our sessions but know if we need anymore help she would welcome us back with open arms. I’m not sure where we would be if we had stuck to NHS sessions as the difference in sessions was huge! We would hugely recommend Word steps speech and language 😁

WOW! What an amazing training session. Our staff has just spent an engaging and interactive hour listening to Anna help us become more aware and have a deeper understanding... read more of selective mutism. She is truly inspiring and has such a depth of knowledge. She was able, very simply and eloquently, to explain the journey of someone with this condition and we all left feeling that we, as educators were better equipped to deal with associated problems. Thank you once again Anna.

I cannot speak highly enough of Anna! As parents we were feeling fairly deflated in our approach and frustrated with Other professionals regarding our sons speech delay and clarity of... read more speech. We have attended therapy on and off for approx 6months with Anna. What we have learnt has been invaluable and what my son has achieved in this time is truely heartwarming. It has been hard work but with so many ways to play and stimulate our son he has rarely objected and even enjoys the games/activities! Anna thinks outside the box and truely “knows” her clients so that she knows how to get the best from them. Her professionalism and experience is second to none, she empowers parents and really connects with children. She is also a genuinely lovely person. My only regret is that we never met sooner! A fantastic experience.

Anna is absolutely incredible both for the parents and the children. She has healed our 6year old daughter from SM after a 2- year mute period in school. We cannot... read more thank her enough and warmely recommend her services.

I attended a course about SM run by Anna of Word Steps Speech & Language Therapy. This was an eye-opening day for me. Anna shared her extensive experience with the... read more group in an engaging and very positive way. Her recommendations for useful books for my child, and for me, were excellent.

Anna was a angel in our lifes. We contacted her when my daughter was 3,5 yo with very significant speech delay and the NHS slt said she wasn't ready for... read more 1-1 therapy. However, I knew we had to do more for her so I decided to look for private therapy. A friend recommended Anna who is also specialised in bilinguism (our family has 3 languages). From the first session I could see the difference in Cissa. Anna has a special way to talk to children that is very interesting. My daughter absolutely loves when "Aunt Anna comes to play". She taught me so much about how to speak, what to do, how to help Cissa learn. She went above and beyond, she fought hard for Cissa to get a space in the ICAN provision - that was never mentioned to us before by the NHS although Cissa was the perfect candidate for that. She is a very qualified professional that works in a personalised way, who design activities that will help Cissa to achieve her goals while teaching me how to do all on my own. I just wish I had found her earlier!

I can't speak highly enough of Anna and her work. Non only my daughter's issue with speaking is now a memory, but all the process has been a great experience... read more for her. She loved her sessions, she loved the homework Anna gave her and she has felt supported throughout all the therapy. Anna is a loving caring therapist, and her professionalism is second to none. I can only highly recommend Anna!

I contacted Anna as someone had recommended her to me through one of the selective mutism pages on Facebook. Words can’t express how grateful I will always be too Anna... read more for her kindness and helpfulness to myself and especially my daughter. After years of getting no where, struggling to find proper help and support for my daughter we finally found someone who totally understands selective mutism and took the time to explain everything properly to me about how my daughter will be feeling. My daughter built up a lovely relationship with Anna she has such a lovely way with children so patient and kind and always on hand if we ever need advice or support. Anna you are amazing!