Speech Therapy for Children

 

Helping children speak clearly and confidently

 

Children learn speech sounds gradually as they grow, and it’s normal for young children to make some errors while their speech is developing. Sometimes, though, a child’s speech can be harder to understand than expected for their age, or particular sounds and speech patterns may persist for longer than we would expect.

 

At Little Language, our Gold Coast speech pathologists assess how your child is producing and organising speech sounds and determine whether therapy would be helpful.

 

When might speech therapy help?

 

You might notice that your child:

 

• is difficult for family, friends or educators to understand

• leaves sounds out of words

• replaces one sound with another

• says the same word differently at different times

• has difficulty with particular sounds such as s, r, l or th

• becomes frustrated or avoids speaking when they aren’t understood

• has speech that sounds noticeably different from other children their age

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Sometimes the issue involves one or two specific sounds. For other children, there may be a pattern of errors affecting many sounds and making their speech much harder to understand.

 

What happens in speech therapy?

 

We start by working out why your child’s speech is unclear. Assessment may look at the sounds they can make, the patterns in their speech, how consistently they produce words and how understandable they are in everyday conversation.Therapy is then tailored to your child rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. We use evidence-based techniques alongside play, games and activities that keep children engaged, with practical strategies to help families support progress between sessions.

 

Not sure whether your child’s speech is developing as expected?

 

You don’t need to know before you contact us. When you call Little Language, you’ll speak directly with a speech pathologist who can listen to what you’ve noticed and help you decide whether an assessment is worthwhile.

 

Get in touch with our team to have a chat about your child’s speech.

 

Helping kids find their roar.