Speech Therapy in Newcastle for children, adolescents, and adults
The Willow Tree Clinic provides evidence-based assessments and interventions to improve communication and everyday life for your family. Our experienced Newcastle-based speech therapists work with children, adolescents and adults to improve speech, reading, social interaction, listening, eating and communication skills.
Our Speech Therapy Services
Offering the latest in speech and language programs
Our speech pathologists are certified in a range of programs to support individual needs. Committed to ongoing professional development, our team is always identifying new approaches, so we continue to offer the most effective interventions. We also aim to make sessions enjoyable and interactive, while learning new concepts and skills.
What to expect when starting Speech Therapy
Step 1: Intake Appointment
Your first session with us typically involves a 1-hour intake appointment to discuss current challenges and areas for support. In this session, we get to know you, your child and your concerns to help us move forward with the most appropriate assessment approach.
Step 2: SLP Assessment
We will then assess the child's abilities using a range of formal and informal assessments to gauge their current functional communication skills. This assessment guides the development of therapy goals (in collaboration with you and your child).
Step 3: Recommended Interventions
We start ongoing speech therapy sessions to support your therapy goals. These are fun, play-based, interest-led and individualised to meet the needs of each child. At the end of each session, you’ll get an update on progress and ideas for supporting learning at home.
Speech Therapy FAQs
What is Speech Therapy?
Speech therapy is the assessment and treatment of communication problems and speech disorders by a trained and certified speech pathologist. Speech therapy can assist with speech disorders that develop in childhood or speech impairments in adults caused by an injury or illness.
What is a speech pathologist?
A speech pathologist is someone who has been professionally trained to diagnose and provide intervention for children or adults who are unable to communicate effectively and/or are having trouble feeding or eating.
Who can benefit from speech therapy?
Anyone may benefit from speech therapy, especially people experiencing challenges with:
- using accurate speech sounds when saying words.
- overall clarity of speech (ability to be understood by others).
- understanding and/or expression of language (ability to follow directions or communicate their wants and needs with others).
- understanding and/or use of social communication (ability to make friends and keep them, etc).
- fluency (stuttering).
- voice quality (nasally, lose their voice etc).
- feeding (fussy feeders & eating).
- phonological awareness skills (pre-literacy skills) like rhyming, letter-to-sound knowledge and syllable counting.
- literacy skills; including reading, writing, and spelling.
Do you need a referral to see a speech pathologist?
Referrals are not necessary to access speech therapy intervention. If you’re concerned about your own or your child’s communication skills, simply give us a call or book directly through the website.
However, if you have been referred by your GP or Paediatrician, you may be entitled to a Medicare rebate
What happens during a speech assessment?
The assessment process involves getting to know the client’s history to ensure we target all aspects of their communication skills. Following the assessment appointment, you’ll receive a written report detailing the identified strengths and challenges, including any recommendations for ongoing intervention.
We’ll follow up with an appointment to break down the results, confirm key goals and discuss what you’d like to get out of speech therapy.
What does a regular speech pathology session look like?
A regular speech pathology session typically involves:
- time to build rapport with our clients (usually either a game or a chat to make them feel more comfortable).
- a discussion of the progress made over the previous week/fortnight.
- any other relevant updates (e.g. what has been going on at home, school or preschool, barriers to completing speech pathology homework etc).
- individualised intervention activities aligned to current therapy goals.
- feedback on progress after completing therapy activities.
- strategies on how to maximise or continuously make improvements to communication skills at home.
- homework activities (including an explanation of how best to complete these as well as why it is necessary to complete homework).
- opportunity for the client or parent to ask further questions.
Should I wait and see if my child’s communication skills improve over time?
We don’t recommend the “wait and see” approach. If you have concerns about your child’s communication skills, accessing early intervention is crucial. Many studies reveal the long-term impacts of delayed early communication skills on a child’s everyday life. These include:
- reduced confidence
- anxiety
- poorer literacy skills
- trouble keeping up with classroom work
- difficulties communicating their wants and needs
- difficulties making friends, socialising with others and employment opportunities.
How do you make speech therapy sessions enjoyable/motivating for children?
Learning communication skills can be difficult and unnerving for kids. We use our initial intake process to figure out what your child likes, and we incorporate these interests into their sessions as much as possible.
Some of these interests may include sports, animals, the Simpsons, bubbles, barrier games, colouring in, marble tracks, trucks, trains, drawing, Disney, Roblox, YouTube, books, board games and puzzles. It’s important to make learning fun and engaging so our clients want to communicate with us and come back each week.
Do we always have to come to your Newcastle clinic for speech therapy?
No – we can deliver speech therapy in our clinic, at home, at school, during daycare/preschool and via telehealth. While we will take into account your preference for ongoing therapy, it’s important to note that communication skills can vary depending on the environment and communication partners present in a session.
This means certain types of therapy intervention may be required in certain environments but not others. For example, a client may exhibit sound social skills at home surrounded by family but struggle to communicate at preschool.
Differing environments may also be chosen based on who else is supporting your child’s communication skills. Speech pathologists often upskill early childhood educators to ensure your child is supported by therapeutic supports/strategies in between ongoing sessions.
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