Our therapists provide assessment, therapy, and coaching to children aged 0-12 with specific concerns in the areas of communication and feeding/swallowing
0-12 YEARS
Communication
Contact us if you are worried about your child's:
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Speech sounds
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Pronouncing certain sounds
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Being easily understood
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Language
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Understanding and using words
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Forming long sentences with correct grammar
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Literacy
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Reading, writing, and spelling
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Fluency
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Speaking without getting stuck (stuttering)
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Voice
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Using a clear voice
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0-12 YEARS
Feeding & Swallowing
Contact us if you are worried about your child's:
- Eating or drinking skills
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Sucking (e.g. during bottle or breastfeeding)
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Chewing
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Swallowing
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Managing certain textures, like lumpy foods
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- Eating behaviour
- Food refusal
- Limited dietary variety ('picky eating')
- Reluctance to try new foods
- Mealtime battles
- Dependence on tube feeding
What is involved in attending speech pathology?
We always start by assessing your child's needs over 1-4 sessions. If your child attends therapy for a long time, we will assess them regularly to review their progress.
An assessment may include:
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A case history, where we discuss your child's health and development
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An observation of your child communicating in a natural way
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An oral motor assessment, where we look at your child's face, and inside their mouth
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A mealtime observation, where we watch your child eat and drink
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Structured assessment tasks, for example naming pictures or re-telling stories
Depending on the results of your assessment, we may recommend that your child attends therapy.
Therapy is when we work directly with your child on a regular basis (for example, weekly or fortnightly) to help them learn new skills.
The therapists at Protea Therapy are trained in a wide variety of therapy techniques. When choosing a therapy technique, your therapist will always consider whether it is appropriate to your child's needs and interests; and whether it is consistent with the latest scientific evidence.
We also work hard to make therapy fun and engaging for your child!
At Protea Therapy, we coach caregivers and professionals to help them learn ways to help a child with their communication and/or feeding. This may mean we sometimes ask you to attend sessions without your child.
Coaching might include:
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Talking about techniques that may help your child
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Demonstrating these techniques
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Asking you to try these techniques, and reflect on how they went
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Recording you trying these techniques so we can view the video together and discuss what works for your child
Sometimes, we may recommend you seek other services in addition to or instead of our services. For example we may recommend:
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That you seek help from other professionals (e.g. a doctor, psychologist, audiologist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, or dietitian.)
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That you see a different speech pathologist, for example someone that speaks your home language, or is located closer to your home.
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That you attend a specialist assessment service, for example a hospital swallowing clinic or a service that recommends communication devices.
We offer workshops to our current clients, clients on our waitlist, and the community. Workshops can be a great way to learn practical strategies that you can implement right away to support your child.
Your speech pathologist may recommend a specific workshop for you or other people in your child's life; or you can check out our upcoming workshops yourself by clicking here.
