Speech Pathology for Children

Supporting clear, confident communication through speech therapy.

Our Method

Our methods are empowering, evidence-based and designed to build lasting skills beyond the clinic.

Our Approach

We create a warm, playful environment that makes learning feel joyful and motivating. We believe in the full potential of every child.

Speech Therapy for Children

Speech Pathology and Language Therapy in Bondi Junction, Sydney

Speakable is an experienced speech pathologist and language therapist clinic in Bondi Junction, Sydney, helping toddlers, kids and teenagers overcome speaking and listening challenges. We also address reading and learning, Cogmed, ADD, accent reduction and confidence coaching.

We have a team with experience in speech therapy for children

Our treatment programs evolve with the latest advancements and offer you the previously agreed results. Each program is rigorously tested and proven before being introduced to ensure only evidence-based treatments you can trust are used. This ensures you and your child are empowered with the skills and strategies to overcome speaking and listening challenges and happily succeed.

Our approach forges speech pathology and language therapy results.

We are energetic, compassionate and integrity driven. We create a fun environment which makes learning happy and effortless.

Speech Therapy for Toddlers & Babies

What is early intervention?

Early intervention is the belief in Speech Therapy, that the earlier a child receives therapy, the higher their chances of success in therapy. Many studies have proven the effectiveness of early intervention.

What are the common concerns of parents?

Parents often contact us when their toddlers have the following issues: “My child has problems speaking, even though s/he seems to understand everything that I say.” “My child is very active and can’t sit still.” “People cannot understand what my child says.” “My child is almost 3 now and can only babble and say a few words.” “My child is very talkative but people find it hard to understand him/her.”

What is the process?

First your Speech Pathologist will ask you about your child’s medical and developmental history. They will then assess their speech, language, and play skills. These guidelines will tell the clinician where your child is, on the developmental scale. We work as a team with parents, teachers and family members to design an individual program for your child. We want to offer results and do what we can in order for your child achieve the best possible outcomes.

Where can I get more information?

You can contact Speakable via email or phone, if you have any questions or concerns.

Expressive & Receptive Dysphasia

What is Expressive and Receptive Language Disorder?

Expressive Language disorder is characterised by a limited vocabulary, difficulty constructing complex sentences, and trouble remembering words. A child with this disorder may struggle to express themselves through their own use of language. For example, they may understand and enjoy listening to stories, but have difficulty explaining what had happened in their own words.

Our expressive language includes the ability to:

• Ask questions

• Name objects

• Form complex sentences

• Remember songs and rhymes accurately

• Maintain a topic in conversation

If your child does not have difficulty with these skills, and has trouble understanding language, they may have Receptive Language Disorder. Children rely on receptive language skills to participate in everyday activities, such as: following instructions in class, learning new games in the playground, and understanding stories. Receptive Language Disorder is when a person has difficulty with processing and understanding language.

Where can I get more information?

To learn more about Receptive Language Disorder, see below.

To learn more about Expressive Language Disorder, see below.

Apraxia

What is Apraxia?

Apraxia is also referred to as Dyspraxia or Child Apraxia of Speech (CAS).It is a motor speech disorder. The brain has difficulty communicating to the parts of the body that are used to produce speech, such as the lips, jaw and tongue. Apraxia impacts on the speaker’s ability to coordinate and sequence their speech muscles.

What does Apraxia look like?

What causes Apraxia?

The causes of Apraxia are neurological in nature. However, in most cases, the definite cause of Apraxia is unknown.

How does Speakable treat Apraxia?

Speakable employs the Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme for children aged 3-7 years, as well as the Rapid Syllable Transition Treatment (ReST).

Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme: Frequent and focused practice sessions (such as 3-4 times per week), at Speakable and at home, can increase the chances of success in therapy. Within the program, the Speech Pathologist builds on the child’s strengths, such as the sounds and words they can already produce. For example, therapy may begin targeting syllables the child can produce, and in due course, build up to word combinations and sentences.
Rapid Syllable Transition Treatment (ReST): The ReST treatment uses non words to allow individuals to concentrate on their movements, and remove the impact of old words which already have errors and allows clinicians to make words specifically for each individual’s needs.

How long does it take?

As every child is unique and may respond differently to therapy, there is no exact time frame for treatment for Apraxia.

What can I do?

By contacting Speakable you have already taken the first steps to help your child make progress with Apraxia. If your child is currently non-verbal due to Apraxia, do not shy away from using gestures, sign language, and visual cues. This will not hinder their speech development, and can help reduce frustration when they are trying to communicate a message. Practice, practice, practice! Speak to your therapist to be advised on how you can incorporate therapy into every day activities.

Where can I get more information?

For more information on the program visit The Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme website For support for caregivers of children with Apraxia visit SLP Mommy of Apraxia

Auditory Processing

What is Auditory Processing?

Auditory Processing, or Central Processing Auditory Disorder (CAPD), is another term for our ‘listening skills’; our ability to process the information we hear.

To achieve this we rely on the functions of our outer, middle and inner ear, and the auditory nerve that connects the inner ear to the brain. Children with difficulties in Auditory Processing may be able to hear sounds in a quiet room; however, they may have trouble distinguishing between sounds in words. It is also difficult for them to hear when there is background noise, such as when they are in playgrounds, or in a busy classroom.

These skills are very important for a child to participate in a classroom environment. Without being able to recognise words consistently, understanding what the teacher’s say can be difficult. However, with the right therapy, a child can still be successful in school.

What are the signs of Auditory Processing Disorder?

Your child may:

• Be easily distracted by sudden noises

• Find noisy environments upsetting

• Have difficulty following directions

• Appear forgetful

• Have trouble doing verbal math problems

How does a Speech Pathologist assess Auditory Processing?

Your Speech Pathologist may refer your child to an Audiologist for an assessment.

How does Speakable treat Auditory Processing?

At Speakable we use the Listening Program to treat Auditory Processing. For more information on this program click here.

What causes Auditory Processing difficulties?

The specific causes of Auditory Processing difficulties are still unknown, however, in some cases chronic ear infections have been shown to play a role.

What can I do to help?

Speech Pathology can help your child develop their Auditory Processing. Your therapist will also provide you with strategies to assist your child at home and in the classroom. Here is a brief list of strategies to help:

• Limit background noise (such as TVs or radios)

• Make sure your child can see your face

• Wait for a quiet moment before giving instructions

• Speak clearly and at a slower pace than usual

• Check for understanding and repeat if necessary. If your child still does not understand, say it a different way

• Encourage your child to confidently ask people to repeat themselves when necessary

Where can I get more information?

Treatments for Auditory Processing Disorder

Stuttering or Stammering

What is Stuttering?

Stuttering is defined as a “disruption of the fluency of one’s speech”. It can take different forms which vary in severity:

• Repetitions of whole words: “Mum-Mum.”

• Repetitions of sounds: “M-m-m-um.”

• Prolongations: Drawn-out sounds such as “Muuuuuum.”

• Blocks: Blocking is when it looks like the speaker is unable to let the sound out. Blocks may be silent or audible.

Stuttering can have a variety of features. A person who stutters may also:

• Have facial or body tics.

• Avoid particular sounds, words or phrases because they know it will trigger a stutter.

Is stuttering a typical part of development?

Stuttering is not a typical part of development, however occasionally even adults will repeat words when speaking. Word repetition, on its own, is not considered a major concern, however if you are unsure it is recommended that you seek assessment by a Speech Pathologist.

Will my child grow out of their stutter without treatment?

A common misconception about stuttering is that children will “grow out” of their stutter. Although it is true some children naturally recover from stuttering, there is currently no way to distinguish these children early on, from children who will continue to stutter into their adult lives. As Speech Pathologists we aim to treat all stutters, to minimise the impact it may have on other areas of life.

How is stuttering measured?

Within assessment Speech Pathologists take a baseline measure of a natural conversational sample. It is important interaction is as natural as possible, so the therapist can get a good representation of the child’s stutter. Measures are taken in every treatment session because stuttering is known to fluctuate in severity. This way the therapist can monitor progress. The Speech Pathologist will then calculate the following measures:

• Percent Syllables Stuttered: Calculated by the number of stutters divided by the number of syllables spoken.

How is stuttering treated?

Parental participation in therapy can greatly increase the child’s chances of success. This is especially true within the realm of stuttering. Therefore it is likely your Speech Pathologist will encourage parents, teachers, and the child’s other main conversational partners to become involved in therapy. At Speakable we use recent, evidence-based approaches to treat stuttering, known as the Lidcombe program. Please click here for more information.

What can I do?

1. Praise your child when they use fluent (“smooth”) speech by saying something like, “That was really smooth!”

2. Encourage self-correction. Help your child tune into their own fluency by asking questions like, “Were there any bumps there?”

3. Interrupt your child’s speech when they stutter by saying something like “Oh that was bumpy.” You can also interrupt them with the word they are attempting to say. For example, if your child stutters on the word ‘banana’, encourage them to self-correct by saying, “Do you want to say banana smoothly?”

Where can I get more information?

Check out the Australian Stuttering Research Centre

Read Caroline Bowen’s explanation of stuttering for parents

Verbal Dyspraxia

What is Verbal Dyspraxia?

Verbal Dyspraxia is also referred to as Apraxia or Child Apraxia of Speech (CAS). It is a motor speech disorder. The brain has difficulty communicating to the parts of the body that are used to produce speech, such as the lips, jaw and tongue. Apraxia impacts on the speaker’s ability to coordinate and sequence their speech muscles.

What does Verbal Dyspraxia look like?

The signs and symptoms of Apraxia can vary, however common features include: unusual rhythm and inflections, producing syllables and words inconsistently (differently each time), and difficulty transitioning from one syllable to another. <h4style=”color:#FB3449;”>What causes Verbal Dyspraxia? The causes of Apraxia are neurological in nature. However, in most cases, the definite cause of Apraxia is unknown.

How does Speakable treat Verbal Dyspraxia?

The Nuffield Programme Speakable employs the Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme for children aged 3-7 years. This program requires frequent and focused practice sessions (such as 3-4 times per week), at Speakable and at home, to increase the chances of success in therapy. Within the program, the Speech Pathologist builds on the child’s strengths, such as the sounds and words they can already produce. For example, therapy may begin targeting syllables the child can produce, and in due course, build up to word combinations and sentences. PROMPT Therapy PROMPT stands for Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets. This therapy approach is carried out only by trained professionals. It is described as a tactile approach, in which the clinician uses their hands to provide touch cues to a patient’s articulators (jaw, tongue, lips) to support them to produce a sound, word, or sentence. PROMPT follows a hierarchy of stages: 1. New phoneme or syllable 2. Previously learnt phoneme or syllable 3. Using phonemes and syllables to make words 4. Programmed words or phrases

How long does treatment take?

As every child is unique and may respond differently to therapy, there is no exact time frame for treatment for Apraxia.

What can I do?

Where can I get more information?

For more information on the program visit The Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme website For support for caregivers of children with Apraxia visit SLP Mommy of Apraxia PROMPT therapy

Expressive Language Disorder

What is Expressive Language Disorder?

Our expressive language includes the ability to:
• Ask questions
• Name objects
• Form complex sentences
• Remember songs and rhymes accurately
• Maintain a topic in conversation

If your child does not have difficulty with these skills, and has trouble understanding language, they may have Receptive Language Disorder.

How is it assessed?

For ages 5 and above:

At Speakable we use the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) to assess people from ages 5 to 21 years of age. The CELF allows insight into many areas of language: morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and phonological awareness. Although it can over an hour to administer, the CELF is valuable as it allows therapists to compare the child’s language to others of the same age group.

For ages 5 and below:

For younger children your Speech Pathologist may use the Renfrew Action Picture Test (RAPT) and Renfrew’s Bus Story Test. These tests are norm-referenced, meaning it allows the therapist to compare the child’s performance to children of the same age group. Both tests are short and simple, and do not take long to administer. They informs us of the child’s ability to retell a story.

How does Speakable treat Expressive Language disorder?

Firstly a Speech Pathologist will conduct a thorough assessment of your child’s language abilities. This allows therapy to be guided by your child’s strengths and areas of improvement. Therapy to treat Expressive Language Disorder varies greatly, depending on the needs of the child.

What can I do?

At Speakable it is likely your Speech Pathologist will provide you with activities to do at home. However the following strategies have been shown to help children develop expressive language overall:

• Daily reading time:

See our blog post for advice on effective reading time.

• Naming objects you see:

In everyday activities, don’t be afraid to point to items you and your child can see. Encourage them to name the item, or explicitly teach them. For example, when food shopping, you can play a game where you take turns naming as many things as you can. Even by demonstrating naming, you are already helping your child expand their vocabulary.

• Encourage your child to use their words:

A lot of children who have speech and language difficulties have found ways to disguise this fact. For example, they may point at an item instead of asking for it. Gently remind your child to “use your words.” You can also model to your child how they can use their words and ask them to copy you.

• Ask them questions:

Throughout the day there are many opportunities to ask questions. Perhaps you have just watched something on television, saw a poster, or saw an event in the park. For example, you can ask your child, “What just happened with the lady in the park?” and if their response is short, encourage them to expand by saying, “How can we put that in a sentence?”

• Teach your child to summarise their day:

At the end of the day you and your child can draw some pictures about what you did that day. Then you can ask them to tell a story using those pictures. For example, “Look, Daddy has come home! Why don’t you tell him what we did today using your words and our pictures?”

Where can I get more information?

For information on delay and strategies see:The Hanen Program

To understand the difference between a Language Disorder and a Learning Disability see Smart Speech Therapy

Receptive Language Disorder

What is Receptive Language Disorder?

Receptive language is a cornerstone for communication. Children rely on receptive language skills to participate in everyday activities, such as: following instructions in class, learning new games in the playground, and understanding stories. Receptive Language Disorder is when a person has difficulty with processing and understanding language. As we must understand how language works before we can use it, children with Receptive Language Disorder are likely to have trouble with their Expressive Language (check above)

How is Receptive Language Disorder assessed?

Your Speech Pathologist will conduct a:

• Detailed case history: They may ask you about your child’s family, medical and birth history.

• Literacy assessment: including spelling, reading, writing and comprehension of written texts.

• A standardised test: When a test is standardised it means that all tests are executed in the same way, enabling the individual’s results to be compared to others of the same age. This provides us with a standardised measure of a child’s performance. There are a variety of standardised tests to choose from, however, at Speakable we use the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) to assess those from ages 5 to 21 years of age. The CELF allows insight into many areas of language: morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and phonological awareness. It can take up to an hour to administer. In terms of receptive language, the CELF allows us insight into their ability to:

o Understand and follow directions

o Comprehend spoken paragraphs

o Understand concepts

o Structure sentences

The CELF has different versions, tailored to the child’s age. For example, for preschoolers Speakable uses the CELF-2. The CELF-2 is designed to measure the child’s language skills, and how prepared they are to enter the classroom. The CELF-2 takes up to 45 minutes to administer, and consists of:

o A variety of subtests

o Pre-literacy tests (such as Phonological Awareness)

What are the norms for receptive language?

Here is a brief overview of what is considered typical developmental norms:

1-2 years

o Identifies 3 body parts

o Follows simple or repetitive routines

o Able to follow 1-2 part instructions in order

o Can choose 5 familiar objects upon request

2-3 years

o Answers questions like: “What did you see?”, “Find one like this”, “What is this?”, and “What did you hear/touch?”

o Follows instructions with two pieces of information (when there is more than one choice)

o Understands concepts such as: on/off, big/little, hot/cold, under, and out of.

o Follows 3 stage instructions

3-4 years

o Answers questions like, “What is happening?”, “Finish this …” and who, what, where questions.

o Understands concepts such as: hard/soft, tall/short, rough/smooth, empty/full, clean/dirty, wet/dry, open/shut, in front/behind, and next to.

4-5 years

o Answers questions like, “What will happen next?”, “What could he say?”, “Tell this story”, “How are these not the same?” and “Tell me how.”

o Understands concepts such as: more/less, fast/slow, between/above, below/top, bottom, beside, heavy/light, loud/soft, long/short, fat/thin, high/low.

What can I do?

Speak to your Speech Pathologist for further information. Other things you can do include:

• Check for understanding.

• Repeat yourself: if your child does not understand, especially when giving instructions.

• Describe: For example, when getting ready in the morning you could say “I am putting the butter on the toast,” or, “I’m putting the shoes under the table.” It can be helpful to emphasise a word in a sentence, and repeat the example many times.

• Get training on Indirect Language Stimulation: If your child is below the age of 3, you can use Indirect Language Stimulation (ILS) to help develop their receptive language skills. This gives the child the opportunity to learn about how language works. An example of ILS is the Hanen Program.

Where can I get more information?

7 Activities to Help Develop Receptive Language

Understood.org’s explanation of receptive language issues

Speech Delay

Parents need not be too worried about their children’s pronunciation until the children are about three to seven years old. It is at around this time that they begin to be able to correctly pronounce consonants like B, P, M and H. If your child doesn’t talk even when seeming very interested in the letters of the alphabet, or is able to identify letters like A or Z by the age of two, you might have to be concerned, as this would be atypical. Parents worried that their infants might have delayed verbal skills should consult a GP or even Speech and Language Pathologists to determine an appropriate course of action or therapy. Learn more about the differences between Speakable’s speech therapies for babies and toddlers and the ones for older children.

The Listening Program

What is the Listening Program?

Dr. Tomatis, an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist, spent over 50 years studying the act of listening. He found that by using auditory stimulation you can improve people’s listening abilities. His approach was coined the Tomatis Method. It has been shown to: • Improve brain function • Reduce stress • Increase ability to listen, learn and communicate

Who is it for?

The Listening Program can be used for people of all ages. It is designed specifically for: • Those with auditory processing difficulties • Typically developing children • Adult learners

How long and how often?

The listening schedule is outlined as follows: • 15 minutes daily for 5 days, for 20 weeks, or • 2 x 15 minutes daily, for 5 days, for 10 weeks

Where can I get more information?

• See The Listening Program’s website

Pragmatic Speech Disorder

What does Pragmatics mean?

Pragmatics is a broad term used to describe our social skills, such as:

• Eye contact

• Body language and gestures

• Proximity (how we position ourselves physically)

• Facial expressions

• Initiating, maintaining and changing topics in conversation

• Choosing appropriate topics in conversation

• Responding to others

• Pauses

• Repairing the conversation

• Using intonation to convey meaning

• Interrupting

• Taking turns

Your child will use pragmatic skills from as early as 12 months old. For example, when a child responds verbally to you (this includes babbling and indistinguishable noises) they are demonstrating pragmatics. However, we use these social skills for the rest of our lives. The classic example of the importance of pragmatics is meeting somebody who invades your personal space. Not standing too close to somebody is an unwritten social skill, and yet it is a behaviour we must learn in childhood.

What are the norms for Pragmatic development?

8-12 months

• Uses gestures and vocalisations to request objects, refuse, comment and play games.

• Plays for up to 2.5 minutes at one time.

12-18 months

• Plays for up to 5 minutes at one time.

• Uses words to request objects, refuse, comment and play games.

18-24 months

• Plays for up to 7.5 minutes at one time.

• Can request information, answer questions, and acknowledge others.

24-30 months

• Can hold a conversation on one topic for a longer period of time.

• Uses symbolic play, talks about absent objects, uses humour such as lying and teasing.

• Tells a narrative mostly comprised of descriptions (which may not contain a beginning, middle or an end).

30-36 months

• Can continue holding a topic for longer, and adding more information to the conversation.

• Asks for clarification (e.g. asking for more information if they do not understand).

• Increases use of language in play.

• Narratives become more sequential (cause and effect).

42-48 months

• Talks about past events.

• Makes predictions.

• Expresses empathy.

• Maintains interactions.

48-60 months

• Responds to requests for clarification, such as changing what they have said or repeating themselves to aid understanding.

• Narratives develop into chains, without conflict or resolution.

5-7 years

• Narratives develop a focus, conflict and resolution.

7-9 years

• Adds motivations and character reactions to narratives.

• Language is used for social status.

9-12 years

• Understands non-literal use of language (e.g. riddles and jokes).

• Language is used to create social bonds.

What causes Pragmatic Speech Disorder?

The following conditions can result in Pragmatic Speech Disorder, however, pragmatic difficulties can occur in isolation with no obvious cause:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder

• Intellectual disability

• Language disorders

• Specific Learning disorders

How do Speech Pathologists assess Pragmatics?

Similar to other areas of communication, children are expected develop pragmatic skills at certain times. A Speech Pathologist may observe your child in natural conversation or a play session, to identify whether or not they have reached these milestones. They will observe how your child interacts with others and how they can improve.

How does Speakable treat Pragmatic Speech Disorder?

Pragmatics is one area of communication development which is mostly tailored to the individual. In other words, therapy will target the specific skills the child is having difficulty grasping. Depending on the child’s age, the Speech Pathologist may model the behaviours and use repetition, or they may explicitly teach the skill, by explaining it in the gentlest way possible.

What can I do?

As with most communication disorders, the caregivers have the opportunity to demonstrate the skills the child needs to learn. You can help by selecting a skill and modelling it in every day life through repetition and oral explanations.

For example, if your child is not making eye contact, you can model this throughout the day:

1. Provide praise and say, “I really like the way you looked at me when you spoke to me.”

2. Prompt them to increase the behaviour, “Look at my eyes when you’re speaking. Well done!”

3. Model it yourself and narrate the action, by saying “I am looking at Grandpa in the eyes when we’re talking. This way he knows I am listening to him. Watch me.”

It is also recommended you ask your Speech Pathologist for activities to do at home with your child. It is well documented that family participation greatly increases a child’s chances of success in therapy.

Where can I get more information?

See the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s explanation of Pragmatics by clicking here.

See Caroline Bowen’s detailed explanation of Pragmatics by clicking here.

Articulation Disorder

What is Articulation Disorder?

Articulation is when we use our ‘articulators’ (tongue, lips, larynx, teeth, hard palate, velum, jaw, nose and mouth) to generate comprehensible speech. An Articulation Disorder is when something has gone awry with our articulators and how they coordinate with each other. This results in an inability to carry out the motor act to produce individual sounds. Articulation disorder is not to be confused with Phonological Disorder; however both are speech sound disorders.

It is important to note that accents are not a speech sound disorder. If you would like to learn about accent reduction, please see our page.

What is the difference between typical speech errors and Articulation Disorder?

Children make speech errors as a part of their development. Sounds can be substituted, omitted or added. These error patterns act as training wheels, as we expect them to disappear at certain ages. For example children may say “wabbit” instead of “rabbit”, substituting the “r” sound with the “w”. This error pattern is only considered a concern once used past a certain age, and as a result the child’s speech becomes difficult for others to understand.

How do Speech Pathologists assess Articulation Disorder?

Your Speech Pathologist at Speakable may conduct a:

• Thorough case history

• Oral motor examination

• Picture naming test

• Speech language sample

How do is Articulation Disorder treated?

Clinicians follow a hierarchy when treating Articulation Disorders. Lets use the g sound as an example:

• The sound on its own: “g”

• The sound in a syllable: “ga”

• Short words containing the sound: “gap”

• The sound in longer words: “gate”

• The sound in sentences: “I giggled at the girl.”

• The sound in different positions in words. At the beginning: “girl”, in the middle: “wiggle” and at the end: “dig”.

What does Articulation Disorder look like?

Articulation disorder may present in some of the following ways:

• Facial asymmetry

• Jerky tongue movements

• Slow speech

• Inability to repeat sounds

• Asymmetrical or sagging lips

What are the norms for articulation development?

There are many norm lists available online, however not all of them are accurate. Here is a brief overview of what age these sounds typically develop:

3: h, w, b, p, t, d, m, n, k, g, y, zh, ng

3;6: f

4;0: l, sh, ch

4;6: j, s, z

5;0: r

6;0: v

8;0: th (voiced, e.g th in thing)

8;6: th (voiceless, e.g. th in thank)

What causes Speech Sound Disorders?

Often speech sound disorders are present without a known cause. However the following physical problems can result in a Speech Sound Disorder:

• Hearing loss or recurring ear infections

• Illness

• Neurological disorders (e.g. Cerebral Palsy)

• Developmental disorders (e.g. Autism)

• Genetic disorders (e.g. Down Syndrome)

Where can I get more information?

Some websites can confuse Articulation Disorder and Phonological Disorder, so it is important to find sites which are evidence-based, such as:

Check out the Caroline Bowen

Read the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) website for more information on the assessment of Articulation Disorder

Pediatric Speech Therapy

What is Pediatric Speech Pathology?

Many people believe that Speech Pathology is simply about “helping people speak.” Although this statement is partially true, Speech Pathology covers a much broader spectrum of disorders. Speech Pathologists must complete a 4 year degree to gain a Bachelor in Speech Pathology, in order to develop a wide range of specific skills to help your child. We can break it down under the following 10 areas:

Language

• Articulation: the physical action of producing speech

• Semantics: concepts and the meanings within words

• Phonology: understanding the sounds within words

• Morphology: the structure of words

• Pragmatics: social skills such as volume, eye contact

• Syntax: grammar and sentence structure

Literacy

• Reading

• Spelling

• Writing

• Comprehension

• Fluency:

• Stuttering

• Voice:

• Voice disorders

• Memory:

• Short term memory

• Working memory

• Cognition:

• Processing speed

We work with many paediatric populations, including children who experience:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

• Cerebral Palsy

• Children with Speech Delay

• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

• Dyslexia

• Hearing Loss

Where can I get more information?

• Speech Pathology Australia

Speech Impairment

What are Speech Impairments?

At Speakable we treat a variety of Speech Impairments, the most common of which are:

•Articulation Disorder

• Phonological Disorder, when children with phonological disorder do not use some or all of the speech sounds expected for their age group.

• Apraxia

Lidcombe Program

What is the Lidcombe Program?

The Lidcombe Program is an evidence-based, behavioural treatment for young children who stutter. The program was created by a group of speech pathologists and researchers at the Australian Stuttering Research Centre (The University of Sydney).

How is the program carried out?

The treatment is carried out by a parent or carer in the child’s daily environment. During clinic visits, the speech pathologist shows the parent how to administer the treatment, observe and give essential feedback about how they are going with the treatment. This is a direct approach where the parent comments directly and positively about the child’s speech. The child is praised instantly when speaking smoothly. The parent only occasionally comments on the child’s speech when he/she stutters.

Stages

There are 2 stages. During stage 1, the parent performs the treatment each day and attends the speech clinic once a week with the child. This stage continues until stuttering either disappears or reaches an extremely low level. Stage 2 commences at this point. The goal is to keep stuttering away for at least one year.

Does the Lidcombe Program work?

Yes! Independently replicated clinical trials show that the program does work to get rid of stuttering. The treatment is safe as parent-child relationships and other aspects of communication do not seem to be affected. The children are reportedly more outgoing and talk more after attending the program because they are no longer stuttering.

How long does it take?

Approximately 12 clinic visits to get to the point where stuttering has gone or is at an extremely low level. Next, 3 more clinic visits are required before stage 2 begins. During stage 2, there are fewer visits to the clinic. Children with more severe stuttering will usually take a little longer.

How can I get more information?

Call us on 8021 6356 for a chat about your child’s stuttering or if you have any questions about the Lidcombe Program.