The Kids First Blog

Speech therapy for Children: What to expect?

It’s very normal to be a little unsure of what to expect when taking your child to speech therapy for the first time.

Kids First’s experienced speech pathologists have helped thousands of children develop strong communication skills and confidence in their ability to communicate effectively. Get their insider tips here…

Before your first speech therapy appointment at Kids First

• When you contact our lovely customer service team, you will speak to either Louise or Wendy.  In this first conversation, you will discuss your child and their age, along with any concerns or questions you may have.
  
  
• Louise or Wendy will ask about your availability and provide you with appointment options with one of our experienced speech pathologists, Rebecca, or Hannah.
  
  
• A Welcome Pack will be sent to your email address. Along with the details of your first appointment, your Welcome Pack includes a questionnaire for you to fill out before your child’s first session with their speech pathologist. 
  
  
• The information you provide will ensure that your therapist has a comprehensive picture of your child’s needs and skills and details the specific areas that you would like to explore, assess or discuss.

Your first speech therapy session

• Your child’s initial consultation will be conducted by a qualified speech pathologist who will use a variety of methods to gather information about your son or daughter’s communication skills.
  
  
• The speech pathologist will consider your child’s age, developmental stage, and any known medical or developmental history that may affect her or his communication skills.
  
  
• You may also be asked questions about your child’s language and speech development, medical and overall development history and daily routines so that the speech pathologist can better understand your child’s needs.

Every initial appointment is different

No child is the same, and that’s why Kids First’s speech pathologists tailor every ‘first session’ to the specific needs of each child. During your first appointment, the speech pathologist will use evidence-based test and ‘screening’ tools to gauge where your child’s communication skills are at.

It’s important to remember that the speech therapy skills assessment process at Kids First is warm and friendly. It provides a safe space and opportunity for your child to showcase their strengths and identify areas where they may need additional support.

Below are examples of what the assessment component of the session may look like, which is heavily dependent on your child’s age and area of concern:

• For children who are ‘late talkers,’ the speech pathologist will assess your child with play-based activities, such as playing with various toys like cars, bubbles and/or blocks.  The speech pathologist will observe your child’s current communication skills and note strength areas down.  For example: The clinician will observe if your child is babbling, following simple directions, using words to communicate and imitating words.  You will also be asked some questions to determine what you observe at home, as children can present differently in various environments (such as home, the playground or day care).
  
  
• For children who need support with their articulation/pronunciation, the speech pathologist will assess all the English sounds, in all positions of a word.  Connected speech will also be assessed to determine how your child produces sounds during more naturalistic conversations.   This assessment helps determine error patterns in your child’s speech and what specific sounds need to be worked on.
  
  
• For children who need support with their expressive and receptive language (talking and listening skills), there are several assessments that can be conducted, dependent on your child’s language level and age.  For example the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool-3 (CELF-P3) and Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Australian and New Zealand Fifth Edition (CELF-5) assess various language skills.  For example, the ability to recall sentences, vocabulary skills and following instructions.
  
  
• For children who stutter, and need support with speaking fluently, the clinician will informally assess your child’s speech at there typical conversation level.  The speech pathologist will listen out for different types of stutters and provide feedback to parents about the severity of the stutter.

Ethical responsibilities

If your child’s first speech therapy session indicates that their skills are developing in a typical way for their age, it will be our absolute pleasure to tell you so!

The Kids First team takes its responsibility to give you ethical advice very seriously, and so we will only recommend speech therapy if, in our professional view, we believe it will be of benefit to your son or daughter.

Speech Therapy Intervention Sessions

• Following your initial consultation, and should you choose to involve your child in speech therapy, the speech pathologist will work with you and your child to create an individualised treatment plan.
  
  
• Your child’s plan will address your child’s specific communication needs, and will provide you with recommendations and resources to support your child’s communication development at home.
  
  
• The speech pathologist will be able to answer more specific questions as sessions progress and we learn more about your child.

Layers of support

• Your child’s speech pathologist can work with not only you, but other professionals in your child’s life.  For example, liaising with your child’s teacher may be an important step in gathering more information and providing appropriate strategies that can be implemented in your son or daughter’s school or preschool classroom.
  
  
• Sometimes, speech pathologist may suggest further assessment to clarify your child’s needs.  For example, your child’s therapist might recommend a hearing test by an audiologist to check if other factors are contributing to your child’s communication challenges.
  
  
• Further support from other professionals may also be recommended. For example, an occupational therapist (OT) may be recommended to help with your child’s handwriting or emotional regulation skills, or an Early Intervention Specialist (EIS) may be recommended to support your child’s social and play skills at his or her preschool.
  
  
• If needed, the speech pathologist can write summary or full reports that detail your child’s communication presentation and support needs.  Reports are sometimes needed when there are other involved health care professionals or classroom educators would benefit from having more understanding of your child’s unique needs.  Reports are often required when applying for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The clinical time that is taken to compile these documents is usually charged at the speech pathologist’s hourly rate.
  

How to get speech therapy for your child

If you are concerned about your child’s speech, language, comprehension or literacy skills, one of Kids First’s experienced speech pathologists would be happy to provide you with professional guidance.

Kids first Children’s Services is located in Brookvale in Sydney’s northern beaches. Call us on (02) 9938 5419 or click on the image below to connect with us via email.