Nicola Lathey

Nicola Lathey is a highly regarded Speech and Language Therapist and the founder and clinical director of The Owl Centre, an award-winning, nationally recognised multidisciplinary assessment and therapy service which offers autism and ADHD assessment services, as well as pre- and post- diagnostic therapy support, privately and on behalf of the NHS - including 4 Integrated Care Boards (ICB's) and ten NHS trusts delivering more than 5000 assessments per year. With over 20 years of experience, Nicola has worked extensively with people of all ages, from infants to adults, helping them develop their speech and language skills. She is particularly known for her expertise in early intervention and supporting children with conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental language delay. In 2020 Nicola opened The Owl Centre charity which provides training and support services for people in the UK and abroad. Nicola is also author of the prize-winning and best-selling book, Small Talk (Macmillan), and has also written a series of children's books, underpinned by Speech and Language Therapy principles, published by Campbell books (also part of Pan Macmillan). Nicola has her own Podcast, 'Hoot's Who', and has spoken about Speech and Language development in children on national television and national and international radio. She has also featured in newspapers and magazines across the world. She has given lectures at the request of universities, charities, and businesses in the UK, and has spoken alongside Professor Sir Robert Winston. Nicola's decision to train as a Speech and Language Therapist centered on the fact that she has a younger brother with Down's Syndrome, who needed Speech and Language Therapy support when he was young. She therefore has direct personal experience of the effects which speech and language problems can have on children and on their families. She qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 1999, graduating from University College London, and worked for the NHS and abroad from then until 2011 when she set up the first Owl Centre in Oxford - in part because she was asked by so many parents if she carried out private work. Nicola is a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, and the Health & Care Professions Council.