If you are searching for Speech Therapy in Canberra we can help. We can provide assessment and therapy for children experiencing language disorder.
Impact of language disorder
Language disorder is often hard to spot but can show up in several areas of the child’s life including:
Behaviour challenges
Children with language disorder often have significant behavioural problems in both externalising (e.g. physical aggression) and internalising (e.g. anxiety) disorders. Research has shown a link between language disorder in childhood and adult mental health problems.
Mental illness
Having a language disorder in early childhood increases the long-term risk of mental illness due to the life-long frustration, anger, embarrassment etc experienced when trying to communicate
Poor social skills
Children with language disorder experience difficulty making friends and maintaining strong relationships, which leads to social exclusion.
Difficulty at school
When a child begins school, it is expected that they will be able to clearly express their thoughts and ideas as well as understand multi step instructions and complex stories. Research has repeatedly shown that language development in children, in particular vocabulary size is one of the strongest predictors of success in reading, writing, socialisiation with their peers, and maths. See more.
The following statistics have been sourced from Speech Pathology Australia (the association responsible for registration of the profession) and The Centre of Research Excellence in Child Language, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
Things you can do
Check their hearing
Hearing loss can be subtle. Even if your child consistently responds to noise and passed their newborn hearing screen it is worth a visit to your GP and booking to have their hearing checked if they:
Have ever had any ear infections.
Have a family history of hearing disorders.
Constant exposure to loud noise.
Were born premature.
Have excessive wax build up.
Have had a serious head injury.
Have had a serious injury or illness at any time in their life including the pregnancy (e.g. meningitis, influenza).
To book a free hearing test in Canberra contact ACT health Nurse Audiometry on 6207 9977 waitlists apply so get in quick!
Check general health and wellbeing
It may be necessary to consult your family doctor if there is any indications your child may have an underlying medical condition such as sleep apnoea, poor attention iron deficiency or any general health conditions, hearing issue or ear infections, serious illnesses or accidents.
Check what is typical language development in children for their age
Check against the language milestones below to access the language development milestones provided by Speech Pathology Australia. Checklists providing advice about child language acquisition by Speech Pathology Australia are copyright of the Association and are not to be used without the Association’s permission.
Book an appointment
Contact us and have your child assessed. If you would like a professional opinion about your child’s language development, feel free to email or call for more information. I am a Speech Pathologist in Canberra and can provide a thorough analysis of your child’s language relative to their same age peers to help inform your decision about what to do next. See our step by step approach.
Early Intervention
Early intervention to maximise language development in children is critical to reducing the long-term impact of language delay. We can help by teaching you techniques to help your child develop their vocabulary, improve their comprehension and increase the length of their sentences etc using evidenced based programs for example we are certified providers of the Hanen Program It Takes Two To Talk in the Canberra region.
Research supports our belief that a partnership between the family and therapist is the key to getting great results. We will provide advice and training for you so you can carry through the techniques into the home.