Speech Pathology Services Available to Schools
Did you know that right now, 1.1 million Australians have difficulty communicating? (Speech Pathology Australia publication 2013.) A recent study by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Victoria found that 1 in 5 children starting school has a speech or communication problem.
Here are a few more facts from Speech Pathology Australia:
- 20% of four year old children have difficulty understanding or using language.
- 14% of 15 year olds have only basic literacy skills.
- Children with a language impairment are six times more likely to have a reading problem than children without a language impairment.
- 46% of Australian young offenders have a language impairment.
Liberty Speech Pathology works to help children and students overcome their communication and reading difficulties to reach their potential. We provide the following services in our Modbury clinic and in many schools across the North Eastern, Eastern and Northern metropolitan areas of Adelaide.
Assessments:
- Speech (articulation and phonology)
- Language (understanding language, listening, processing language, putting sentences together, using grammar, vocabulary, following instructions, etc)
- Reasoning and Problem Solving
- Higher level language (figurative language, sarcasm, humour etc)
- Social language
- Levels of Questions
- Word finding
- Literacy – phonological awareness, decoding, comprehension
Screenings: (minimum of 10 students required)
- Phonological awareness (pre-literacy skill)
- Speech sounds
- Language
Therapy:
- Speech (articulation and phonology)
- Language (understanding and using language)
- Listening
- Reading disorders
- Word finding
- Reasoning and Problem Solving
- Higher level language
- Social language and social skills
- Autism
- Auditory processing disorders
- Stuttering
- Auditory memory
- Higher level language (humour, comparing and contrasting, justifying opinions, figurative language, etc.)
Parents pay for this service.
They may be eligible for rebates or additional income to help with the costs. Many students with language disorders may also be eligible to receive therapy with Liberty Speech Pathology funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Benefits to the school:
- There is no cost to your school.
- Students miss only 1 lesson (rather than a whole morning or afternoon if they attend therapy at a clinic).
- Our speech pathologists provide teachers with a copy of the notes after each session.
Please contact Liberty Speech Pathology for more information about our services to schools on (08) 7226 3903 or via our contact form
Address:
23 Seymour Ave Nth
Modbury SA 5092
References:
- Factsheet – Communication Impairment in Australia (Speech Pathology Australia)
- Beitchman, J.H. & Brownlie, E.B. (2014) Language Disorders in Children and Adolescents. Advances in Psychotherapy. Hogrefe Publishing USA (p16).
- Senate Inquiry: Prevalence of Communication Disorder. Murdoch Children’s Research Institutue.
https://www.mcri.edu.au/news/senate-inquiry-prevalence-communication-disorder