Imagine Speech Language Pathology is a Hong Kong-based practice led by speech therapist Imogen Dean, working across a diverse caseload - from non-verbal autistic children to lawyers and barristers preparing for public speaking. Her work spans school visits, private clients and home practice support for families.
With intense clinical days and a commitment to clear, family-friendly communication, Imogen’s ongoing challenge has been balancing high-quality therapy with the mounting admin that surrounds it.
Challenges
Imogen sees up to 10 back-to-back school clients in a morning, plus additional private clients in the afternoon - often totalling around 13 clients in a single day. Each session generates clinical notes, parent updates and home practice guidance. Without the right systems, the admin load quickly spills beyond clinic hours and into evenings and weekends.
Staying present in sessions while capturing detailed language data
“I need to be really switched on all the time, keeping the kids engaged.”
As a speech therapist, Imogen needs precise records of exact words, grammar and phrasing used in sessions. Trying to capture all of this manually while keeping children engaged led to frantic note-taking and the constant risk of missing something important.
Turning clinical notes into clear, parent-friendly updates
“It’s just been so much easier to switch off at the end of the day.”
Each session required a bridge between clinical language and family language - explaining what happened, what it means, and what to do at home. Writing these updates from scratch was time-consuming, especially when she needed to explain technical concepts in a warm, accessible way for parents and teachers.
Managing a diverse, complex caseload with generic documentation tools
“I see such a wide range of clients… lawyers and barristers, non-verbal autistic children, and everything in between.”
A standard “one-size-fits-all” note format simply didn’t work. Imogen needed documentation that could adapt to very different client groups - such as gestalt language processors with echolalia - and still reliably track the specific details that matter for each population.
Over time, Imogen tried working harder, staying later and batching admin. But the backlog persisted, and the emotional load of “unfinished notes” at the end of the week remained heavy. That changed when she leaned fully into Heidi and unlocked the pro features.
Solution
After initially using Heidi “sporadically”, Imogen upgraded to the pro features and made a conscious shift to bring it into her everyday workflow. She began consistently recording audio for all her sessions, uploading them into Heidi, and building templates tailored to her different client groups.
“Since getting access to the pro features, I've been using it so consistently.”
Now, Heidi sits quietly in the background of her clinical work - capturing sessions, generating structured notes, and turning clinical data into warm, parent-friendly communication that reflects each client’s goals.
Imogen’s top 3 favourite features:
Session audio upload and clinical notes - Imogen records sessions and uploads later so she stays present while capturing precise language for accurate documentation.
Custom templates for specific client populations - Tailored templates track spontaneity, imitation, and prompts for complex speech and language profiles.
Saved clients, goals, and rolling notes - Links session data to client goals, producing structured notes and clear family updates quickly.
Impact
“If you save five minutes for 13 patients, that’s over an hour.”
By Imogen’s estimate, Heidi saves around 5–10 minutes per client just on parent updates. On a 13-client day, that’s an hour or more reclaimed, not including the time saved on structuring clinical notes and home practice.
Key outcomes:
1+ hour saved on admin on intensive days, just on parent/teacher updates.
Reduced backlog of notes and updates at the end of the day and week.
Greater presence in sessions with children, without sacrificing detail.
More tailored documentation for specific populations (e.g. gestalt language processors).
Clearer, more accessible updates for families, directly grounded in session data.
Emotional relief and reduced stress, especially during busy periods of work.
Regaining presence in the room
“Being more present and responsive - knowing I’ve got it all audio-recorded - is really helpful.”
With Heidi handling the recording and structure of her sessions, Imogen can focus more fully on the therapeutic relationship - keeping children engaged, responsive and regulated - without sacrificing the level of linguistic detail she needs later.
From clinical jargon to parent-friendly updates
“Being able to turn that into updates and home practice for the families has been incredibly useful.”
Heidi helps Imogen transform her clinical data into friendly, plain-language updates for parents and teachers. It not only explains what happened in the session, but often “does a lot of that explaining already” - how to try strategies at home, and what different findings mean in practical terms.
Scaling a complex caseload with tailored templates
“Using Heidi has been amazing.”
Custom templates mean Imogen no longer has to squeeze every client into an ill-fitting generic note. Her gestalt language processor template, for example, captures spontaneous versus imitated language and prompts used, giving her structured, comparable data over time that actually fits the way these children communicate.
An unexpected emotional benefit
“It really has helped keep my head above water when I’ve got a tidal wave of sessions and admin coming towards me.”
What started as a documentation tool has become a buffer against burnout - especially during particularly busy stretches of clinical work.
What’s next
With Heidi in place, Imogen is freed up to deepen her clinical work and refine her systems rather than battle with her admin. She’s planning to use a quieter winter period to invest more time into building out templates across her diverse caseload - from autistic children to high-performing professionals working on public speaking. She’s also beginning to explore Heidi’s personalisation features to make outputs sound even more like her own voice.
And she’s not keeping it to herself: “I've been recommending it to my colleagues. Half of them already use it. They know it's amazing.”
Heidi is now woven into the way Imogen practices - quietly protecting her time, her focus and her sanity, so she can stay present with the children and families who need her most.
