Mary first became aware of the benefits of cognitive learning and e-learning when it was recommended that her daughter should undertake a Fast ForWord® course by Great Ormond Street Hospital.

After only a few weeks of home study, Mary witnessed a significant and life changing improvement in her daughter’s language and auditory processing skills.

Mary, already a graduate in environmental science, became increasingly fascinated by the potential these therapies offered and she then began to her build her own expertise as a coach and training provider. This included studying with a London-based independent speech and language therapist who was already a registered provider of Fast ForWord® together with additional teacher based training in classroom literacy and language skills.

In 2008 Mary gained full certification to deliver these therapies and established Smart Processing.

Smart Processing provides Fast ForWord®, The Listening Program® and The Movement Program e-learning to schools and to children and adults across the UK and Europe.

A professional, supportive and individual service is guaranteed at all times. Mary Kidson is registered with the Data Protection Act (2018) as a Data Controller and is a member of The Federation of Small Businesses.

Having supported and coached my own daughter and seen the significant difference the The Listening Program® and Fast ForWord® software can make, I knew that I wanted to share this knowledge with other people and help change lives for the better.

Many of you reading this will be aware that in 2013 my daughter was suddenly without warning removed from my care. We not been involved with Social Services, so it was a huge shock when Social Services and the police just turned up and removed my daughter and arrested me. Some light was shed on the situation when in the court papers there were around 12 letters from my ex-husband (that we knew nothing of) writing to various professionals – not once did he say how well our daughter was, how well she was doing and how the treatment that she had received had transformed her life for the better. My daughter saw her father every week and he appeared to be supportive and was continually saying how well she was doing – very different to the letters he wrote. We have been divorced for 20 years (in 2026).

It is only now over 10 years later that I feel that I can write about this hugely traumatic event.

There is too much to go into detail here and there is a book giving more details. However, as a potential customer you need to know that not only was I fully acquitted from all charges levelled at me (the judge ruled that there was no case to answer), but, that also in the Family Court I was fully acquitted of the allegation that I had Fabricated and Induced Illness (FII) – I had a full psychological assessment (ordered by the court), and this very clearly stated that I did not have FII, any mental illness nor any personality disorder.

You may wonder why the authorities continued with their false allegations. If only we knew, but we do know that they said that they didn’t agree with the court’s findings! How ridiculous.

My book is published. The title is: ‘Legally Abducted, The Shocking True Story of a Mother’s Fight for Justice’. It is available on Amazon here

A lot has happened since my daughter came back home. Most notable is that the council involved (Herefordshire) was found to be inadequate by OFSTED for many years and High court cases found them to have many failings. These cases led to national media attention (BBC, Panorama) and highlighted systemic issues within their children's services, resulting in orders for major improvements. I was able to obtain a verbal apology (in a recorded meeting) for what they had done to us and they funded trauma treatment for my daughter.

Only this year (2026), the trauma that I experienced has been acknowledged. This has been due to a major academic report published by the charity Cerebra titled ‘Systems Generated Trauma’ (available on the cerebra.org website) which highlights the trauma caused by institutions to families especially when they ask for help. Instead of getting the help that they need they are met with accusations, court cases, criminal charges and children separated from their primary care givers. There are many, many families affected in this way in the UK especially those whose children have Special Educational Needs.

I am fully free to run my business and to work with children – if there were any concerns, I would have been stopped.

Please do contact me if you have any further questions.