Q: How do I know if my child needs speech therapy?

A: A qualified speech and language pathologist can assess your child based on their age and should be able to give you some feedback at the end of your initial assessment session.

Click here for a basic guide to speech milestones.

Q: What can I expect at the initial speech therapy session?

 A: The initial assessment session usually takes up to one hour. The speech pathologist will spend a lot of time with your child assessing all areas of speech, language and communication usually through play based activities.  After this, the speech pathologist will talk with parent/s about their findings and will also devise therapy goals together.  After the assessment session, you will receive a one-two page report detailing these findings and therapy goals.

Q: Will my child grow out of their speech and/or language delay?

A: Some children can ‘grow out’ of a speech/language delay; however the majority of speech/language delays require the help and support of a speech pathologist. The earlier this is addressed, the more likely the child will feel supported and develop at school, build strong social skills and will have emotional stability.

Q: Should I see a speech and language pathologist before my child starts school or wait until they start school?

A: If you suspect your child may be delayed before they start school, then it is likely that they will continue to be delayed at school. While attending school is fantastic for learning early literacy skills which are linked to speech sound development, you may find that a Speech pathologist can support your child’s speech and language development correctly and more efficiently than peers and teachers. Research shows that early intervention can provide excellent results for the following reasons a) reduces the amount of therapy given to children b) children are more motivated to achieve therapy goals c) strong habits have not yet been ingrained.

Q: My child isn’t talking yet, should we wait and see if my child will develop their talking without any speech therapy?

A: The “wait-and-see” approach to children who are late talkers is a common misconception about typical language development. “All children develop at their own pace” is another common phrase parents hear that is another misconception to explain a child’s delayed development. Often children do develop at their own pace to some extent; however, we know that there are certain milestones which should be reached by a specific age. When they are not reached, this becomes cause for concern.  While some children seem to catch up on their own, others do not.  Therefore, it’s very important to see a speech and language pathologist if you are concerned, as research shows early intervention is highly beneficial for any speech/language delay.

Q: How many speech therapy sessions will my child need?

A: It depends on many factors, such as:

1. How many areas of speech and language there are to address.
2. How motivated the child is to carry out therapy activities (make it fun and exciting as we do at SpeechStars and your child will be asking you to do homework everyday!)
3. How often you attend therapy sessions (recommend either weekly or fortnightly).
4. How often you are able to carry out homework activities (recommend around 10-15 minutes each day).

Q: Is there a difference between speech, language and communication?

A: Yes there is a big difference and knowing these differences will be very helpful if you have a child with a developmental delay.

Take a look at this guide.

Q: What are important communication, speech and language milestones for young children?

A: Children learn an incredible amount of words in the first three years of life, so much more than we could learn as adults in such a small amount of time!

Here are some important milestones for very young children.