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Speech Therapy For Children

What is a speech pathologist?

Speech Therapy is provided by a speech pathologist, also known as a speech therapist, is an allied health professional who specializes in the assessment and treatment of communication, feeding, and/or swallowing difficulties.

Our speech pathologists, specializing in Speech Therapy, work with children and young people aged 0-18 years to help them overcome challenges related to speech, language, feeding and mealtimes, literacy, speech fluency, and social interaction. Additionally, they support the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods.

At Able Allied Healthcare, our speech pathologists are highly experienced and passionate about working with children, offering specialized Speech Therapy to help them succeed in all areas of their lives. We believe in meeting your child where they are and supporting them to learn and grow in the ways that work best for them.

I’ve just booked in for my initial assessment for speech therapy with a speech pathologist what should I expect?

In the initial assessment we aim to do the following:

  • Start to build a relationship with you and your child.
  • Ask you a lot of questions to understand your child’s story and your current concerns.
  • Complete any relevant assessments for speech, language, literacy, feeding and or social skills.
  • Give you time to ask us questions.
  • Start to develop some goals for therapy with you.

If you need a report after your initial session let us know and we will talk you through this process and the associated costs.

I have had my initial speech therapy assessment with a speech pathologist, now what?

Once you’ve had your initial we will book you in for therapy sessions. In therapy we:

  • Continue to build rapport and get to know each other.
  • Play! Kids learn best through play so lots of our session will facilitate this kind of learning.
  • We often don’t know how long therapy will take as each child learns at their own pace.
What can our speech pathologists help with?
A young child and a Speech therapy specialist sit at a white table with some colourful objects on it. The specialist is holding a small pink deflated balloon in her right hand resting it on the table. The Specialist is puckering her lips together, the young boy is looking at her lips and copying it.

Speech

Speech skills involve the ability to produce speech sounds correctly so others can understand what we are saying. Children with speech difficulties may have challenges putting their tongue, jaw and lips in the right place to make a sound. Following the phonological rules of when to use a certain sound in words (for example saying ‘wabbit’ instead of ‘rabbit’), and speaking clearly enough to be understood by family members and/or unfamiliar listeners.

Language

Language skills involve the ability to understand and use words to share meaning. Children with language difficulties may have challenges understanding words, following instructions, putting words together in sentences, using grammar correctly, telling or understanding stories, and asking or answering questions.

A young boy looks at the camera with his tongue poking out between his teeth. Speech Therapy | Able Kids Therapy

Feeding and Mealtimes

Feeding skills involve everything related to eating and mealtimes. Children with feeding difficulties may have challenges with biting, chewing or swallowing food or liquids, eating a variety of food types and textures, sitting at the table and joining in family mealtimes, and may cough/choke/gag on foods or drinks.

Literacy

Literacy skills involve learning to read and write effectively. Children with literacy difficulties may have challenges learning the connection between letters and sounds, putting sounds together to make words, breaking words up into their sounds, reading quickly and fluently, spelling words correctly, and understanding what they read.

young boy is looking at the camera with his right thumb and index finger resting on either side of his mouth in the corner of his lips. Speech Therapy | Able Kids Therapy

Speech Fluency (Stuttering)

Speech fluency involves speaking in sentences with natural-sounding continuity, smoothness and rate. Everyone experiences occasional moments of disfluency (e.g. saying ‘um’ when you can’t think of what to say), but children who stutter have consistent fluency difficulties including repeating parts of words (repetitions), stretching out a sound for a long time (prolongations) or having a hard time getting a word out (blocks).

Social Interaction

Social skills involve learning to engage well with others in order to build relationships. Children with social interaction difficulties may have challenges making and keeping friends, joining in with conversations, taking turns, and understanding nonverbal communication like facial expressions and tone of voice.

A young girl in a pink dress is sitting at a yellow table with a phone laying horizontal on the table in front of her. She is looking down at the phone with her left thumb pressing down onto the phone. Speech Therapy | Able Kids Therapy

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

AAC refers to the different tools and strategies that we can use to help someone communicate if they cannot get their message across through verbal speech alone. The aim of AAC therapy is to provide your child with more communication tools for their toolbox, which will help them to understand and interact with others, and to share their thoughts, feelings, wants and needs. Some common AAC tools are sign language, symbol boards, symbol books, and tablet-based communication devices.

FAQ's

Our initial sessions are 1 hour in length.

Our therapy sessions are 45minutes long.

We often don’t know how long therapy will take as each child learns at their own pace.

We do not provide a report as part of the initial assessment. If you require a report please let your therapist know and they will talk you through our reporting process and the associated costs.

Children learn best through play. It helps them to engage and is relevant to them. We use play to facilitate their learning.

Each child and their family have different needs. We will provide homework as required for each client. If you would like homework to complete please let your therapist know and they will talk you through some potential options that will meet yours and your child’s needs.

If you are unable to attend your appointment, please contact us as soon as possible and at least 48 hours before your scheduled appointment to avoid a Cancellation Fee. Please refer to our cancellation policy for further information (insert link).

At able kids we see children from ages 0 to 15 years.

Yes, we do travel within a certain radius outside of the clinic to complete therapy sessions. Please refer to our Charge for travel section for more information (insert link).

Our waitlist fluctuates for all our disciplines. We regularly review our list and will contact you when an appointment time becomes available. If you would like to join our waitlist click here (insert link). If you would like to know more about our waitlist times please contact our clinic (insert link).

You can use your NDIS funding to access therapy services including parent sessions and meetings. Depending on your NDIS plan this may also cover the purchase of resources. For further information please refer to your NDIS Local Area Coordinator or visit their website (insert link).

Still Have Questions?

If you can’t find an answer to your question in the FAQ’s below, you can always contact us and we’ll respond asap.

MEET THE SPEECH PATHOLOGY TEAM

Financial support for accessing speech pathology and occupational therapy services can be provided by:

  • The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) – We offer NDIS funded services under the Early childhood and Therapeutic Supports – Capacity Building category. We can accept clients who are plan managed or self-managed.
  • Private health insurance – All of our professionals have Medicare provider numbers, which means you may be able claim for eligible services, depending on your level of cover.
  • Medicare Chronic Disease Management Plans (CDMP) – You can claim a rebate on up to five allied health sessions per year with a referral from your GP. Please note that the rebate does not cover the full cost of sessions.
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