Nikki MacPhee

Speech and Language Therapist & Myofunctional Therapist (MSc, Cert MRCSLT, MASLTIP, HCPC Reg.)

• Assessment of communication difficulties, including Developmental Language Disorder. So that you can better understand your child’s difficulties and how to help them.
• Therapy to improve Understanding, remembering, and following instructions.
• Therapy to improve expressive language for schoolwork and conversations.
• Specialized Assessment and Intervention using Johansen IAS.
• Myofunctional Assessment & approach to articulation difficulties.

I have spent 24 years working with children and teenagers with a wide variety of communication difficulties in Scotland for the NHS and Highland Council. My experience has included working in schools, enhanced learning facilities, homes, and Neurodevelopmental Diagnostic Clinics. This has enabled me to build up extensive experience of Developmental Language Disorder (previously described as Specific Language Disorder SLI) and Developmental Language Disorder associated with a learning disability, Autism, Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, and Dyslexia. I am also a retired Makaton tutor and Johansen IAS provider and have used these extensively in my practice.

I completed training as a Myofunctional Therapist with the Academy of Myofunctional Therapy in March 2023. This is a new and exciting field for the UK. I am working collaboratively with Cranial Osteopaths and airway-centred Dentists to move this field forward in Scotland. I am a board member of the RCSLT study group for Myofunctional therapy.

Currently, I am working privately from Central Scotland, Crieff, Perth and I’m able to include telehealth as an option for families who are further away. I have a particular specialist interest in the impact of difficulties associated with Auditory Processing on learning and Communication. Such as problems with following instructions, listening and attending in classrooms, speech sounds, and expressing thoughts and ideas in spoken and written form. I have a BDA-accredited certificate in Dyslexia and have added enhanced dyslexia knowledge to my skill set.

It’s important to me that I deliver an individual, personalized approach to therapy based on the young person’s identified needs to families who want their child to reach their “Best Potential”.

“I worked with Nikki very closely for 4 years. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience which is evident in her thorough assessment and tailored intervention. She has excellent insight and ability to adapt and alter communication and strategies based on need. She has skill in working with complex cases and always does her best for her clients. She is highly professional and I trust her judgement. I know that  she is also highly regarded by other professionals and by the parents and young people she has supported.”

Dr Claire Hogarth, Clinical Psychologist