• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Course Beetle

Professional training with a personal approach

  • Home
  • About
    • Our presenters
  • For you
        • Search our courses…

        • ×
        • View all courses

        • View all of our courses and filter by category and learner type
        • Courses with partner organisations

        • LSVT Global
        • The Makaton Charity
        • NDP3
        • Speech and Language UK
        • Talking Mats Ltd
        • Resources

        • View all resources
        • Active Listening for Active Learning
        • LSVT Coach
        • Talking Mats
        • Courses for…

        • Speech, Language and Communication
        • Social Work
        • Psychology
        • Physical Therapy
        • Home and Family
        • Education
        • Early Years
        • Care and Support
        • Courses by area…

        • Communication
        • Hearing Loss
        • Inclusion, Participation and AAC
        • Language
        • Learning and Physical Disability
        • Rehabilitation
        • Service Level Approaches
        • Speech
        • Wellbeing
        • Recommended for…

        • Speech and Language Therapy Students
        • Speech and Language Therapy Assistants
        • Specialist and Advisory Teachers
        • Teaching Assistants
        • Early Years Practitioners
        • Social Workers
        • Psychologists
        • Physiotherapy Students
        • Occupational Therapy Students
  • For your organisation
  • Contact
    • Email sign up

Primary Sidebar

Talking Mats is a framework that supports holistic, person-centred planning and practice by ensuring an individual’s voice is heard; allowing them to talk about their experiences, views, and feelings. The approach helps a person’s understanding, reflection and expression and provides a framework that supports decision-making in line with legislative and policy frameworks.

Arrange group trainingAsk a questionBook this course

View all courses

Course InformationBooking

Talking Mats Foundation Training

AboutPricingPresenterTopicsResourcesSuitabilityBooking information
Back to top

About this course

Foundation Training is for anyone who would like to learn how to use this innovative and award-winning approach to support people with communication difficulties.

This training leads to registration as a Registered Talking Mats user. People attending this course receive a downloadable manual and example resources to support their learning on the course.  There are options to purchase card resource packs and bundles, mats, and the digital Talking Mat.

There are a total of 3, morning sessions to attend.

The first 2 sessions have the full course group in attendance (maximum number of participants = 12)

The third session (1 hour duration) will be with a maximum of 3 other delegates, and requires that you have pre-prepared a video of yourself demonstrating your use of a Talking Mat, either with a friend or relative volunteer, or a client if you have the required permissions.

All 3 sessions must be attended in order for you to be registered with Talking Mats as a Registered Talking Mats User.   Although the final session is reflective/ advisory as opposed to formally assessed, the full process cannot be signed off as complete if you have been unable to submit a video demonstration covering the requested components.

If for any reason you are unable to attend your reflection session, or unable to produce the required video for the session,  every effort will be made to arrange an alternative session for you.  There is a charge of £35 for arranging alternative reflection session slots.

Course Times

For a list of course dates and times please go to the Booking page

Back to top

Course pricing

Book and pay online Card payments onlyOrganisational payment Invoice or quote requiredStudent / Returner Card payments only
Course Price Per Person before 1st April 2026£225.00£253.00£115.00
Course Price Per Person after 1st April 2026 £236.25£265.65£120.75

Course prices from 1st April 2026 are to be confirmed.

Please book your place here or alternatively, you can contact us if you are you would like to:

  • Book four or more courses (we can offer you a discount)
  • Make a block booking for a group
  • Book a closed course
Back to top

Course presenter

Claire Neaves headshot

Claire Neaves

Claire Neaves is a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist.  She became a Licensed Talking Mats trainer in 2022 and joined Talking Mats Ltd as an Associate Tutor in 2025.

Formerly, Claire worked as the NHS Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for Leicestershire Partnership Trust’s Children’s Service.  She worked with children and young people who need AAC to support their communication in a range of mainstream and specialist settings and has a keen interest in supporting AAC users to give their views and opinions using Talking Mats.

Claire now works as an independent Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, including working in multi-disciplinary teams with medico-legal clients who have acquired brain injuries. She is a classical singer, a qualified Vinyasa yoga teacher and a member of the Yoga Alliance Professionals.

View more courses by Claire Neaves.

Back to top

Course topics

Session 1 (2.5 hours)

  • What is a Talking Mat?
  • The Talking Mats Process
  • Research Evidence
  • Who Can Use Talking Mats?
  • Impact of Talking Mats
  • Preparation for Session 2 Assignment

Session 2 (2.5 hours)

  • Session 2 Assignment – Reflection
  • Thinking about Top Scales​
  • Digital Talking Mats​
  • ​Planning your own Mats​​
  • Preparation for Video Assignment

Session 3 (1 hour)

  • Video presentations
  • Supportive reflection with your tutor and peers
  • Next steps: Registration, Licensing, and Network opportunities
Back to top

Course resources

Talking Mats – Health and Wellbeing Set

This resource may be of interest

This Resource uses specifically designed communication symbols to help people organise their thoughts when discussing their health and well-being.  It consists of 13 topics broken down into 4 areas and it supports the individual to become more involved in making decisions about interventions and support required. The four topic areas are:

Communication:

    • Understanding – receiving verbal, non-verbal and contextual communication
    • Expression – producing verbal, non-verbal and contextual communication.
    • Learning and Thinking – learning and applying knowledge.
    • Relationships – interacting with people.

Looking After Yourself:

    • Self Care – looking after your body
    • Domestic Life – carrying out everyday actions and tasks where you live
    • Work and Education – carrying out actions and tasks relating to paid and unpaid work and education

Health:

    • General Health – senses and body functions
    • Mobility – moving, transferring and using transport
    • Coping – carrying out general tasks and demands

Leisure and environment:

    • Environment – surroundings and support where you live
    • Leisure away – leisure activities away from home
    • Leisure home – leisure activities where you live

Packaged in a clear plastic wallet with quick reference postcards and guidance booklet included.  This comes in a Fair Trade Talking Mats bag with mat.

Please note: This resource can be purchased directly from the supplier here, or through Course Beetle when booking on to this training.

Talking Mats Health and Wellbeing Set - £228.80

The price of £228.80 is inclusive of UK delivery.

For overseas delivery, please email info@coursebeetle.co.uk for a quote.

Talking Mats – Consulting Children and Young People Set

This resource may be of interest

These resources cannot be sold to non-course delegates, but can be included in a Talking Mats Foundation Training course booking

This Talking Mats resource gives a holistic picture of how a child or young person feels about their lives at home, school and in the community and is widely used across a range of settings. 3 stages of development are covered

Early Years – preschool
Primary – ages 5-11
Secondary – ages 12-17

Each stage covers 3 areas;

My Body and Skills – how the child is growing and developing

What I do and my support – the child’s experience of activities and the support they receive

My Wider World – the child’s experience fo the communities where they grow up

Packaged in a clear plastic wallet with quick reference postcards and guidance booklet included.  This comes in a Talking Mats Fair Trade bag with mat.

Please note: This resource can be purchased directly from the supplier here, or through Course Beetle when booking on to this training.

Consulting Children and Young People set - Price £228.80

The price of £228.80 is inclusive of UK delivery.  For overseas shipping please email info@coursebeetle.co.uk for a quote

Talking Mats – Best Value Bundle

This resource may be of interest

These resources cannot be sold to non-course delegates, but can be included in a Talking Mats Foundation Training course booking
  1. Health and wellbeing set  –  4 main topics (communication, looking after yourself, health, leisure and environment.) with 13 sub-topics in total
  2. Consulting children and young people set – 3 age groups (Early years, primary, secondary)
  3. Social care set – 3 topics (Activities, where you live, personal wellbeing)

Please note: This resource can be purchased directly from the supplier here, or through Course Beetle when booking on to this training.

Talking Mats Best Value Bundle £363

The price of £363 is inclusive of UK delivery.  For overseas shipping please email info@coursebeetle.co.uk for a quote.

 

Back to top

Who this course is suitable for

This course is suitable for: Careers Advisors, Children's Care Workers, Clinical Psychologists, Dieticians, Educational Psychologists, Nurses, Occupational Therapist Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Students, Primary Caregivers, Returners to Speech and Language Therapy, Social Workers, Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCo), Specialist and Advisory Teachers, Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs), Speech and Language Therapy Students

This course is suitable for a wide range of participants such as Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Teachers, Care workers and Advocacy workers, Social Workers, Nurses, Dieticians, Psychologists, Career Advisors and Rehabilitation professionals.

Back to top

Booking information

This course is presented Virtual Live – Online over Zoom

This course is available on various dates throughout the year. To view available course dates and book your place click here.

During the booking process, you can select to reserve a place instead (while you confirm you can attend or to organise payment through your employer for example). We can hold your place for up to four weeks, if we have not heard from you after this time, we may need to cancel your reservation so other people can attend the training.

Course Beetle is an approved supplier for NHS Trusts, Local Authorities and Schools.

TM

© 2026 Course Beetle | Terms & Conditions of Booking | Terms of Use | Cookies | Privacy
Website by Hammond Design