Talk2connect Speech Pathology

17/09/2024

"Is it normal that my bilingual child is mixing languages?"

Bilingual or multilingual families often have questions about their children's development in their home and additional languages.

This post will briefly explain what mixing languages (codeswitching) is, an example in real life, and what families can do to help their bilingual children at home.

Reference

Stow, C. & Pert, S. 2015. SLT Assessments and Interventions: Best practice for children and young people in bilingual settings. Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

https://www.rcslt.org/wp-content/uploads/media/Project/RCSLT/best-practice-cyp-bilingual-settings.pdf

26/05/2024

What is typical speech sound development?

As your child is learning to say their speech sounds, they may make some errors along the way (such as saying “wed” for “red” and “teef” for “teeth”). Some of these sound errors are completely normal and will be gone when they start school. However, sometimes these speech sound errors may persist and make it difficult for you and others to understand your child. Generally speaking, your child should be able to be completely understood by anyone listening around the age of four.

When should you be concerned?

Is your child over the age of four and still hard to understand? Are they making more speech errors than their same-aged peers and get frustrated when people cannot understand them?

If you answered yes, your child may benefit from seeing a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP) to identify the issues and get recommendations. It can be overwhelming to try to do the best thing for your child and find the right professional to help your child, but don’t worry – you are not alone. In Australia, approximately 13% of our children have communication difficulties. And yes, this includes speech sound difficulties.

Where do you go from here?

If you have concerns about your child’s speech sound development, reach out and speak to a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP)! Speech pathologists can support your child’s communication development as well as parents, other family members and educators throughout the journey. Speech pathologists will assess your child’s communication skills and provide evidence-based intervention based on their assessment results, so you can trust that your child is in the right hands! If further support is needed, speech pathologists can refer you to other professionals such as paediatricians, occupational therapists and psychologists who can also support your child’s development in a holistic way.

Visit www.talk2connect.com.au for more information!

Written by Maja Popovic, 2nd Year Master of Speech Pathology Student at UQ

02/05/2024

Thank you for having me Queensland Paediatric Allied Health!😁

A huge welcome to awesome Speech Therapist, Oliver from Talk2connect Speech Pathology, who is collabing with QPAH at our Varsity clinic every second Monday!

Oliver also works in the clinical education space at and is engaged to our very own Clinical Lead Speech Pathologist, Anna - what a great team!!

25/04/2024

5 Reasons to Start Speech Therapy Early!

Are you concerned about your child's speech and language development? 🗣 Are you unsure when to take your child to see a speech pathologist? ⏱ This post gives useful information about why it is beneficial to start speech therapy early!

Written by Brittney MacDonald, 2nd Year Master of Speech Pathology Student (UQ).

14/10/2022

Today, 14th October 2022, is DLD Day. This year's theme is 'Growing with DLD', highlighting that DLD is a lifelong, permanent disability
• DLD affects 1 in 14 people
• People do not grow out of DLD
• People with DLD are more likely to have difficulties with mental health, reading, spelling, and maths

17/05/2022

It’s time for Tuesday Target Tips! There are lots of words to choose from with every top and daily routine. What words would you pick out for a shape sorter activity with your child?

02/04/2022

April is World Autism Month. This April 2nd, it’s World Autism Understanding Day. We aim to create understanding, acceptance, and celebrate life on the Autism Spectrum.

Did you know that an estimated 1 in 70 people living in Australia are on the autism spectrum?

Autism can affect how people communicate. From understanding sentences and expressing thoughts to socialising, speech pathologists sometimes work with neurodivergent people on their communication goals.

21/03/2022

Happy World Down Syndrome Day from Talk2connect Speech Pathology!

💙💙💙

Find out more from:

https://www.worlddownsyndromeday.org/

15/03/2022

It’s swallowing awareness day!
🍎🍰☕️

Besides communication, speech pathologists also support people who have difficulty eating and drinking. This is called DYSPHAGIA. We work with children on their feeding skills and adults who experience difficulty with swallowing during meals by providing swallowing strategies or modifying their diet.

12/03/2022

👋 Meet Oliver! Oliver is our speech pathologist at Talk2connect Speech Pathology. He provides high quality services all around the Gold Coast and Brisbane South and believes therapy should be engaging and family centered.

Fun fact: Oliver can speak Cantonese 🇲🇴 and Mandarin 🇨🇳, and he enjoys playing netball 🏐 in his spare time!

10/02/2022

💬 Accent Training - Do you want to communicate more confidently and effectively? Read our most recent blogpost on tips for improving your English accent and communication skills!

www.talk2connect.com.au

01/02/2022

Happy Chinese New Year from Talk2connect Speech Pathology!! 🎉🎉🐯

We are available for new referrals! You can contact us by messaging us or going to the website: talk2connect.com.au.