River Speech

13/08/2025

Supporting children and their families with mealtime challenges &/or swallowing difficulties is an area of clinical practice I really enjoy, despite it feeling like challenging & ‘slow progress’ work at times.

The amazing Belinda at Playful Connections has just shared this post of mealtimes, with a particular focus on Neurodivergent kids & adults. She has summarised some key principles beautifully! I love the mention of ‘felt safety’ as this is pivotal in the mealtime space.

It’s an individual journey for every child & family. And (sometimes) if it’s working for a child, we don’t need to fix, change or make it a problem.

17/06/2025

Last week, a 2025 goal became reality — I attended a professional development activity in person!

I spent a full day deep-diving into treatment for (phonological) speech sound disorders (SSDs). It offered time for reflection and new learnings. Implementation will take time, but I’m determined to make it happen!

Key takeaways that resonated with me:

💧 Every child is different — there is no one-size-fits-all for SSDs. I loved the focus on tailoring therapy to the child in front of me, including their personality and speech patterns. I’m excited to try a parent questionnaire at the start of therapy.

💧 Assessment is flexible and should be adapted to the child. It’s about collecting enough information to guide treatment, which often takes more than one session, and should be repeated to track progress.

💧 Analysis is key! A detailed, behind-the-scenes task, but so important. I’m keen to trial a new tool to see my analysis in a different light.

💧 Evidence-based practice matters — especially thinking about dosage and frequency. I want therapy to be accessible yet effective. This will take more reflection time, working alongside families and within funding models, but evidence says weekly intervention is best!

🌈 Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging day with Adventures in Speech Pathology.
Bonus: catching up with a friend and colleague (Sophie – Hillside Paediatrics), even with a 4:30am start!

💙 The day reminded me why my clinical services focus on SSDs, paediatric feeding & dysphagia, and early literacy. I want to be known locally for providing the best care I can in these areas.

18/05/2025

The next round of NDIS changes are starting - this one is all to do with how participants will receive their funding.
Thanks Coastwide Therapy Services for this summary!

19/03/2025

Did you know I am incredibly passionate about supporting kids who have swallowing problems?! I also love working with children and their families for things like building skills to support eating different food textures & general mealtime concerns.
Please reach out if you have any questions.

14/03/2025

What a powerful, raw & emotional message to be shared… Let’s all try to be kind 💜

20/01/2025

I’m loving this lunchbox series from Debra Alvarez Feeding Kids Sydney - a co-presenter of a course I did in 2024!

Lunchboxes can be a source of worry for many parents, particularly when there is a limited range of preferred foods to chose from.

As the caption says - wherever possible, send foods you know your child likes to school/kindy!

If you need support with your child’s eating, please feel free to reach out - this may include assistance with advocating to enable your child to have access to their preferred foods at school/kindy.

Getting Ready for the School Year.

This series is looking at quick tips on how to help
promote feeling comfortable to eat in the school
setting.

School/Preschool is a sensory overloading
environment with lots of sound, movement, smells and
social expectations.
If you then also have difficulties with feeding,
lunchtimes can be incredibly overwhelming for some
kids.

It is very common to expect children to eat at school
because of how much mental and physical work they
are doing and how much fuel they need to do so, but
children’s lunch boxes often come home from
daycare/school untouched, especially if there are new
foods in it.

This can be due to a number of factors including:
- sensory overload at lunchtime
- not enough time to eat- especially for those kiddos
who have chewing difficulties
- new foods or non preferred foods in their lunchbox
- changes to the environment or the way their food
looks
- too busy playing!

06/01/2025

Happy New Year!
A bit late to the party - technically I’m still on holidays until Term 1 starts.

I thought I’d kick off the New Year by sharing my business goals for the year.
If I’m honest, I’m bracing for a year that is likely to bring challenges with it, namely lots of changes & reform happening in the allied health, disability & private practice space.

With these challenges come opportunities, so in 2025 I hope to;

💧 Continue to have confidence & trust in my skills as a Speech Pathologist.

💧 Surround myself with the right people to support my confidence, resilience & growth of my business - family, friends, colleagues & business mentors.

💧 Refine and action my vision for River Speech. I want to be ‘known’ for providing a high quality service in 3 specific areas; I want people think of River Speech (aka ‘me’) if their child has a difficulty in these areas. These areas are; paediatric feeding, swallowing & mealtime support; speech sound disorders; and, supporting those with difficulties learning to read & those with suspected or diagnosed Dyslexia.

💧 Tweak my processes to support greater efficiency, particularly from admin & paperwork perspective.

💧 Increase my engagement with parent/s and families, particularly those of my school-aged clients.

💧 Attend one in-person PD event.

💧 Post something on social media once a month - feel this is optimistic but I’ll try!

Here’s to 2025!

19/12/2024

As 2024 draws to a close, I’d like to thank everyone who crossed paths with me in my work role this year - children, families, SSO’s, teachers, other local allied health providers and colleagues.

I will be taking a much-needed break over the Christmas & New Year period - direct client appointments will resume in Term 1 2025 (end of January). Email responses will occur intermittently over this time.

See you in 2025 for what I think will be another big year!

14/10/2024

08/09/2024

As much as I have mixed feelings about sharing this news, I know that my wonderful friend & colleague, Belinda from Playful Connections Speech Pathology is destined for great things in 2025 and beyond!

So… If you’re in the Riverland, Hills or Fleurieu region & would love some support for our neurodivergent kids, Belinda is who you need in your corner! She goes “all in” and will be with you every step of the way!

🌟 Playful Connections is moving! 🌟

I’ve mentioned this on my stories, but it’s time to officially rip the bandaid off! This post comes with more than its fair share of tears and trepidation 🥹

As of January 2025, Playful Connections will be relocating to the Adelaide Hills. After 12 wonderful years in the Riverland, we’ve made the tough decision to move closer to family. The “friend family” we have created here is second to none and we will miss our life here so so much. Our babies were born here, and the connections we’ve made will stay with us forever. 💛

Starting Playful Connections in such a supportive community has been a true joy and privilege. I am so grateful to the amazing families who have allowed me into their lives and shared their stories. While I’ll be physically moving, I’m still working with Riverland clients and will continue supporting families, educators, and sites for as long as I’m welcome!

✨ The exciting part? In 2025, I’ll be able to offer services across a wider region! ✨

I’m focusing first on settling my family, so I won’t be opening up for individual therapy right away. However, I’m already taking bookings for workshops, consultations, educator support, and full-site training packages commencing in Term 1 2025.

If you’re in the Riverland, Adelaide Hills, or Fleurieu regions, I would love for you to share my details, visit my website, or reach out for a chat about how we can work together!

2025 is the year I take this little seed I’ve created and grow it to support even more children, families and and educators!! I’m terrified, sad and nervous but above all, I’m grateful for the flexibility this work gives me and the ability to to build on the amazing community we have created 🌱

26/08/2024

It’s Speech Pathology Week! Hoping to share more during the week - although, we’ll see if life goes to plan 🤔

Moving into private practice has bought with it a renewed passion for my chosen career & my clinical work is bringing me joy again 😊

It's Speech Pathology Week! Over the next seven days join us as we celebrate the wonderful speech pathologists who work with the more than 1.2 million Australians with communication and swallowing support needs.

Effective communication is key to building connections and understanding. This Speech Pathology Week, learn more about the vital role speech pathologists play in helping people of all ages. Get involved and spread awareness about the importance of communication.

This year's theme 'Communicate Your Way' explores the many ways that people communicate.

Happy Speech Pathology Week everyone. 💫

https://bit.ly/471vRHW

05/04/2024

This is so beautifully worded, as always, from a wonderfully close colleague