Happy Chatters Speech Pathology

22/04/2026

A new treatment for young children who stutter

Are you the parent of a young child who has just started to stutter?

If so, you may be eligible to take part in a research study to investigate a new and simple treatment.

As part of the study:
• You will meet weekly with a speech pathologist
• The treatment will be conducted online from the comfort of your home
• your speech pathologist will guide you on how and when to do the treatment with your child

You will be eligible to participate if your child:
✔ Is under 3 years of age
✔ Has never had treatment for stuttering

So if you’d like to find out more about this research, and see if you are eligible to participate, contact us today!

🔗https://www.uts.edu.au/research/centres/australian-stuttering-research-centre/our-research/participate-research

Ph: 02 9514 5314
Em: asrc.research@uts.edu.au

31/01/2026

Spent the last 3 days in Sydney learning from Australian orofacial Myology Collaboration. Wow. What an experience. So excited to bring these new skills into the clinic

19/12/2025

That’s a wrap! 🎉🎄
Happy Chatters Speech Pathology Services is officially closed for 2025.
Wishing all of my little friends and their families a wonderful Christmas and a safe, happy holiday season.
I can’t wait to see you all in 2026 💛

15/09/2025

28/08/2025

It’s Speech Pathology Week!!!

This year’s theme is “Impact through Communication” highlighting the important role speech pathologists have in all areas of life.

Shout out to my fellow paediatric speech pathologists who spend their days supporting children and families to learn, connect and thrive.

04/07/2025

13/06/2025

/R/ vs. /L/ + Phonological Awareness = Progress! 🗣️✨

Struggling with those pesky /r/ and /l/ sounds? Let’s bring in phonological awareness to help kids hear the difference—because if they can’t hear it, they can’t fix it! 🧠👂

👧🏽 Example Goals Using /r/ and /l/:
🔸 Sound Discrimination:
"Do rain and lane start with the same sound?"

🔸 Minimal Pairs:
Practice listening and saying:
rip/lip, rock/lock, ride/lied

🔸 Segmentation:
“Let’s break apart the word leaf—what sounds do you hear?” (/l/ /i/ /f/)

👂 Helping kids become more aware of how sounds feel and sound is a game-changer for tackling liquids!

🌀 Combine speech sound production with phonemic awareness for better generalization and faster progress.

This is one of my kiddos in the clinic this week practicing her listening and written skills for /l/ vs /r/ sounds

11/06/2025

Is your child saying "nana" for "banana"?

They might be using a phonological process called Weak Syllable Deletion—a normal part of speech development! It happens when a child leaves out the unstressed syllable in a word.

💬 Example:
✅ "banana" → 🚫 "nana"
✅ "elephant" → 🚫 "ephant"

This process typically disappears by age 3;6-4. If it continues past that, a speech sounds assessment may help.

✨ Tips for parents:
👂 Repeat the full word clearly
🎶 Use songs or rhythm to highlight all syllables
📚 Read books with repetitive, multisyllabic words

I have been seeing lots of these patterns in the clinic this week. We have been loving playdough balls and smash mats!

05/06/2025

Speech Sound of the Week: /S/

👅 Let’s practice that hissing sound — like a snake! 🐍

🗣️ Sound: /S/ as in sun, sock, sandwich

👂 Tip: Little smile and keep your tongue behind your teeth — no voice needed!

🔤 Practice Words:
Sun ☀️
Soup 🍲
Sock 🧦
Sandwich 🥪
Seal 🦭

📚 Speech Tip of the Week:
Model slow, clear speech and emphasize the /s/ sound in daily routines!

🧠 If your child is 4+ you want to be modelling this correction to help reduce that lisp!

27/05/2025

Speech Sound of the Week: /r/

The /r/ sound can be really tricky — even for older kids! It requires precise tongue placement and lots of practice.

Common mistake: Saying “wabbit” instead of “rabbit.”
🪞 Try mirror practice to see your child pulling their tongue back
✅ start with ‘er’ words like or “bird”
📌 If your child is over 5 and still can’t say /r/, don’t stress — but don’t wait! A Speech pathologist can help unlock that tricky sound.