Introduction to Clever Tortoise
why slow and steady wins the race?
A Tortoise named Colin
When I was little I had the pleasure of having a lovely, caring child minder named Marie, Marie’s house was a second home, a place I found extra siblings, ate cake, baked, did homework and lived my after school childhood. Her children were so important to me and her son Colin introduced me to the first speech and language therapist I had ever met! Weekly sessions and home practice became part of our lives for a little while and my future career (kind of).
Growing up whether it was in Marie’s house or really at home with my wonderful Mum everything was measured, steady and consistent. Nothing was left to the last minute, no homework done the night before or all nighters to prep for something. Tasks were broken down into manageable chunks and consistency was so important and really the only way to see how progress could be made.
So when it was time to start a company helping children with a wide range of emotional, social, academic, linguistic and behavioural needs it became very apparent that it had to include a tortoise - slow and steady and he had to be named Colin.
We gave Colin the tortoise a skate board - the right mentality with the right supports and you are a tortoise and a skate board.
Clever Tortoise, started as an educational supply company and expanded in 2023 to a resource and consulting company for all children and their families. Clever Tortoise offers a range of support for a wide range of child development.
Why a substack?
Five years ago I wanted to quit - a therapist with almost 15 years of experience, I had worked incredibly long, tiring, amazing and special weeks working with children with a range of additional needs including Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD and fragile x syndrome and more. I had had the pleasure of being part of so many children and their families stories and while it was at times really challenging and felt like a weighty responsibility it was also incredible. I had travelled all over London and extended support to the International School in Monaco, completed further studies, tried to diversify and expand my skill set but felt a little uninspired and a little broken and did not want anyone to have someone like that as their support.
After long conversations with my Mum, my little brother John and an amazing coach we decided that before I walked away I needed and could hand back to the community all the connections, skills, knowledge and support in the form of workshops (maybe), podcast (maybe) and a book (almost done!). So it has taken a while and life has thrown a few curve balls but here we are starting 2025 with a book to publish and a lot of information to share.
Every month in line with the Clever Tortoise (www.clevertortoise.co.uk) newsletter will be a blog relating to different aspects of child development and all the positives and negatives that that entails.
Noelle Clever’s Substack
Bsc Clinical Speech and Language Studies (Trinity College Dublin)
Msc Child, Child Development and Youth
