How We Help

Children with speech difficulties may be experiencing delays/disorders of articulation and phonology, childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) or stuttering. If your child is difficult to understand because of delayed or unusual speech sound error patterns, we can help by diagnosing and then carefully targeting the difficulty using tailored, structured programs.

Language difficulties may encompass delayed receptive and expressive language skills, late talkers, delayed development of play skills, reduced attention span, specific language impairment, auditory processing disorders and disorders of social communication.

Literacy is language based and successfully learning to read and spell involves five 'key' skill areas; phonemic awareness (the ability to identify and manipulate the sounds in words), phonics (the ability to read and spell words using knowledge of letter-sound relationships), vocabulary, fluency and comprehension..

Gross motor skills are those which require whole body movement and which involve the large muscles of the body. These whole body movements rely on having a strong and stable base from which to work. We often talk about ‘postural or core stability’. This refers to the muscles in our back and tummy working to hold our spine, shoulders and hips in a strong, stable position to support our engagement in gross motor skills.

Fine motor skills involve the use of the smaller muscles of the hands, commonly in activities like using pencils, cutting with scissors, doing up laces, zips and buttons, construction and opening containers. Fine motor skill efficiency significantly influences the quality of the task outcome as well as the speed of task performance.

Early handwriting skills are fundamental skills children need to develop before they are able to write. These skills contribute to the child’s ability to hold and use a pencil, and the ability to draw, write, copy, and colour.

Cognitive development means how children think, explore and figure things out. It is the development of knowledge, skills, problem solving and dispositions, which help children to think about and understand the world around them. Gaps in a child’s cognitive skills can impact their everyday skills such as solving simple problems, sustaining attention on tasks, remembering key events and following instructions.

Self care skills are an important part of development as they empower children to be independent and self-sufficient. They include the daily tasks that are required to participate in life activities.

Eating, drinking, feeding and mealtime management are an area of development that can be support by both Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists. Read more here about the ways we can support positive mealtimes and confidence developing the skills to be a healthy, happy eater.

Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (OMT) is an interdisciplinary practise that works with the muscles of the lips, tongue, cheeks and face and their related functions (breathing, sucking, chewing, swallowing and aspects of speech development). Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy aims to correct disorders of the muscles and functions of the face, mouth, lips, or jaw - known as orofacial myofunctional disorders, which are very common in childhood.

Self-regulation is a person’s ability to manage and control their energy level, emotions, behaviours and attention. Self-regulation skills are developed from early childhood.

Sensory processing refers to how we process and respond to sensory information around us. The human body takes in sensory input from all the sensory systems, organises it in the brain for functional use, and then sends out signals to the rest of the body to activate the appropriate motor, behaviour, or emotional response.

Play is the voluntary engagement in self-motivated activities that are normally associated with pleasure and enjoyment. Play may consist of pretend or imaginary, constructive, interpersonal (play with others) or intrapersonal (solitary play) interactions. Play is the way that children learn about the environment, their bodies and their place in the world around them.

Social interaction is the exchange between two or more individuals and is a building block of society. As a team we are striving towards a pro neurodiversity approach which means not trying to make our clients fit in to a neurotypical way of behaving but rather supporting people to better understand their differences and raising awareness and building confidence to embrace individuality whilst being able to meet their personal goals and aspirations.