Having the skills to communicate effectively and confidently is important in a child’s development.
Difficulties with speech and language can lead to reduced learning capacity, lowered self-esteem, difficulty making and maintaining friends and behaviours of concern.
Speech therapy supports children with delayed speech and language development and helps them to build communication, literacy and social skills across a range of settings.
Some of the signs that indicate your child might benefit from speech therapy include:
- Being misunderstood
- Difficulty following instructions
- Frustrations due to communication breakdowns
- Husky, dry or breaking voice
- Stuttering
- Difficulty with early literacy skills, including spelling and reading
Our highly qualified speech therapists have extensive experience supporting children to overcome a wide range of speech, language and communication challenges.
Our therapists work with you to develop a treatment program for your child based on their individual needs and the goals you have identified for them.
Our therapy sessions are interactive and engaging, designed to make learning fun and effective. We offer personalised approaches to therapy to motivate your child to learn and help them feel comfortable.
We also provide ongoing support and guidance to you as a parent to help you to reinforce your child’s progress at home.
Depending on your child’s needs, our expert team can provide support that can help with:
- Understanding language
- Speech, voice and fluency
- Stuttering
- Sentence building
- Social skills
- Eating and drinking
- Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC)
Our speech therapists also offer speech and language assessments where appropriate to check speech, sound, clarity and language functioning and determine if they are in line with what is expected for their age range.
If your child is registered with the NDIS and has a plan that includes funds for the support category ‘Improved Daily Living Skills’, their speech therapy services may be funded by the NDIS.
Our team can provide speech therapy services to both self and plan-managed NDIS participants.
We’ll work with you, your child and the people in your chosen support network to help you identify goals and work towards achieving them.
Find out moreFrequently asked questions
Do I need a referral?
No, your child does not need a referral to see a speech therapist. You can request an appointment without a referral.
However, if you are wishing to access Medicare rebates, you will require a written referral addressed to Solasta from your child’s doctor, along with a Chronic Disease Management Plan.
For more information about Medicare rebates and other funding options, visit our Funding Options and Fees webpage.
What should I expect at my child's first appointment?
Before your first appointment starts, you may be asked to complete a registration and consent form that covers things such as confidentiality, sharing your personal information and other important information.
The first appointment is an opportunity for you and your child to get to know the clinician and discuss the reasons you have decided to start therapy.
The clinician will try to develop a thorough understanding of your issues or concerns and any relevant history such as your family, social relationships, work history etc.
They will also work with you and your child to develop some goals and a plan for therapy.
How long is an appointment?
Therapy appointments are typically 50 – 60 minutes in duration. Shorter appointments are available if required.
How many appointments will my child need?
The number of appointments will depend on why your child is coming in and what you are hoping to get out of the session.
The speech therapist will be able to give you a clearer idea of how many appointments may suit your child once they have developed an understanding of their needs and circumstances.
How can I pay for my appointments?
Depending on your eligibility, there are a number of funding options available to support you to access our services, including NDIS, Medicare and Private Health.
If you are unable to access any of the funding options, you can choose to pay for your therapy services.
Visit our Fees and Funding Options webpage for more information.
What age range do you support?
We support children of all ages.
Do you also work with teachers?
We always communicate with the person’s whole team – it is important to work together to share our strategies and ideas to make sure that the child is supported by everyone around them. This can include teachers, parents, grandparents, other health professionals or support workers – the best support happens when we have everyone working together.
Will my services be confidential?
Any information that you disclose is confidential and will not be shared with anyone else without your permission. There are two exceptions to this rule – the first is if you are at risk of harm either to yourself or someone else, and the second is in relation to court orders.
Where parents are separated, our clinicians will usually try to obtain the consent and involvement of both parents if the child/young person is not mature enough to consent on their own. Unless one parent has not been granted sole responsibility for the child’s health decision by a family court order, the non-accompanying parent may be able to access the records if requested. As such we will request copies of any relevant court orders at the time of referral.
Your clinician will discuss the limits of confidentiality at your first appointment.
More information about how we collect and handle your personal information can be found in our Privacy and Consent Brochure – also available in Easy English format.
Ready to get started?
Simply fill-out our appointment request form and we’ll be in touch.
If you have any questions, we encourage you to contact the team on (08) 7160 1900 or info@solasta.net.au
Our clinicians who provide speech therapy
Stephi West
Speech Pathologist
Klemzig & Christies Beach
Ashlyn Wingrove
Speech Pathologist
Christies Beach
Stephi is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist and member of Speech Pathology Australia.
She has experience working in the school setting with children with a range of intellectual and multiple disabilities including autism spectrum disorder, global developmental delay and syndrome disorders.
Stephi has training in the SOS Approach to Feeding and SENSE-ational Mealtimes; these strategies support children who are fussy eaters or have restricted diets due to sensory issues.
Stephi uses a relational approach to build on functional communication goals in therapy. She strives to make sessions fun, engaging and meaningful for both parent and client.
Stephi uses a ‘toolbox’ approach, drawing from a number of communication and interaction approaches in therapy. She has experience with a range of Alternative and Augmentative Communication strategies, including low-tech (photos, schedules, choice making) and high-tech options (tablet technology with communication applications).
She works with pre- and school aged children with speech sound disorders, language disorders, intellectual disabilities, pre- or nonverbal individuals and fussy eaters.
Ashlyn is a dedicated Speech Pathologist with a special interest in early speech and language development, social skills enhancement, and augmentative and alternative communication. Ashlyn is passionate about providing person-centred practice that embraces and affirms neurodiversity and is led by the unique strengths of each individual.
Ashlyn’s comprehensive background in speech pathology ranges from consulting in private practice, early learning and education, aquatic therapy, academia, and clinical education. Presently, her practice is centred on providing assessments and tailored therapy for children and adolescents, with a primary focus of supporting young people to develop their communication skills.
Ashlyn adopts a collaborative approach, engaging closely with individuals, families, and interdisciplinary teams to develop goals that are strength-based, functional, and holistic. Using a creative and multimodal approach, she strives to ensure therapy is inclusive, motivating, enjoyable, centred around individuals and their families, and ultimately supportive of social and emotional wellbeing.
In 2015, Ashlyn completed a Bachelor of Speech Pathology at Flinders University and is recognised as a Certified Practising Member of Speech Pathology Australia.
Our space
Get a sense of what attending an appointment at Solasta would feel like.
We offer a carefully designed, modern and inviting therapy space. Our carefully designed, spacious and light-filled rooms create a safe and comfortable environment. From the wait-room to your time in our consult rooms, we have consciously created an enriched space to ensure your experience at Solasta is a positive one.
For children, we also have rooms specifically designed to accommodate sensory needs, complete with toys, soft lighting and thoughtfully selected furnishings to create a calming environment.
Explore the photos of our space below or check-out our virtual tour.
Klemzig
Christies Beach
Play is a child’s work, and this is not a trivial pursuit.