Ele Leatherbarrow

Ele is a Speech and Language Therapist and Director of SpeechWise. She was inspired to train as a Speech and Language Therapist after volunteering as a youngster at a riding school for people with disabilities. Since graduating from the University of Manchester with a BSc (Hons) in Speech and Language Therapy in 2003, she discovered a passion for working with children with complex needs.

Ele has always loved helping families and support staff to find ways to unlock a child’s potential; she feels this is a real privilege. Ele worked as a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist in the NHS for many years.

She is also Co-Author of the original Splingo’s Language Universe app series – most people don’t know that Splingo the Alien has Ele’s voice! As her career developed, it became apparent to Ele that schools, organisations and families needed better options for Speech and Language Therapy support, alongside traditional NHS services, and so SpeechWise was born.

The journey since formation in 2012 has been incredible, with most of the growth a result of recommendations from one school or family to another. Ele feels incredibly lucky to have built such a talented, innovative and warm team who make her smile every day. These days Ele can be found working hard in the background to keep everything running smoothly and ensure we are being the best we can be. One of her mantras (alongside “there are no stupid questions” and “difficulties or differences make people greater, not lesser”) is “get the right people, support them well and they will take care of the rest”. One of her favourite bits of her job is supporting the team to feel safe and valued so that they are free to be creative and give their best. In her spare time Ele likes challenging herself at the gym (at least she likes it when it’s over!) and spending time with friends and family.