Speech Pathology
Offering both Adult and Children’s services
Communication is an essential skill to be an active and engaged member of your community. Our Speech Pathologists understand this and can work with you to develop these skills, and if necessary, find alternative means of communication. We will assist in giving every person an opportunity to live their fullest life.
We will follow your NDIS goals and work with you closely to break them down into workable short-term goals. These will be designed to develop the most functional and independent communication possible. We pride ourselves in developing a holistic plan for your skill development by involving and liaising closely with people that help care for you.
Therapy can include working one on one with you to assist in skill development, and/or focus on building capacity of those caring for you so they are able to assist with your skill development. We can work closely with other health professionals to provide a holistic service to your care and development, such as psychologist, GP, dietitian and other allied health providers.
The location of where we deliver these services is customized and flexible to your needs, which often includes in our clinic, care facility, work place, in the community or within your own home.
Some of the areas our team can assist with
Dysphagia Management (Difficulties Swallowing)
- Dysphagia assessment and management.
- Provision of a care plan or oral eating and drinking care plan.
- Trouble with excessing drooling and swallowing.
- Provision of texture-modified diets and fluids.
- Refusal to try foods of a certain colour or texture.
Alternative Communication Devices
- Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC): systems that enable a person to develop communication and language skills and can be used as an alternative means of communication.
Language, Communication and Social Skills:
- Language: encompasses oral, written, verbal and non-verbal modalities.
- Expressive Language: how we use language to express our needs and wants.
- Receptive Language: how we understand the words and language other people use.
- Speech: is typically broken down into three areas:
- Articulation: how we produce sounds with our lips, teeth and mouth;
- Voice: how we use our breath and vocal folds to create sounds;
- Fluency: the rhythm of speech and repetitions (i.e. a stutter).
- Social Skills: The skills we use to communicate and interact with others, including use of appropriate language and non-verbal cues, and understanding the ‘rules’ like turn taking and active listening. These skills also include conflict resolution, problem solving, risk awareness and friendship skills.
Adult Neurological Disorders:
- Adult Language problems including Aphasia.
- Parkinson’s Disease.
- Multiple Scleroses.
- Dementia.
Assessments
Individual assessments give us a snapshot of your communicative strengths and needs, and help us to tailor an individual therapy plan to work towards your goals.
If you have a National Disability Insurance Scheme Plan, we are required to conduct individual assessments at the commencement and conclusion of each plan. This assists in monitoring progress, and to report back accordingly to the NDIA.