Leonie Kenny qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist (BSc Hons, MSc, MRCSLT, MHPC) in 2000 at University College London. She has since been working as a speech and language therapist with children and young people in London, whilst also gaining international work experience in Australia, Hong Kong, Egypt and Dublin. She has completed an MSc at City University London. Leonie combined independent and NHS work for 17 years before moving full time into independent practice in 2017.
Leonie grew up in Dublin, Ireland. From a young age, she had an interest in how people of all abilities interact and communicate. She spent much time as a teenager doing volunteer work with adults and children with special educational needs. This developed her awareness of how communication can be so complex yet often taken for granted. When she finished her schooling education, she moved to London to study speech and language therapy and soon identified this was her chosen path. Since then she has enjoyed working with a diverse range of young people and is still passionate about supporting those who struggle to communicate or develop interpersonal relationships.
Leonie has worked with children of all ages with all types of speech, language and communication needs (SCLN) in child development centres, nurseries, community clinics, special and mainstream schools and other specialist provisions. Having gained experience working collaboratively with psychologists, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, paediatricians, physiotherapists, music and play therapists, Leonie adopts a holistic approach to therapy, keeping it fun.
Leonie also has a specialist interest in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). She gained vast experience working in a wide variety of settings both in the private and public sector and in different countries, allowing her to develop her clinical knowledge base. She is able to use this specialist knowledge to support her skills in diagnosing children and young people who present with neurodevelopmental disorders and co-morbid conditions, alongside her child psychiatry and psychology colleagues. She is passionate about helping every student achieve their full potential when communicating and interacting and uses eclectic, evidence based therapy approaches to achieve this. Leonie is the member and regular attender of several special interest groups and organisations to further develop her skills whilst continuously keeping abreast of current research to support evidence based practice.