Speech Therapy
What is Speech Therapy?
Speech Pathologists provide compassionate assessment, therapy, and management for individuals experiencing communication and/or swallowing challenges. Our dedicated team works across the lifespan, supporting everyone from newborns to our elderly population. At Greenhouse Paediatrics, our Speech Pathologists focus on children from infancy to 18 years of age, ensuring every child receives personalised support tailored to their unique needs. We have specialist knowledge and expertise for neurodiverse children with Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and other conditions.
Our best practice approach ensure that our intervention goals are integrated across home, school and community environments.
Where children are linked in with our Paediatricians, we ensure seamless assessment and intervention across Allied Health and Medicine, ensuring families have seamless support across services.
Our services
At Greenhouse Paediatrics, our Speech Pathology team is committed to nurturing the communication potential of children and empowering families with:
Language Development and Early Language Intervention
This service involves a holistic assessment of your child’s language abilities through both standardized assessments and engaging play-based activities. We evaluate your child’s receptive and expressive language skills:
- Receptive Language: This refers to your child’s ability to understand spoken words, interpret gestures, and follow directions.
- Expressive Language: This encompasses your child’s ability to convey their needs, wants, and ideas using words, facial expressions, and body language.
Our neuro-affirming approaches ensure that we recognize and celebrate the unique communication styles of neurodiverse children, including those with Autism and ADHD, fostering an environment where all children can thrive.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
AAC encompasses diverse methods of communication beyond spoken language. Our team conducts thorough assessments and provides device recommendations for children with limited verbal communication. We customize AAC approaches to fit each child’s unique needs, ensuring they have every opportunity to express themselves. Additionally, we offer guidance to parents, educators, and the broader community on seamlessly integrating your child’s AAC device into daily routines.
Articulation and Speech Sound Development
Speech sound development follows a natural progression from birth to around six years of age. Our assessment identifies any speech sound errors, processes, or disorders.
- Articulation: This refers to your child’s ability to produce sounds accurately.
- Speech Sounds: These are the individual sounds in words that are articulated during speech.
We apply our specialized knowledge to address the specific challenges faced by neurodiverse children in speech sound development, ensuring that our interventions are tailored to their needs.
Stuttering Intervention
Stuttering, or “stammering,” is a speech condition that affects the flow of speech. It can manifest as repetitions of sounds, syllables, or whole words, as well as prolongations or blocks. Early intervention, particularly during the preschool years, is crucial for fostering effective communication and helping children navigate their speech journey.
Swallowing & Mealtime Management
This service involves a comprehensive assessment of your child’s swallowing abilities and mealtime behaviours. Our clinicians identify any swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) and potential risks, such as choking or aspiration, while also considering your child’s dietary preferences to support their therapy goals.
Social Communication and Play Skills
Social communication involves the ability to connect and interact meaningfully with others, while play skills are about engaging voluntarily with people and activities. Our team is dedicated to enhancing these skills, empowering your child to develop friendships, engage in meaningful interactions, and learn more about themselves and their environment. Our neuro-affirming approaches ensure that we support all children in building their social communication in ways that resonate with their individual experiences.
Literacy Support
Literacy encompasses the skills needed to read and write. Our service assesses your child’s pre-literacy and literacy skills to identify specific areas for growth. Speech Pathologists then support children in developing foundational skills that are essential for successful reading and writing, with a particular focus on the needs of children with Dyslexia and other learning differences.
What other programs are offered by our Speech Pathology team?
- School Visits to integrate communication goals into school routine.
- Home visits to support families to integrate communication goals across the home environment including parent training, sibling support.
- Wanslea application support for early intervention pathways.
- Referral and assessment for language development centres.
- Kindy and Pre-Primary school screening programs
- Small group intervention programs.
- School holiday intervention programs.
- Parent information and support programs.
- Educational Resources: We offer a variety of materials aimed at increasing understanding of Autism and ADHD, equipping families with knowledge to advocate for their children’s needs.
- Telehealth Services: Recognising the importance of accessibility, we provide telehealth options for families, ensuring support is available wherever and whenever it’s needed.
At Greenhouse Paediatrics, we believe in a collaborative, inclusive approach to communication support, ensuring every child feels valued and empowered in their journey. Our specialist knowledge and neuro-affirming practices enable us to create an environment where neurodiverse children can thrive and flourish
