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When visiting a speech pathologist for the first time, as you might guess, one of the first questions your clinician will ask you is what the reason for the visit is. If you are seeing fluency or stuttering specialist, then your concern will most likely be due to a stutter that you or your child has. The stutter is often one that has been present since you or your child started talking however, we do sometimes see stuttering arise in patients with Parkinson’s disease or other neurological aetiologies. Once you have established what your concerns are, there are a few key components that the assessment is composed of, including:

Case History

This includes any background history such as the initial occurrence of the stutter, any family history of stuttering, information about when the stutter is best or worst, as may people stutter more when speaking in front of unfamiliar listeners or when their emotions are heightened (when they are angry or nervous).

Baseline stuttering data

Once the case history has been taken, your clinician will then determine the types of stuttering present in your speech. This may include repetition of words, phrases or sentences, prolongation of sounds or blocks, which are breaks in speech where the mouth opens however, no sound is produced. More severe stutters can also include superfluous non-verbal behaviours such as tics, blinking and facial grimacing. Severity is also rated either on a scale associated with the chosen method of therapy such as the Lidcombe program severity scale or using percentage of syllables stuttered (%SS). These measures are often taken to serve as a baseline to help measure progress over time. Measures should be taken in everyday activities that you are most likely to engage in. This could include reading a newspaper article aloud or during a conversation with your speech pathologist.

After the assessment has been completed, your speech pathologist will provide you with the results, which will include a diagnosis and education about stuttering and the treatment programs available. Each diagnosis is different and based on the individuals presenting symptoms, which guide the type of therapy provided. For this reason, it is essential that your stuttering be assessed properly by a qualified speech therapist prior to commencing therapy.

Contact us for results focused on speech therapy

This article was written by our Speech Pathologist Ashleigh Fattah who is a Speech Pathology Australia member. If you have speech pathology related questions, make an appointment. We‘ll provide you with simple and effective therapy targeted to your concerns. Contact us today.

The post What to expect in an initial stuttering speech pathology assessment appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

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Many parents fall into the trap of feeling as if they have to purchase an entire toy store to be able to administer the Lidcombe program well. Following on from my last blog, here are a few more activities that can be done while administering Lidcombe without breaking the bank.

Read Low cost activities to engage children in the Lidcombe Program to learn more about what Lidcombe is and to some other activities for your children.

Color me speech

The internet is full of great coloring in materials that can be printed and used as part of speech practice. Make sure to choose a theme that your child enjoys, whether it is Princesses, Star Wars, The Wiggles or Paw Patrol. This will add an extra incentive to the coloring fun. Add speech by getting your child to tell you what he or she is going to color next and which color they want to use.

Fishing

If you already have a wooden fishing set then this game is even easier to set up. Just write different numbers to signify points on the back of different wooden fish (e.g. 50, 25, 100). Play the game just as you would normally by trying to catch the wooden fish with the magnetised rod however as each player catches a fish, they have to read out the number of points they earned so a score keeper can keep track of how many they have earned. The winner is the player with the most earned points at the end. If you don’t have a wooden fishing set, an alternative would be to print out pictures of fish, cut them out and place a staple in the middle of each fish. Write the number of points on the back of each fish print out. You can make a fishing rod out of a magnet glued to a piece of string, which is tied onto the end of a pencil. The magnet will pick up the stapes so you can collect the fish just as you would with a wooden fishing set.

If none of these games appeals to your child, try using what you already have and add on a new twist. For example, you can throw a ball to each other and as each person catches the ball, they have to name something they can see around them. Get creative and you can turn any game into a conversation.

Contact us for results focused speech therapy

This article was written by our Speech Pathologist Ashleigh Fattah who is a Speech Pathology Australia member. If you have questions about language activities, make an appointment. We‘ll provide you with simple and effective therapy targeted to your concerns. Contact us today.

The post Activities to engage children in the Lidcombe Program – part two appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

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What is the Lidcombe Program?

The Lidcombe program is an evidence based treatment method for preschool and early primary school aged children. The Program uses positive praise as behavioural reinforcement for smooth speech and is extremely effective when implemented correctly and with the right age group. Part of the treatment program involves engaging the child in different activities, many of which are play based. This can sometimes lead parents to feel like they need to live in a toy store in order to keep their child engaged to implement the program well. This is not necessarily the case and here I am going to list a few activities that can be done while administering Lidcombe without breaking the bank.

I spy

This game is played exactly as you would expect. One person decides on an object they can see and tells the other player what sound it starts with. The other player then has to guess what object the other person has in mind. As you play the game and elicit utterances, praise the child as per the Lidcombe program requirements.

You can so this activity at the simple word level by getting the child to give single word utterances when they guess, such as ‘ball’ or ‘hat’. Another option is to play the game at the ‘phrase’ stage and get your child to answer in phrases, such as ‘are you thinking of a hat’. Make sure to work at the level indicated by your child’s speech pathologist for best practice.

Match game

This game can be played entirely with two sets of printed pictures or if your child can recognise numbers, the game can also be played with a normal deck of cards. Place the sets of cards faced down and take turns flipping over two cards to try to find a match. As you flip the cards over, say aloud what are on the cards you have gotten. That way with each turn, you will get a chance to provide Lidcombe style praise and reinforcement.

You can also try a game you haven’t played in a while, with a fun reward at the end or reading books your child may not have seen by going to the local library. Whatever it is, it doesn’t have to be extravagant, just follow your child’s interests and you shouldn’t have trouble keeping them engaged.

Contact us for results focused speech therapy

This article was written by our Speech Pathologist Ashleigh Fattah who is a Speech Pathology Australia member. If you have questions about language activities, make an appointment. We‘ll provide you with simple and effective therapy targeted to your concerns. Contact us today.

The post Low cost activities to engage children in the Lidcombe Program appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

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What is the NDIS?

The NDIS is a national scheme, which is being implemented across Australia to provide targeted support and better coordination and access to services for people with a disability. The scheme is a single national system catering people with any kind of disability anywhere in Australia with the aim of providing equal access to existing health care services across the country.

For children on the current Better Start and HCWA (Helping children with Autism) schemes this means that funding for therapy will transition and eventually by provided through the NDIS. For adults with disability, this will allow for access to private health care services at no cost to the individuals or their families.

How can the NDIS help individuals with speech difficulties?

Individuals with disabilities will be assessed on their needs including their physical needs and if deemed eligible they will be provided with funding to attend sessions with health professionals such as Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists to help meet their physical needs at home as well as during recreational and vocational activities. The same applies for the individuals mental needs.

Once assessed, the individual may then be eligible for therapy services to meet their mental health and communication needs. This means they will be eligible to receive funding for psychology and speech pathology services.

The amount of sessions they can receive for each service is then determined collaboratively by the individual, their Carer, the NDIS, and the specialist they are seeing. The NDIS is different from the current schemes in that funding for adults with disability is now provided through a single scheme. This means adults who have disabilities such as Down syndrome or Autism receive therapy to assist with their communication and swallowing. This means they can improve their ability to speak to members of their family at home, make new friends in the community or help them to gain employment and engage with colleagues at work.

For more information about the National Disability Insurance Scheme visit the NDIS website

Contact us for results focused speech therapy

This article was written by our Speech Pathologist Ashleigh Fattah who is a Speech Pathology Australia member. If you have questions about language activities, make an appointment. We‘ll provide you with simple and effective therapy targeted to your concerns. Contact us today.

The post What is the NDIS and how can it help adults with speech difficulties appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

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One of the most popular misconceptions about children with speech and language delay is that taking a ‘wait and see’ approach cannot hurt. While this approach may not lead to anything life threatening, it can have serious repercussions for a child’s entire future following poor performance at school leading to decreased opportunities in further education, career and employment.

Here are a few examples of a child’s delayed language skills influencing their performance at school:

  • If a child is unable to understand basic concepts (e.g. before, after, then, same, different, or, between), they will have difficulties following a number of instructions given by their teachers and educators in the classroom and on the playground
  • e.g. “Put your books away before you get a test paper” or “Make sure to pick up a question sheet that is the same colour as your answer sheet”.
  • In both these cases, not understanding the instruction can lead to having a book open while completing a test, which may be misconstrued as cheating, and while this may not have been intentional, this means the child will already present in a negative light.
  • A child who is unable to follow multiple step instructions may have difficulty completing their schoolwork. They may complete the first step however, they be unaware that there is more work to be done. This inability to complete their work will affect the child’s grades. These kids are often the ones who are seen as disruptive as they become bored once they have “completed” the task, then wander off to do something else and distract others around them.
  • Those children who have difficulty answering ‘wh’ questions will often be unable to answer simple questions their teacher asks them, such as “whose bag is this?” or “Where did you put your book?” They will also be unable to answer questions in tests such as “Who is the main character or “If I have two apples and you have three apples, how many apples we have together?”.

These are just a few of the many difficulties a child with language delay may experience in the classroom and although they may not intend to be the disruptive child, it is a slippery slope for a child that is unable to participate in class due to these setbacks.  Early intervention is the key to bridging the gap and ensuring your child is able to learn and develop at school and socially with others to their best ability.

Contact us for results focused speech therapy

This article was written by our Speech Pathologist Ashleigh Fattah who is a Speech Pathology Australia member. If you have speech pathology related questions, make an appointment. We‘ll provide you with simple and effective therapy targeted to your concerns. Contact us today.

The post The impact of language delay at school appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

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