Testimonials

As the Speech and Language Therapist for Bright Futures Educational Trust, Deeba created and developed a unique and bespoke role within the “Targeted & Specialist Support Team”. Working across eight academies including primary, secondary, 6th form and special provision, Deeba successfully developed strategic and innovative approaches to effectively meeting the needs of children and young people with speech, language and communication difficulties. The impact of Deeba’s work has been acknowledged as highly successful and has significantly improved outcomes for targeted groups of pupils.

I worked with Deeba for one year in a multidisciplinary team that comprised Educational Psychology and Speech and Language Therapy support. Deeba gave me support on a number of cases and I found her speech and language knowledge invaluable to my casework. Deeba also impressed me with her passion for the work and firm belief of the importance of speech and language support to children’s overall development and her inciteful thinking about children’s needs and how to support most effectively. Deeba also demonstrated an ability to work across a number of levels with ease and dedication, for example casework, group work and strategic thinking. I enjoyed working with Deeba a great deal and continue to use the knowledge and strategies she gave me in my practice

I heard that some of my colleagues were taking part in a course for Speech and Language Support for 11-16s and I asked if I could also participate as I had a student in my class with SLCN and I was concerned that the stratgies I was using wasn't helping the student. 
The stratgies that Deeba taught through the Elklan course had a big impact on my planning and teaching.  I used the strategies to support my student with SLCN and the student was able to prepare and participate in group presentations.  I also found that the stratgies also had a positive impact on my EAL students when teaching key words, the Word Map and Mind Map became my students favourite activities to complete during lessons. 

I found Elklan Training extremely informative and enjoyable - the training helped me understand student's behaviour more and  how to adapt certain strategies in class when supporting students who have Speech and Language difficulties. I would highly recommend the course.

'Deeba has had an enormous impact on language and communication at Stanley Grove Primary Academy. She is skilled at change leadership and effectively plans for improvements alongside middle and senior leaders. Her personable approach secures the commitment of staff. Not only has Deeba excellent knowledge, she is experienced in many interventions and approaches. New strategies employed as a result of Deeba's involvement have led to an increase in pupils in our EYFS reaching GLD in listening, communication and speaking.'

‘Deeba saw my son from the age of 3 until he was 5. He was eventually diagnosed with specific language impairment and she put appropriate methods of learning in place. Deeba even visited his infant school and met the teachers and assisted them in appropriate learning methods. As a result my son could speak and understand language by the age of 7 and has hardly any concerns now. The next step is now progressing in his writing and spelling but we are working on this. We cannot thank Deeba enough for her input and help. We are so grateful to her and cannot recommend her enough.’

'After careful research we contacted Deeba to provide Speech and Language support for our daughter who has ASD and learning difficulties. The progress she has made since working with Deeba has been absolutely amazing! A tailored intervention and support package was developed and implemented by Deeba to meet our daughter’s challenging needs. We have witnessed first-hand Deeba’s infectious enthusiasm, compassion, positivity, understanding and professionalism. Her input has been instrumental in our daughter’s development and progression. With Deeba’s help and support we feel significantly more confident working with our daughter and a lot more positive about the future.'

'Deeba has been the speech and language therapist in one of my cases for over 7 years. She has provided invaluable support to the claimant, her family and the multi- disciplinary team and has worked very closely with our client’s school and mosque. Her approach is calm, caring and holistic.

Deeba goes above and beyond what is expected in her role and, importantly for the legal team, also provides very detailed records!'

‘We have had the privilege of working closely with Deeba over the past three years and during that time her strategic guidance for our sixth form college has been nothing short of ground breaking. As a Speech and Language Therapist Deeba has worked tirelessly to ensure that the ‘silent’ SEND “Language Impairment” is screened and catered for. Her work has included generic screening with training to upskill staff, as well as specific training on more advanced screening tools. This work has allowed us to uncover students with Language Impairment and therefore ensure that their needs are fully met rather than delivering intervention which is not suitable or appropriate.

Deeba has also worked with groups of staff to upskill on vocabulary boosting.  Specific professional development on word mapping has equipped staff to ensure that they can cater for students whose language development is weak.  Staff now having working practical strategies and examples which can be used in the classroom. She has also supported us with the design of our Enrolment Form. As a Sixth Form College ensuring that all SEND students have been captured quickly is difficult. This form allowed us to identify students quicker and therefore intervene more swiftly.

Deeba has contributed to the work that we are doing with our EAL students. She supported us when writing a bilingualism form which informed us of the language complexities of the students who are EAL. This has proved invaluable when using appropriate immersive strategies. Deeba has truly paved the way for a more thorough and comprehensive SEND Department here at Connell. Her professionalism, diligence and commitment has been a motivation and drive to continue to progress and improve.'

'Deeba has been the speech and language therapist for my client, who is a 13 year old girl, for 7 years and I have been the client’s case manager for 4 years. My client has a brain injury due to a RTA as a young child and has problems with executive functioning affecting her behaviour, attention, working memory and visual memory. She has difficulties with expressive and receptive language. Deeba has been able to help her learn and remember some of the new vocabulary she needs in her GCSE subjects and to try and help her develop strategies to retain what she has learnt. She is also working on the Zones of Regulation, emotional literacy curriculum with her. Deeba has stayed with her from primary to secondary school. She has seen my client weekly and more recently fortnightly. She works closely with the child’s TA and devises resources and games to help my client with her communication skills. Deeba is very knowledgeable, including the use of technology, and is committed and enthusiastic. I would have no hesitation in recommending her as an independent SLT.'

Deeba has worked extensively with the school to support a number of children with a wide variety of communication and language needs. We have been impressed with both Deeba’s wealth of knowledge and experience and the positive impact she has had on the children in her care. Deeba’s calm, reassuring, professional manner has been welcomed by staff and parents and we know our children will come on in leaps and bounds during their time with her.

The Elkan training provided by Deeba provided a wealth of strategies, ideas and resources for working with all of our students; although primarily targeted at those with speech and language difficulties, the learning activities benefit students across the board. Her sessions were informative, insightful and thought-provoking and an absolute pleasure to attend. Thank you, Deeba!

Deeba has worked collaboratively with Cedar Mount as part of our journey out of Special Measures and provided effective training to staff, strategic support to senior leadership team and supported targeted interventions for individual students. She has excellent knowledge of speech and language difficulties and the best ways to address them.