Speech & Language difficulties Archives

Niall, age 4 – Speech & Language Difficulties and Autism Spectrum Disorder

“Our son has made undeniable progress and we’re now much more optimistic about his long-term development than we were previously. We’d recommend Cluas highly to other parents.”

1 month ago

3702 total views

Our experience with Cluas, after engaging Ronan and the team to assist our son with his delayed speech development, was first-class. From the very start we were impressed by their responsiveness and professionalism. We felt, in particular, that they really tried to understand our particular situation and the specific speech challenges our son has faced. The appointments were never rushed and Ronan was a constant source of support and advice throughout. Our son has made undeniable progress and we’re now much more optimistic about his long-term development than we were previously. We’d recommend Cluas highly to other parents.

Robert & Olivia, September 2024 – Dublin

Hugh, age 8 – Autism Spectrum Disorder, Dyspraxia and Speech & Language Difficulties

“…A huge difference has been made in terms of speech and social skills and confidence in Hugh…I would recommend this programme to every parent as it has helped us so much and I am extremely grateful. Ronan can tailor the programme to suit your child’s needs. As soon as Hugh speech became perfect we concentrated…

1 year ago

4060 total views

Cluas has been absolutely wonderful for my 8 year old son. Hugh had speech delay and was diagnosed as having dyspraxia and ASD.  Hugh attended private speech therapy and public but he wasn’t improving. Hugh also found it hard to mix in the school yard. After the initial consultation with Ronan we found out this was because he didn’t know what direction sounds were coming from or hear voices over background noise. 

We had great fun doing all the activities while he was wearing the head phones and in a matter of months Hugh was speaking perfectly. He got a brilliant report in school whereas 1 year previously we had just received his diagnosis and were very concerned about his future. Ronan can tailor the programme to suit your child’s needs. As soon as Hugh speech became perfect we concentrated on his social skills. 

A huge difference has been made in terms of speech and social skills and confidence in Hugh. He is doing so well now and we also have the support of Cluas which has been brilliant. I would recommend this programme to every parent as it really helps children and can be the support to help them reach milestones they may not have met otherwise. It has helped us so much and I am extremely grateful. We will have Hugh assessed again but we are fairly sure his diagnosis will be revoked. We are so happy and I cannot thank Cluas enough. 

Brian, August 2023 – Dublin

Daniel, age 3 – Speech & Language Difficulties, Attention Difficulties and Sensory Processing Difficulties

‘’…The first meeting with Ronan opened our awareness to sensory issues and we began our journey of learning the ways we could support Daniel. Daniel began the Cluas at home sound therapy programme in June. After the first stage we could see so much improvement in Daniel’s play, eye contact, listening and concentration skills…”

Categories Attention Difficulties – ADD / ADHD Sensory Processing Difficulties Speech & Language difficulties Posted

2 years ago

4305 total views

Daniel aged 2 1\2 had few words. His attention was very poor. Daniel wouldn’t respond to his name when being called. His interactions with his family, relatives and peers were poor. He would get extremely upset and frustrated throwing himself on the floor and banging his head. He lived in his own world and would only communicate in his own way if he needed something.

Cluas was recommended to us by a friend. Ronan was a fantastic support from the beginning. He made us feel comfortable and relaxed as we shared our concerns about Daniel. The first meeting with Ronan opened our awareness to sensory issues and we began our journey of learning the ways we could support Daniel. Daniel began the Cluas at home sound therapy programme in June. After the first stage we could see so much improvement in Daniel’s play, eye contact, listening and concentration skills. Words started to be spoken.

Daniel has completed the 3 stages and his interactions and relationships with us have improved immensely. He now plays with his parents and older sister. He interacts with relatives. His voice can be heard with a lot of singing tones and words. There is a very happy boys laughter with lots of fun and enjoyment in our lives today compared to when he was just in his own world.

Daniel started preschool in his creche in September and has settled into this group change extremely positively. He is engaging better with staff and peers.

There are so many positive things we can say about Ronan and the Cluas programme and would have no difficulty recommending it. Thank you Ronan for all your help and support.

Georgina, October 2022 – Co. Westmeath

Adam, age 3 – Speech & Language Difficulties

“…Adam was 3 and had very few words…He was continually frustrated and it was beginning to affect his confidence and his ability to make friends… he began the Sound therapy program…and he has gone from being so shy and reluctant to try to talk or join in in playschool to being a happy boy who will now…

Categories Speech & Language difficulties Posted

2 years ago

3770 total views

Adam was 3 and had very few words compared to his classmates and friends. He was continually frustrated and it was beginning to affect his confidence and his ability to make friends.

After the initial meeting with Ronan, he began the Sound therapy program and by the end of the first round of sessions there was a world of improvement. Now, after completing 3 rounds, he has gone from being so shy and reluctant to try to talk or join in in playschool to being a happy boy who will now chat all day long about anything and everything.

I cannot recommend Cluas or Ronan enough, he has been an absolute joy to work with. He has such a kind and wonderful demeanour that every time I told Adam it was time to go see Ronan he was so excited, and now he can voice his excitement. We will never be able to thank Ronan enough for everything he has done for Adam.

Shay, August 2022 – Dublin

Louise, age 3 – Speech & Language Difficulties

“…Louise was 3 when we discovered Cluas. She had very few words compared to her peers and her attention was very limited… We are so glad that we decided to do the sound therapy with Ronan as our little girl has come on in leaps and bounds…her listening ability and conversation skills have improved dramatically…

Categories Speech & Language difficulties Posted

2 years ago

3155 total views

Louise was 3 when we discovered Cluas. She had very few words compared to her peers and her attention was very limited. After the initial meeting with Ronan, we started the Cluas program and Louise’s listening ability and conversation skills have improved dramatically since. Week on week, we are seeing more and more improvements.

We are so glad that we decided to do the sound therapy with Ronan as our little girl has come on in leaps and bounds. We cannot say enough good things about the program and the people in Cluas. The professionalism, support and attention to detail from Ronan and his team was excellent throughout the process.

We would have no hesitation in recommending Cluas to others.

Thank you Ronan for your help.

Mary, March 2022 – Co. Wicklow

Cathal, age 2 – Speech & Language Difficulties

“…We had brought Cathal to speech and language therapists from 20 months old with very little progress…Cluas has helped transform all our lives. Our little boy is now thriving. His language is improving everyday but more importantly so is his confidence, concentration and overall happiness…”

Categories Speech & Language difficulties Posted

4 years ago

1842 total views

Cathal was 2 and half when we discovered Cluas. He had very few words ( under 50) and his attention was very limited. We had brought him to speech and language therapists from 20 months old with very little progress.

Cluas has helped transform all our lives.

Our little boy is now thriving. His language is improving everyday but more importantly so is his confidence, concentration and overall happiness.

We found Cluas to be a safe place for all of us. Ronan only offered solutions and guidance and never jumped to conclusions or diagnosis.

He has worked tirelessly to help Cathal in every aspect of his life and we can see the growth and his endless potential everyday,

Cathal is now 3 and started playschool in September. He has settled in very well and his language skills are improving everyday. He now has 2/3 word sentences with 5 word sentences occasionally. His understanding has increased 100%. He has great concentration skills now and he is learning new skill rapidly.

We are very grateful to Ronan and his team for their support and treatment.

Richard, November 2019 – Co. Kildare

Hugh, age 6 – Speech & Language Difficulties and Auditory Processing Disorder

“…We found that Cluas totally understood our concerns and could identify issues we had not seen ourselves.…Towards the end of Hugh’s Cluas programme and especially in the month that followed we noticed significant change in Hugh… it changed our lives and transformed our little boy…”

Categories Auditory Processing Difficulties Speech & Language difficulties Posted

5 years ago

2130 total views

Hugh met all his developmental milestones until his second birthday, where we noticed that although he had good singular-word vocabulary, he was not attempting to construct sentences.

He began to demonstrate strong tendencies towards routine and functioned well within very structured timetables.  Any deviations from these routines led to tantrums and total refusals to participate. Hugh liked to spend time on ‘screens’ when let and tended to prefer them over interacting with children his own age. We fell into the trap of letting him have screens to control him in public. His ability to share and turn-take was limited.

Despite Speech and Occupational Theory over 12 months, we saw little progress in his speech & language or social/emotional maturity.

We heard about Cluas from a televised interview and decided to explore further. We found that Pascal and Ronan at Cluas totally understood our concerns and could identify issues we had not seen ourselves.

Cluas made us no promises nor applied pressure for us to engage with their programmes but we spoke to others and decided to give it a go.

We chose to start Hugh on a 15-day programme – with the first 2 days completed in the Cluas Centre and the remaining completed at home. There were a few times early in the programme where we felt Hugh was taking one-step forward and two steps back, but Ronan and Pascal were always on the end of the phone or email to guide us.

Towards the end of Hugh’s 6-month programme and especially in the month that followed we noticed significant change in Hugh.  He became more tolerant and understanding when he didn’t get his own way, his ability to turn-take/share was well improved and in general we were no longer operating on Hugh terms.

Hugh’s language and ability to hold meaningful intelligent conversations has totally changed. He can now ‘think ahead’ and asks the inquisitive questions that children often wonder about. Hugh’s teachers are really pleased at his progression since he joined over 12 months ago and academically Hugh is keeping pace with his peers – if not outpacing them in some areas.

There are still times today that Hugh can become over excited and can be a little socially immature – but this is a far-cry from where we started out, unsure if he would be able to attend main school at the same times as his peers. There is nowhere we cannot take Hugh today and we no longer worry about his behaviour over others is own age.

I would love if Hugh did what he was told every time and came in for his meals when called – but I now know that I’m in the space of every other parent with a 6 year old .. which is a nice place to be!

I cannot say if Cluas will work for everyone but only that it changed our lives and transformed our little boy.

Thank you Ronan and Pascal.

Laura and Sean, December 2018 – Dublin

Owen, age 3 – Speech & Language Difficulties

“…The results were almost instant, over the course of phase 1 Owens vocabulary exploded and very quickly he was able to put 2 words together with ease…He’s more sociable and confident and can follow instructions without hesitation…The headphones didn’t bother him whatsoever and he saw it as play time…”

Categories Speech & Language difficulties Posted

6 years ago

1841 total views

Our son, Owen, had approx. 100 words as he approached his 3rd birthday, most of which were very difficult to understand due to poor pronunciation. He would get frustrated when we couldn’t understand him and was prone to tantrums when told no.

Cluas was recommended to us by a friend whose son was also experiencing speech difficulties.

The Cluas office set up is fantastic for children with plenty of toys to allow them explore without feeling under pressure. The consultation with Cluas was very thorough and we were made aware that Owen had a significant speech and language delay, it became apparent that we had been over estimating how much Owen understood as he was relying on gestures and environmental cues. He was unable to answer simple questions such as ‘what’s your name’, ‘what age are you’. As a parent this was a very worrying reality that Owen was so far behind his peers.

We decided to go ahead with the Cluas program and started 2 days after his 3rd birthday. I was skeptical about how Owen would react to the headphones but they didn’t bother him whatsoever and he saw it as play time. The results were almost instant, over the course of phase 1 Owens vocabulary exploded and very quickly he was able to put 2 words together with ease. He was able to answer questions relating to his name, age, sisters name etc Part of phase 1 was targeted at improving Owen’s understanding and we could see he was making great strides in this area too, we were better able to reason with him and saw less tantrums and frustration. It was post phase 1 that we were able to successfully toilet train Owen as his understanding increased.

Phase 2 saw Owen go from strength to strength learning colours, numbers, singing songs and he began putting more and more words together.

Watching Owen during phase 3 was like pieces of a puzzle coming together, suddenly he was using connecter words, verbs, understanding and using concepts like ‘under’, ‘out’, ‘in’, ‘on’ etc.

When we started our Cluas journey it was evident that Owen couldn’t communicate effectively and it felt like we would never be able to catch him up, now Owen doesn’t stop talking! He’s more sociable and confident and can follow instructions without hesitation. He recently started Playschool and settled in straight away, I know he would not have been ready for that transition prior to doing the Cluas program.

Throughout the Cluas program the support and guidance from Ronan has been incredible, his expertise and practical advice have been a constant source of comfort. He has a wonderful manner with children and Owen always ran into the office happy to be there.

It is astonishing to think how far Owen has come in such a short space of time. We feel the program has unlocked Owens potential and would highly recommend Cluas.

Many thanks, Lisa.

Lisa, September 2018 – Dublin

Henry, age 2 – Speech & Language Difficulties

“…Although skeptical of how it would work, we decided to proceed with the program and have not looked back since. We could see an instant improvement in Henry. His progression has been fantastic and it’s been great seeing his personality open up as a result…”

Categories Speech & Language difficulties Posted

6 years ago

1662 total views

At 2 years of age Henry was practically non-verbal. He spoke only a handful of words. Initially we had put it down to laziness or others speaking for him.

After being referred for Speech and Language Therapy by the Public Health Nurse we decided to go to Cluas. Henry was diagnosed with a heightened sensitivity to sound. When explained everything fell into place and made sense to us as to why Henry would run when the hoover, hairdryer was turned on and why he would shy away when singing songs.

Although skeptical of how it would work, we decided to proceed with the program and have not looked back since. We could see an instant improvement in Henry. His progression has been fantastic and it’s been great seeing his personality open up as a result.

At times the program has been testing with Henry being pushed to his limits but every minute has been worth it when we see him grow with not only vocabulary but in his confidence also.

Family and friends have been amazed at the progress Henry has achieved in such a short space of time.

Ronan and Pascal have been fantastic and we thank them for all the support they have provided.

We would 100% recommend Cluas.

Audrey, August 2018 – Dublin

Rian, age 4 – Speech & Language Difficulties, Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…My son, age 4, was non-verbal, showing some characteristics of Autism. He was in his own world, anti-social, and would often get very upset for no apparent reason… Since starting the Cluas programme we noticed big changes in him. The humming was gone. He became more focused and aware of everything happening around him…”

Categories Autism Spectrum Disorder Speech & Language difficulties Posted

9 years ago

1875 total views

My son, age 4, was non-verbal, showing some characteristics of Autism. He was in his own world, anti-social, and would often get very upset for no apparent reason, spend a lot of his time humming to himself, to name a few. I came across the Cluas.ie website and felt that he needed this to help him. So, after talking to Pascal, my husband and I started the Cluas programme without any delay.

Within days of the first session, we noticed big changes in him. The humming was gone. He became more focused and aware of everything happening around him. It is as if he has come out of a dream. He heard us every time we called him. He would respond to us all the time, anywhere we are. He became curious about everything, even at school. Most of all, speech started coming. Initially this was just single words. He was not upset like before because he was expressing himself using his words.

Now he is happier being around his big sister and even playing with her. Interaction has started at school as well. He got a girlfriend (!) recently, which is an amazing thing that we did not believe was going to happen. He is even interacting with other adults in the school. He likes running around and playing catch with everybody in the park. He is listening to his teacher, sharing toys with his friends and even knows most of his friends’ names. He feels more grown up now, and he is even comforting his big sister when she is crying.

The most difficult part was to get him to keep the headphones on. When Pascal explained the program to us, we said he is not going to do that for sure. But we were determined to change him. So we changed ourselves first by becoming more firm, deciding to stick to whatever we were telling him to do.

The crying was always breaking our heart but we just kept going. The more he progressed, the more we got the courage to stick to the program. Now, I have my son, who is saying full sentences, wants to go out to play, is always looking for us, and is a happy child around his family, and no longer in his own little world.

Just a message to parents out there, don’t think twice about the program if you want to get your child back. It is a very hard path, but you will eventually get there. Where there is a will, there is always a way.

Siobhan and Kevin, June 2014 – Dublin