Kid's Speech Therapy
Warm and welcoming children’s speech therapy in a caring, supportive practice in the Redlands
How does speech and language affect learning?
Speech and language skills are an essential part of learning at school, home, and in other environments. Language skills like speaking, listening, reading and writing are considered fundamental skills that are essential for basic and higher-level literacy later in life. They determine how well children learn in the school environment.
Children with language or speech disorders struggle to understand and communicate in the classroom and at home. Unfortunately, there are a wide variety of speech and language disorders that can impact a child’s learning in this way, causing trouble with:
- Understanding verbal instructions or information
- Associating sounds with letters, which impacts the ability to spell and read
- Producing sounds correctly
- Self-confidence and self esteem
- The development and maintenance of relationships
- General academic achievement
Understanding, remembering, and completing classroom tasks when they’re given in verbal form
What is a speech pathologist?
Speech pathologists are highly educated allied health professionals who diagnose and treat communication disorders. This kind of therapy can help if your child has difficulties with:
- Understanding language
- Reading
- Writing
- Speaking
- Listening
- Stuttering
- Using the voice
- Social skills
- Swallowing food and drink safely
Speech pathologists can work generally with people with communication disorders or focus on a particular segment of the population. Our speech pathologists are Certified Practising Speech Pathologists with Speech Pathology Australia (SPA).
What is a speech language pathologist?
A speech and language pathologist (SLP) is a clinician who focuses on treating communication and swallowing problems. They work with children and adults to evaluate and diagnose their communication or swallowing abilities and to develop and apply a treatment plan.
SLPs provide a wide range of therapies to help people with a wide range of disorders. These therapies can help with issues like:
- Speaking more clearly
- Forming sounds accurately
- Providing alternative communication systems for people with more severe disorders
- Exercising the muscles used to speak or swallow
- Increasing language understanding and use
- Providing education on overcoming communication and swallowing problems
Does my child need children’s speech therapy?
Talk to your family doctor first if you’re concerned about your child’s communication skills. They will be able to identify if your child’s communication skills are at the right level for their age and what to do next.
When it comes to communication difficulties in children, early intervention is key to achieving the best possible outcomes. Your child might need to have a speech pathology assessment, by a speech language pathologist, if they struggle with:
- Making and combining sounds when speaking
- Understanding when other people talk
- Using words and sentences to express their ideas
- General literacy skills
If you child struggles with the following, it would be more beneficial to see a general paediatric speech pathologist:
- Stuttering
- Hoarseness or breathiness when speaking
Private speech therapy for children
Give your child the best start possible in life with early intervention speech therapy.
What does a speech pathology assessment involve?
A speech therapy assessment will vary depending on the age of your child and their communication difficulties. These assessments evaluate a range of skills relating to communication including:
- Fluency
- Speech delays and disorders
- Alternative communication strategies
- Literacy
- Voice
- Cognitive-communication disorders
- Expressive and receptive language skills
- Social communication disorders
This reflects a huge variety of skills, which is why they can’t be evaluated through a single test. That’s why a speech pathology assessment can include:
- Formal testing
- Interviews
- Language sampling
- Conversations
- Observations during play with family members or peers
- Questionnaires
- Information from other health professionals in the child’s life
- Checklists from parents or teachers
Does my child need a hearing test first?
A child’s hearing drastically impacts their ability to speak and communicate, which is why a hearing test is recommended as a part of a speech assessment.
The Triple L Approach To Speech Therapy
What does children’s speech therapy involve?
Children’s speech therapy is highly individualised. The most effective speech therapy for kids is holistic and is based on each child’s unique needs and communication issues and can involve:
- Age-appropriate play sessions that include modelling correct sounds and syllables
- Using play, books, and pictures to stimulate interaction and language use
- Take home strategies to do speech therapy at home
- Finding alternative means of communication if necessary
How long will my child need to have speech therapy for?
Each child’s speech therapy journey will be different. Some children only require a few sessions while others may need sessions for several years. Some factors that will impact how long your child needs speech therapy are:
- Their age
- Frequency of speech sessions
- The type of communication disorder they have
- Any underlying medical conditions they have and the necessary treatments
How can I help with speech therapy at home?
There are lots of ways you can help with your child’s communication skills at home. Make sure you talk to their paediatric speech therapist first. They will probably give you a list of activities and games that you can play each day to build on what your child is learning in therapy.
You want your child to enjoy and get lots of benefits from these sessions, so try to make them fun, be patient and positive, and do the exercises regularly. You can also further support your child by:
- Encouraging them to practice
- Listening patiently and allowing them to express themselves when they talk no matter how long it takes
- Focusing on what your child can do rather than what they can’t
- Removing background noises and distractions during exercise sessions and when talking
- Reading to your child
- Praising your child when they get something correct or when they work hard