Our Story

How an interdisciplinary perspective changed everything
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In 2009, Amanda recognised the limitations of long-standing boundaries and siloed ways of thinking within health and education. Using her dual qualifications as a Speech and Language Therapist and Dyslexia Specialist, she wanted to find a better way to help children and young people. And so, Words First was born… 

Amanda began offering schools something new. An innovative and holistic way of working that bridged the gap between traditional speech and language therapy and literacy needs. Over the next decade – and after successfully partnering with multiple schools – Amanda knew her approach was still limited by her SaLT-informed view of language and communication. It was through working closely with Occupational Therapists and gaining extra training on sensory integration and its influence on language development, that her perspective on communication and literacy was broadened once again. 

With increasing demand from schools, Words First expanded its therapy offering to include Occupational Therapy, Educational Psychology, Play Therapy and Counselling and created unique intervention programmes that combine a wealth of varied evidence and harness the knowledge and expertise from these different professional groups. Beyond the therapy room, a wealth of resources, audit and screening tools have been developed to further enhance partnered schools’ SEND provision. 

Just as Words First began with Amanda’s desire to integrate disciplines to achieve a better outcome, we use an interdisciplinary approach in everything that we do. 

Today, we have more than 120 therapists in over 250 schools in and around London. 

Words First transcends traditional, often isolated therapies and provides schools and students with holistic, evidence-based interventions that are super-powered through interdisciplinary collaboration. 

Our Values

For our partnered schools, we always aim to:

Keep the student’s best interest at the heart of all our decisions. We seek to foster an approach based on a social rather than medical therapeutic model, that is neurodivergence affirming, and incorporates sensory integration whenever we can.

Only use assessments and interventions that have a solid research base and proven track record of success.

Use an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together knowledge and ideas from across our range of professionals to provide a holistic and well-rounded therapy service that maximises children’s potential.

Be as flexible as possible when it comes to supporting staff and children as we know that some days don’t always go according to plan, and we appreciate that the needs of students and schools can change over time.

If you belong to our team, this is what we’re about:

We treat everyone with respect and greatly value diversity. We love that we have therapists join us from all over the world and this reflects the diversity of our students’ backgrounds too. You will be treated with respect and dignity no matter your background, race, religion, culture, gender or sexuality.
We love to share ideas, resources, tips and strategies, and collaborate to solve problems and learn together. We love innovation and creative, forward-thinking therapists who value research and evidence-based practice.
There are clear and open channels of communication throughout our company and every person’s contribution is important to us. We want you to feel you can fully express your thoughts, offer feedback, be heard and ultimately feel valued as part of the Words First family.