About Us
Our objective is to provide you with the best possible advice and therapy for your needs.
We are a dedicated speech and language therapy practice which supports children, adolescents and adults. Our goal is to help everyone communicate with confidence in their daily lives.
The Speech and Language Practice is led by Karyn Stewart-Dodd, Speech and Language Therapist. Karyn works alongside our associate clinician, Gill Faley, who is also a Speech and Language Therapist.
Lucy Procter is our Practice Administrator and Sarah Bentley, Speech and Language Therapy Assistant, helps with Communication Groups.
Founded in 1986, by Karyn, the practice will be celebrating forty years of excellence in 2026.
We have clinic rooms in The Little House in Portesham, an informal home-from-home space designed for working with very young children, and at Armitage House, our main clinical base on Poundbury near Dorchester.
We also work in nurseries, schools and colleges across Somerset and Dorset and make home visits when appropriate.
Some of our work is in association with The West Dorset Practice, carrying out specialist assessments of speech and language processing as part of their Autism, ADHD and Dyslexia assessments.
Our services are provided with utmost integrity. We will not accept a client if we do not consider our skill base or expertise to be appropriate, but we will always do our best to direct a parent or carer to a more appropriate provision if required.
Our Values
Quality
We care deeply about the standard of service we deliver to all of the clients that we work with.
Expertise
Our therapists bring years of professional training, applied knowledge and clinical experience to their roles.
Collaboration
We seek to work collaboratively with families, schools and other professionals to deliver positive outcomes.
Meet Our Team
Our team of therapists and assistants bring open minds, creativity and clinical expertise to every session. We believe in personalised therapy, responding to individual needs.
Karyn Stewart-Dodd
Karyn specialises in paediatric speech and language disorders, and language processing and social communication difficulties giving rise to social anxiety in autistic children and young adults.
Karyn worked in the NHS for 37 years with a career spanning both Paediatric and Adult Acute and Community clinical services. Her NHS career was completed as Head of Therapies at Dorset County Hospital and then as Service Manager for Elderly Care, Parkinson’s Disease and Stroke. Karyn has also worked at specialist level in Hearing Impairment, Voice Disorders, Head and Neck Cancer, Stroke, and Dysphagia services.
Parallel to her NHS career Karyn developed The Speech and Language Practice on a part-time basis and she continued to work with children even though her NHS career had moved into adult services.
Karyn believes strongly in multidisciplinary working in close association with parents and carers to achieve the best possible outcomes for children and adults experiencing communication difficulty in education and in life. She is passionate about her role and enjoys the ongoing learning that has been integral to her career to date.
Gill Faley
Gill has a wide range of experience including stroke, ENT head and neck cancer, swallowing, paediatrics, neurodiversity and voice (including transgender), through her work with the NHS for twenty-nine years.
Gill works in educational settings including schools and colleges, and community and acute hospitals. Gill is currently Operational Lead for Speech and Language Therapy within southwest prisons.
Within the practice Gill predominantly works with children and young adults with language processing difficulties, neurodiversity including autism and ADHD, and associated difficulties.
Gill strongly believes in patient centred care, enabling people to be confident within their individual communication style. Gill takes pride in watching the children and young adults she works with, develop and reach their full potential.
Sarah Bentley
Sarah supports therapists in our Social Communication and Language Processing groups, which run monthly on a Saturday.
Sarah has over eight years of experience working with children with SEND across mainstream primary and more recently a special educational needs setting, supporting older students within the school's ASC Department.
With a background in the Arts, Sarah brings creativity, curiosity and warmth to her sessions. She has experience supporting children with Autism, AuDHD, ADHD, and Developmental Language Disorder, and is passionate about helping every child find their voice and confidence in communication.
Outside of work, Sarah lives in Sherborne with her teenage daughter and cat, Olive, and enjoys yoga, paddleboarding and baking for family and friends.
Lucy Procter
Lucy has worked for The Speech and Language Practice as part-time Practice Administrator for over 20 years. Mainly working from home, Lucy provides day-to-day support to the therapists and to clients and their families. Lucy manages all communication with discretion, understanding and compassion, and will always be at hand to help smooth any difficulties that you may be experiencing.
Lucy lives near Sherborne with her family and four dogs and, outside of the practice, breeds racehorses with her husband and is a keen long-distance trail runner.
The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
The Health and Care Professions Council
