Michelle Boyall Speech Pathology

04/05/2025

❓What is dyslexia?

💬 Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder that is neurological in origin and primarily affects reading and spelling.

📈 1 in every 10 Australians is estimated to have dyslexia.

🧠 Dyslexia makes it harder to:

Recognise and manipulate sounds in words (phonological awareness)

Connect sounds to letters (phonics)

Read fluently and accurately

Spell words consistently

🧬 Dyslexia often runs in families.

🚫 Dyslexia is a lifelong learning disability—but with the right support, children with dyslexia can learn to read and write. They often have strengths in oral language, problem-solving, and creativity.

✔️ Early identification and evidence-based, structured literacy approaches are critical.

Check out the free, downloadable book from AUSPELD - 'Understanding Learning Difficulties' for more information. It provides excellent information to help you understand learning difficulties, including assessment and evidence-based interventions, and practical advice to support and advocate for your child.

https://uldforparents.com/

07/04/2024

Dear valued families and referrers,

Due to overwhelming demand, the waitlist is now closed.

My current schedule is at capacity and I have a lengthy waitlist in place.

For those looking for speech therapy services, I would recommend:

📍 contacting other local speech pathology clinics
💻 consider telehealth services
🔍 Use Speech Pathology Australia's 'Find a Speech Pathologist' search tool

If my waitlist opens again in the future, I will share this information via social media.

Thank you for considering Michelle Boyall Speech Pathology for your speech therapy needs. I wish you and your family all the very best on your therapy journey.

01/04/2024

Children's brains are still developing and they need our support to understand and manage their emotions.

We can be a steady anchor in the storm, providing reassurance and providing the calm presence they need to regulate and manage big feelings.

31/03/2024

Happy Easter everybunny 🐰

Wishing you and yours a safe and restful Easter weekend.

31/03/2024

Speech therapy fun with some of my favourites!

Whether it's the adorable Pugalicous trying to eat treats as you balance them on his nose, the hilarious Gobble Monster trying to steal tiny toys, or the Pop Up Pirate keeping you on the edge of your seat, these games are more than just play. They are powerful tools for speech sound practice!

Kids of all ages love practising their target sounds and words to collect the pieces of the games. It's easy to get a high number of repetitions with these fun games in my therapy bag!

What's your favourite game to use in speech therapy practice with your kids?

31/03/2024

Encouraging imitation and early communication development

Children with speech and language delays, including 'late talkers', often find fun sounds and exclamatory words easier to imitate.

Toddlers love saying 'whoa!' when the tower wobbles and 'uh oh!' when it crashes down. It's the repetition of hearing words like 'up up up' every time you stack a block that paves the way for language development.

What fun sounds and simple words does your child love to say during play?

21/01/2024

Happy New Year to all and I hope the holidays have been a mixture of play and relaxation.

I have very limited appointments available for telehealth and face-to-face clients and have opened up my waitlist.

If you are looking for speech therapy, please complete the online enquiry form on my website to join the waitlist.

🖥 www.michelleboyall.com.au

10/11/2023

If you have a child with Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Apraxia Kids has a wealth of information.

The Apraxia Kids National Conference is the only major conference on the speech, language, learning, and life needs of children with apraxia.

10/11/2023

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder that affects a child's ability to plan and coordinate the movements needed for speech.

CAS is a neurological disorder and impacts the brain's ability to plan the precise movements necessary for speech sounds, syllables, and words. This results in speech that is often inconsistent, with errors in pronunciation and difficulty in producing sounds and words accurately. Children with CAS know what they want to say, but they struggle to coordinate the muscle movements needed to express themselves verbally.

Speech pathologists work with children with CAS to improve their speech coordination and clarity. Therapy techniques may include repetitive practice, speech drills, and other exercises designed to help the child develop accurate and coordinated speech movements. Early diagnosis and intervention are crucial in helping children with CAS improve their communication skills and develop more effective speech patterns.

All children with CAS are unique, but evidence-based treatments are available including:
✨ Dynamic, Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC)
✨ Rapid Syllable Transition Timing (ReST)
✨ Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme (NDP)

Which treatment option is used, depends on the age and current abilities of the child, but all treatment options are based on the principles of motor learning.

08/11/2023

I love these strategies from The Autistic Teacher on how schools can provide accommodations to support all children to learn.

08/11/2023

Focus on phonics!

Today in the clinic we're working on reading using the Read3 program.

✨ Linking a letter to a picture and a story (short e like 'empty egg')
✅ Helps children learn letter-sounds and letter to write them

✨ Building words using onset (first sound) and rime (rhyme ending)
✅ Reading the card in two chunks (b-et) rather than individual sounds (b-e-t) or 'chunking' reduces memory overload and helps children develop fluent and efficient reading

✨Practise reading simple three letter words
✅ Reading simple three letter words in rhyming families also helps children to develop fluent and automatic reading

✨ Practise writing words
✅ Reading and spelling are actually opposite skills. In the activities above, we practised blending sounds together to read (e.g. s-et makes set). When we write, we break words into sounds and match the sounds to letters

06/11/2023

Hi, I'm Michelle. I'm a paediatric speech pathologist dedicated to creating a nurturing space where kids can flourish and reach their potential.

With over 16 years experience, I've had the privilege of supporting hundreds of children and their families.

Based in Townsville, I provide mobile assessment and speech therapy services for children aged 12 months to 12 years in the areas of:
🗣️ Communication
🥣 Feeding
📚 Literacy

💻 I also provide telehealth services to children and families throughout Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

I have recently moved to Townsville and have immediate availability for appointments.

If you would like to make an appointment, or are concerned about your child's communication, literacy or feeding development and would like to find out how I can help, please get in touch via my website:

www.michelleboyall.com.au