The Sure Start Speech & Language Therapy service is for all parents & children (aged 0-4 years) living in the Dungannon & Coalisland Sure Start area.

Children’s speech & language development begins even before they are born!

Babies are born ready to learn how to have conversations and chatting with your child, even before they are born, is what builds connections in your baby’s brain and helps your child learn how to talk.

Research has shown that it is the important adults in a child’s life who most impact children’s language development in their first 2-3 years of life. The role of the Sure Start Speech and Language Therapist is to offer advice & support to all parents regarding how to use everyday interactions to best support all children’s speech, language and communication development. 

To find out more about how chatting to your baby and toddler, and how everyday daily routines such as changing your baby’s nappy or going to the shops, are golden opportunities to build your child’s speech, language & communication skills, click here, & Anytime is Chatting Time, click here

Your words really do work wonders for your child’s developing brain! 

In addition, all of our groups and activities in Sure Start provide you and your child with opportunities to connect together in language enriching experiences through baby massage; playtime; stories & rhymes and to further build the brain connections that help your child learn how to communicate, right from the start. 

Some children experience speech, language and communication difficulties and if you are concerned about your child’s speech & language development, the Sure Start Speech & Language Therapist is here to offer you advice & support, or, to signpost you to other services that can help. If would like to find out more about children’s ‘Speech & Language milestones’, click here.

If you would like further advice & support, you can make an appointment with the Sure Start Speech & Language Therapist at the monthly ‘Chatter Matters’ Speech & Language Therapy advice clinic.

Don’t forget, that babies and toddlers are able to learn more than one language! Bilingualism (learning more than one language) does not confuse children and does not cause speech, language or communication difficulties.

If you’re raising a bilingual child, the key thing to remember is to speak the language you feel most comfortable speaking with your child. 

To find out more about children’s speech, language & communication development, visit:

Children’s language development and parenting advice – BBC Tiny Happy People  I CAN’s Talking Point