Speech & Language Therapy
Speech and Language therapists understand that speech and language skills are not only what we say but how we say it. They know that the way we use language and respond to language is an important developmental milestone and how not being able to understand or find the right words can be terribly frustrating and challenging in a world that is never quiet.
Speech and Language Therapy uses a play based approach to diagnose and treat a range of communication disorders.
If your child is difficult to understand or cannot say particular sounds, or mixes up their sounds, a Speech Therapist can help. A Speech Therapist can also help, if your child can’t seem to remember instructions or has word finding difficulties.
Speech and Language therapy also helps children with social communication skills such as turn-taking, negotiating with friends, staying on topic and understanding the pragmatics of language. Pragmatics are the skills we use in our daily interactions with others and includes not only what we say and how we say it but also using and interpreting non-verbal communication such as eye contact, facial expressions and body language.
Speech Therapists collate all of this information together to determine the cause of a child’s speech and language difficulty and provide useful, everyday strategies to make their lives easier and more joyful.
Our SLT’s are trained to address the following communication challenges:
Autism Spectrum disorder
Language based engagement and interactions
Receptive and expressive language delays
Auditory processing
Social skills
Play development
Articulation and phonological delays
Phonological awareness and early literacy skills.
Our therapists each have individual training in a range of approaches including:
The Hanen Program
Social Thinking
Picture exchange communication system (PECS)
Prompt
DIR/Floortime
Our Speech and Language therapist will talk to you about your concerns and devise an appropriate assessment plan. Assessments will take between 1-2 hours and will use a mixture of both standardised and non-standardised assessments. A comprehensive report with strategies and recommendations will be thoroughly discussed at the feedback meeting.
Testimonial
““My daughter Aahana attended therapy sessions with Ms. Rachel for about a year. These sessions have brought a great change in Aahana’s development both academically and socially. Ms. Rachel has been able to encourage her, motivate her and boost her confidence in various tasks. Her contribution in Aahana’s progression in critical thinking, brainstorming and organizing the thoughts into write ups, is commendable. She has always been very helpful and patient with us parents through the entire therapy journey, which demonstrates her quality as an experienced therapist.””