FAQs

What is Speech Pathology and how can it help my child?

A Speech Pathologist assesses, treats and supports individuals with any communication difficulty. This includes difficulties with talking, listening/understanding, pronunciation, stuttering, social skills and reading and writing. A Speech Pathologist will assist in determining an individual’s strengths and areas to develop, and make a plan to develop their communication skills in collaboration with the parents/caregivers and their school.

What if I think my child is just a bit late to start talking?

A late talker is a child who is aged 18-30 months and has a delayed number of words they use. Late talkers are only delayed in their talking, not any other aspects of communication such as listening/understanding or social skills.

We know that 70-80% of late talkers will catch up to their peers however this means that 20-30% of late talkers will not catch up. This means that without intervention they will be likely to always be behind in their language skills which is also likely to impact their ability to learn to read and write when they go to school.

It is highly recommended that children who have any delay in their communication consult a Speech Pathologist and that parents do not ‘wait and see’ if their child catches up as the consequences can be persistent and long-term.

If my child needs therapy, how frequent does this need to be and how long will they need therapy?

As a general rule of thumb, the majority of children require weekly speech therapy sessions in order to see progress. How long your child will need therapy for is impacted by multiple factors, which include the nature of the child’s difficulty (i.e. are there multiple areas for development), the severity of the difficulty, when therapy began (the earlier the better the outcome), commitment to therapy sessions, parental/family involvement and motivation and readiness to learn by the child.

The Speech Pathologist is likely to recommend 6 month blocks of therapy where goals, progress and the need for ongoing intervention are reviewed at the end of the block. It is important to note that progress comes with commitment, consistency and lots of hard work from everyone involved, particularly parents and caregivers, as they spend the most time with their child.

Does a Speech Pathologist help children with literacy difficulties?

Yes, a Speech Pathologist does help children with literacy difficulties. Reading and writing is essentially language-based and an individual needs to be able to talk at a certain level before they can successfully learn to read and write. The Speech Pathologist cannot only help children develop literacy skills, but can also determine if a young child is at risk of developing literacy difficulties and provide preventative intervention.

My child cannot sit and attend very well, will they still be able to participate in therapy?

Speech Pathologist are used to working with a range of ages and developmental and attention levels. They have many strategies up their sleeve when working with children and it is very rare that they are unable to engage with a child. If you are concerned about this, please don’t hesitate to contact your Speech Pathologist to discuss how your child engages best (e.g. toys, visuals, motivators).