Frequently asked questions

Make contact with My Speech directly. We do not require a referral from anyone other than you.

The difficulty with 'wait and see' is the unknown of whether this is all that is required or not. How long are you prepared to wait to see whether or not your loved one will make the necessary progress to catch up to their peers? What if 'wait and see' means that your loved one is now even further behind because of the missed time waiting? For peace of mind, get the advice and guidance of a qualified Speech Language Therapist.

Starting early does not lock you in to any kind of therapy. By starting early, you will be helping your loved one and easing your mind.

Please reference Speech-Language Developmental Milestones to determine how your child is developing compared with average expectancy for similar aged children. If your child is below or on the lower end then seek out the advice and guidance of a qualified Speech-Language Therapist. Many parents have been told not to worry and their child hasn't progressed as they would have anticipated. By starting early, you will be helping your child or at least easing your mind that their development is on the right track.

A Speech-Language Therapist is a specialist who is uniquely trained to provide the best information on speech and language development and anything related to communication. If you are unable to arrange to speak with a Speech Language Therapist then talk with your GP and express your concerns. Private Therapy does not require a referral so you can contact one directly yourself. Parents/caregivers know their child the best, so if there are any concerns it is better to start intervening early. If you are "just worrying for nothing", a discussion and possible initial assessment will at least reassure you that there is nothing else you need to do right now.

Children learn speech sounds, words, concepts, and grammar by listening. This begins from birth and is fine-tuned as children get older. If a child has on-going or regular sore, blocked, or waxy ears, this will impact on their ability to learn the skills. If you have any concerns about your child's ears or hearing, please have them checked by your GP. If you want certainty that your child is hearing as they should for their age, see a qualified Audiologist for an assessment (they can do these for very young children too). This can be through the public system with a referral from your GP, or with a private Audiologist. Check suitability of your child’s age and ability to follow instructions before booking an appointment.

While this is a difficult question to answer, in a general sense the following are categories that often involved:

Genetic – there's a family history. Medical causes, including hearing loss and chronic ear infections. Premature birth. Characteristics as part of a syndrome or other on-going medical disorder. Brain injury: before, during, or after birth. General lack of the stimulus to learn language. And sometimes there may be no known cause for a person's communication disorder.

Speech-language therapy treats what is known – the presenting and underlying difficulties.

Therapy can start from as young as 16 months of age. For very young children who have no-to-little language, their therapy is different to someone who is older and can work directly with a Therapist. Often the best way to start developing a young child's language is through a family member/parent who can implement strategies and techniques throughout the child's day.

Therapy for this group is done through modelling, guiding and up-skilling key adults with specific language-enriching techniques. By starting therapy at a younger age you are giving your child the best start and reducing frustration by them not having their needs understood or met. For a number of families, by starting with their child very young, they have been able to get the individualised support as the correct underlying difficulties were identified and appropriate treatment could begin early.

Speech involves the sounds to make up words, e.g. "d", "g", "s". It is the physical formation of sounds and the sequencing of these sounds to say a word, e.g. "d-o-g" makes the word "dog". Speech difficulties can involve deletion, substitution, or physical inability to form sounds.

Language is divided into two areas: comprehension and expression. Comprehension is the act of understanding the verbal and non-verbal communication that another person provides to us; this involves attention, listening, and mental processing skills. Expression is the aspect of language that we generate – it is what we say. Expressive language involves words, syntax (word order) and our use of grammar, for example saying "cats" means "more than one of them". For some people, "expression" comes in the form of sign, picture or high-tech device.

Note that there is an aspect of talking that is related to fluency, in which someone may, for example, have difficulty talking smoothly and easily. You might like to refer to our information on stuttering to learn more about this.

The first appointment is for finding out information about the person in question – you, your child or older loved one. This can be through discussion with you (the caregiver or family member), as well as formal and/or informal testing, which can involve observation of the child playing or interacting with you and maybe his/her peers. From here, areas in need of support are identified, goals are set up and specific therapy can start as required. These will be discussed with you.

Therapy appointments are goal-focussed, informative and engaging. Especially for children, appointments are fun and full of therapeutic games.

An assessment is about gathering specific information about the area of concern. Assessment can be through discussion, working through a questionnaire, completing a formal assessment tool, and/or observations of the individual in action. The information gathered forms the bases of the therapy treatment plan and recommendations. To help make the most of their time in therapy, caregivers may be asked to fill in questionnaires at home. For more complex situations the assessment process can take additional appointments to gather the necessary information before proceeding with the best treatment approach.

With a therapy appointment, some parents are actively involved while others are in the background. You know your child the best! Some children perform poorly while their parent is in the same room while other children won't focus at all without their parent present. Whatever the scenario, it is important that an adult is available to debrief after each session. Your involvement is vital for your child's generalisation and consolidation of skills. As a parent/caregiver, you are with your child more often than a Therapist and can reinforce your child's learning. My Speech will provide you with specific targets to be developed as homework, and the resources for their implementation.

Following an initial consultation or assessment, My Speech offers 30 minute, 45 minute, and 60 minute long therapy appointment options. Appointments are individualised based on the age and need of the situation. Time is spent working directly with a Therapist as well as being informed about what can be done to support and consolidate until the next appointment.

The more regular the therapy sessions the easier it is to support and gauge progress. Therapy is typically recommended once per week. In some instances one per fortnight is more appropriate to support generalisation of skills learnt in therapy. Some families benefit from 2-3 shorter sessions per week. Regardless of the amount or frequency of therapy, it is important that practice happens between therapy appointments.

Often an initial block of 8-12 weekly therapy appointments gets the area of concern under way in the right direction. The amount and frequency of therapy is based upon the presenting concerns and their severity, as well as the age of the individual. Since everyone's situation is unique, a clearer picture can be discussed once information has been gathered at an initial appointment. The Speech-Language Therapist can provide specific guidance and recommendations regarding your particular situation after this.

Once the agreed goals set out from the start have been met, or once s/he reaches age-appropriate development and it is anticipated that s/he will continue to make gains themselves. We may also discontinue therapy if it is contraindicated; such as for a short time after having grommets inserted, or if you no longer want to continue (which can be discussed at any time).

Speech and language therapy at My Speech supports people of all ages with a wide range of communication concerns. Teletherapy is one way that this support is provided. Teletherapy is live, in real time, using both visual and audio. It is engaging and interactive therapy where the Therapist and family connect via a device, often a computer but a tablet also works. Like physically-in-person therapy, appointments are individualised and tailored to the person's communication needs and interests. Results of teletherapy are found to be the same as physically-in-person therapy.

The short answer is "it always works, but for some people more than others". Speech-language therapy is an individualised service, which aims to help you or your loved one's communication skills progress from where they are currently. It has made a significant difference for a number of families and everyone can benefit from speech-language therapy to some degree.

However, if there is an on-going physiological disorder present such as hearing loss or cleft palate, speech-language therapy services may only minimise communication difficulties – not eliminate them entirely. Augmentative and alternative communication may be appropriate in these cases, which speech and language therapy can support. No matter what the underlying issues are, we will always provide professional and research-based practice, and investigate different therapy options based on best clinical judgement.

Firstly, consider the long-term cost of money, time, frustration and disappointment if the communication concern isn't rectified at a young age. Even little delays at a young age can turn into much bigger delays or gaps to peers.

The financial investment is dependent on what is required. For some individuals "advice, guidance and monitoring" is enough to support age-appropriate development. For others it is a longer journey. For those experiencing moderate difficulties, many would require 6-12 months of specialist input to achieve their targeted goals. It is best to speak with a Speech-Language Therapist to gain a clearer idea of what is required. There are different therapeutic options available which can be discussed at this first appointment.

Typically, we email an invoice following an appointment, which is payable via bank transfer on the day that the service is received. It is possible to pay by credit card, either by booking an appointment using our online booking system or making a specific request to do so; a credit card fee will be added. Cash payments are accepted at the end of an appointment. We accept upfront bulk payment bank transfers or automatic payments, which will be allocated to your account and deducted after an appointment - just use your name as a reference. We can arrange a payment plan but this needs to be agreed upon before any appointments take place.

In some circumstances, WINZ, ACC or your insurance company may subsidise or fully fund the costs of speech-language therapy. Each of the above organisations has different criteria which you or your child would need to meet in order to receive their financial support. For example, WINZ may cover the costs of speech-language therapy if a person has a communication disorder that is likely to last six months or more and which causes them to need support to undertake the normal activities of life. Children who have a documented disability will be receiving an allowance which families put towards speech-language therapy. However, if you are receiving speech-language therapy through the public system, even sitting on a waiting list, WINZ do not fund private therapy.