Frequently Asked Questions

Speech pathologists assesses, diagnoses, and treats all areas of communication and feeding/swallowing. This includes onset of a child’s language; how clearly children talk; how well they form sentences or use grammar; how well they listen to, understand, and follow instructions; and awareness/discrimination of sounds in words for literacy.

When there is concern about a child’s communication skills by their parent, doctor, teacher the concern is usually valid, and the child should be referred to a speech pathologist for assessment. The assessment will determine if the child is behind in any aspect of their communication and whether speech therapy is needed.

The best time to receive speech therapy depends on the type of difficulty. The majority of our clients are aged 18 months – 8 years of age. If you have any concerns about your child’s communication, seek support as soon as you are aware that they may be having difficulties as early intervention will give you the best outcomes.

The best time to receive speech therapy depends on the type of difficulty. The majority of our clients are aged 18 months – 8 years of age. If you have any concerns about your child’s communication, seek support as soon as you are aware that they may be having difficulties as early intervention will give you the best outcomes.

There are several things that we aim to do in your first session.
We will discuss your child’s developmental and medical history, which also gives your child time to settle into the environment (which is very child friendly!).

We will talk or play with your child for a short time (depending on their age) to help them feel more comfortable and to informally assess their communication skills (such as play, interaction, listening, conversation, answering questions).

Then, we generally administer formal or semi formal assessments that are specific to your child’s age and areas of concerns. These range from naming pictures, playing with toys, following specific instructions, or answering questions, and reading/spelling. The type and length of assessment depends on the age of your child and the area/s we need to assess.

If children are unable to participate in these assessment tasks we can “informally” assess children using specific techniques to observe certain aspects during play or general interactions and by asking you lots of specific questions about your child.

This is not uncommon, and we understand that being in an unfamiliar situation may impact some children more than others. We are experienced at working with children of all different personalities, and our child-friendly spaces and range of toys help children feel more at ease.

We do not want parents to feel ‘worried’ about their child’s behaviour, and for younger children we use parent-provided information as well as out observations. It is helpful to let us know if your child may be particularly shy or anxious to start off, and we can use a range of strategies and techniques.

We see children from 12 months of age. If your child is not speaking by two years of age, this is a key indicator that there is a delay, and an assessment is recommended.

Young children may go through a period of dysfluency when their language skills are rapidly developing (usually between 2 – 4 years), and they may outgrow the dysfluency. However, other children require intervention to help them eliminate a stutter. There is no way to tell if a young child will simply outgrow their dysfluency or their stuttering will persist, so it is best to seek advice early. There are simple strategies that you can implement at home.

Stuttering therapy is effective for preschool children and is easy and fun to implement. We use The Lidcombe Program, which is an evidence-based program to help young children recover from stuttering.

We try to be as flexible and as accommodating as we can, as we are a family-friendly practise and understand getting childcare for your other child’s speech therapy sessions may be not an option.

Older siblings can often be a great help in the session. We love it when older siblings come in to watch their younger brother/sister’s sessions during the school holidays (and they usually love helping).

However, you know your own children best and if you think they might not work well with their brothers/sisters around you may be able to find a time when you can come without your other children. If this is not possible, you can stay in the waiting room with their sibling/s. In this case we will bring you in for the last 5-minutes to talk about your child’s progress and home practice activities.

Speech therapy sessions are usually 30 – 45 minutes and weekly sessions are usually recommended, based on research of effectiveness. However the frequency of sessions is negotiated with parents as additional factors may also need to be taken into consideration (family commitments, financial implications).

If less frequent sessions are chosen, there is more of a commitment needed to consistently follow through recommendations at home follow up for intervention to be effective.

It is important to note that consistent attendance is important, whatever frequency is determined, as inconstant attendance will impact your child’s progress.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that your child’s difficulties will be resolved by a certain length of time or number of sessions. Your child is an individual and children progress at different rates depending on their age, and level & type of difficulty; as well as many other factors (such as intermittent hearing difficulties, chronic sickness, inconsistent attendance, the age at which they started receiving therapy). Children who need help with acquiring a few speech sounds only will usually need way fewer sessions, than a child who has a more severe difficulty.

Therapy goals are set in conjunction with families and should be clear so that you understand the aim of therapy sessions. Your child’s therapist will discuss your child’s progress towards their goals at the end of each session. We also recommend review sessions when appropriate. Of course, you (and others) should also notice improvement in your child’s communication!

Full payment is required on the day of the service for clients who attend the Sumner office.

If you are eligible for Medicare rebates you pay the full amount at the time of the session, and we will process your claim. card.

If you have a private health cover and you are eligible for rebates, you will only need to pay the gap at our Sumner office.

If you use our mobile services or are receiving NDIS funding through a plan manager, we will invoice you and you need to pay that invoice within 3 days.

In our main office in Sumner you can pay with Cash, Credit card, EFTPOS, Direct Debit.