How will Speechie help me and my child?
We are passionate about helping families find answers to their questions. We aim to empower you with knowledge and information. We conduct objective testing to get to the bottom of what is going on for your child and support you to understand and consider the findings when making referral and intervention decisions for them. We set out to discover your child's communication strengths together so we have a map of where they are now, where they are ready to go next, and the way to get there.
I am worried about my child's communication - what should I do?
Parents are uniquely programmed with gut instinct
Parents instinctively know when something is not quite right with their child. So we will always recommend that you follow what your parent-gut is telling you.
If you have concerns about your child's communication skills or are not sure if you should be concerned, the best thing to do is to organise for your child's hearing to be tested and get a professional opinion from an independent, registered Speech-Language Therapist - for peace of mind and early identification of problems.
Speech-Language Therapists are uniquely qualified
Plunket Nurses, Kaiako, Teachers, GPs, Paediatricians, and others often take it upon themselves to say when they think a child's speech, language, and communication skills are fine. We wish that they would tell concerned parents to talk to an independent, registered Speech-Language Therapist, and let the Speech-Language Therapist decide!
Speech-Language Therapists are the only professionals uniquely qualified to assess, diagnose and treat communication disorders. And even with their specialist training, it is still tricky enough for Speech-Language Therapists themselves to figure out if a child's level of communication reflects normal developmental variation, or if something has gone wrong with their communication development.
Parents instinctively know when something is not quite right with their child. So we will always recommend that you follow what your parent-gut is telling you.
If you have concerns about your child's communication skills or are not sure if you should be concerned, the best thing to do is to organise for your child's hearing to be tested and get a professional opinion from an independent, registered Speech-Language Therapist - for peace of mind and early identification of problems.
Speech-Language Therapists are uniquely qualified
Plunket Nurses, Kaiako, Teachers, GPs, Paediatricians, and others often take it upon themselves to say when they think a child's speech, language, and communication skills are fine. We wish that they would tell concerned parents to talk to an independent, registered Speech-Language Therapist, and let the Speech-Language Therapist decide!
Speech-Language Therapists are the only professionals uniquely qualified to assess, diagnose and treat communication disorders. And even with their specialist training, it is still tricky enough for Speech-Language Therapists themselves to figure out if a child's level of communication reflects normal developmental variation, or if something has gone wrong with their communication development.
What if my child won't talk to the Speech-Language Therapist?
Parents often worry that their child might feel too shy or too embarrassed to talk to the Speech-Language Therapist. This does happen sometimes in the beginning and is totally OK, because we have lots of creative ways of working together with families to get the assessment information we need.
Next, we start building up children's confidence by using talking tasks and games we know they _can_ do and by having fun together to build a trust relationship and gradually win their participation in more challenging, therapeutic tasks.
And then it happens...
They start talking our ears off! Sometimes their parents joke with us that we have created a ' talking monster' who does not stop talking. This makes us feel happy because we know there is another confident, self-expressed communicator standing in the world!
Next, we start building up children's confidence by using talking tasks and games we know they _can_ do and by having fun together to build a trust relationship and gradually win their participation in more challenging, therapeutic tasks.
And then it happens...
They start talking our ears off! Sometimes their parents joke with us that we have created a ' talking monster' who does not stop talking. This makes us feel happy because we know there is another confident, self-expressed communicator standing in the world!
My child already gets Ministry of Education support. Am I allowed to get private help on top?
Yes! The Ministry of Education's new Learning Support Delivery Model enables Ministry of Education staff to work flexibly to meet the needs of children and families and acknowledges that working in partnership with other agencies including independent practitioners is key to this. Below is an excerpt from their current practice framework:
2.4.4 Working with Private Speech-Language Therapists
Families are entitled to seek speech-language therapy from one or more services if they wish. Whilst they are not entitled to seek support from more than one Ministry of Education-funded service provider, they may access therapy from a Ministry-funded service and a private Speech-Language Therapist. In these situations it is in the best interest of the child and their family that Speech-Language Therapists from both or all the services involved collaborate freely, with the permission of the family. While it may be appropriate for one Speech-Language Therapist to take the lead role in working with the child or young person, all involved Speech-Language Therapists should be aware of key opportunities to colalborate, such as Individual Education Plan (IEP) meetings. The aim is to offer complementary input in the best interest of the child or young person and their family.
You can find more information about how Learning Support works here.
2.4.4 Working with Private Speech-Language Therapists
Families are entitled to seek speech-language therapy from one or more services if they wish. Whilst they are not entitled to seek support from more than one Ministry of Education-funded service provider, they may access therapy from a Ministry-funded service and a private Speech-Language Therapist. In these situations it is in the best interest of the child and their family that Speech-Language Therapists from both or all the services involved collaborate freely, with the permission of the family. While it may be appropriate for one Speech-Language Therapist to take the lead role in working with the child or young person, all involved Speech-Language Therapists should be aware of key opportunities to colalborate, such as Individual Education Plan (IEP) meetings. The aim is to offer complementary input in the best interest of the child or young person and their family.
You can find more information about how Learning Support works here.
What if I'm worried about more than just communication?
If your child is having difficulty getting on with others, listening and paying attention, or learning and keeping up at school, they could be having neurodevelopmental difficulties. Neurodevelopmental disorders often happen together, for example a child might have ADHD as well as a Developmental Language Disorder, or a child could have one or both of these and also have Dyslexia.
If you have a more general concern about your child's functioning and don't know where to begin, we recommend you book a discovery appointment to talk about your concerns and a comprehensive communication screening to rule out a developmental communication disorder in the first instance - because developmental communication disorders are the most common and the most under-diagnosed disorder of childhood.
We also offer a variety of other screenings in the neurodevelopmental space to help identify where the problem area(s) might be. The results of these screenings can support referrals for further assessment, diagnosis, and additional support for your child.
If you have a more general concern about your child's functioning and don't know where to begin, we recommend you book a discovery appointment to talk about your concerns and a comprehensive communication screening to rule out a developmental communication disorder in the first instance - because developmental communication disorders are the most common and the most under-diagnosed disorder of childhood.
We also offer a variety of other screenings in the neurodevelopmental space to help identify where the problem area(s) might be. The results of these screenings can support referrals for further assessment, diagnosis, and additional support for your child.
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