What is Speech Pathology

Paediatric speech pathologists provide support to children who are experiencing difficulties or delays in their communication and feeding. These may include difficulties with speaking, listening, reading, writing, social skills, stuttering, feeding and voice. We provide support to children who may or may not have a diagnosis.
At Caterpillars to Butterflies, we believe strongly in providing therapy that is functional and play based to ensure a transference of skills to the child’s everyday life.

Speech:
Speech is how we say sounds and words. We use our lips, teeth, tongue and palate to make different sounds that help us say words.
Some children may experience delayed or disordered speech which can be targeted during speech pathology sessions.
Language:
Language can be broken down into receptive language and expressive language.
Receptive language is the ability to understand information communicated to you, whether it be spoken, written or through non-verbal communication, such as body language.
Expressive language is the ability to produce communication to convey a message to another person.
Some children experience difficulties with one or both areas of language development. Speech pathologists can assess, detect and provide therapy for language delays or disorders.
Literacy:
Literacy includes reading, writing and spelling, all of which are key parts of learning, working and communicating.
Literacy is important for all ages as we use it academically, socially, for employment and to increase independence.
We can help by assessing your child’s literacy skills to see if intervention is required. We can then work with you, your child and their teacher to target their spelling, reading and writing.
Social Skills:
Children are required to use social skills across many aspects of their life. Making friends, maintaining friendships, communicating effectively to familiar and unfamiliar people, understanding body language, asking for help are just a few of the situations where social skills are required. 
Communication is crucial for social skills. If your child is struggling to socialise, there is often a break down in their communication. 
Speech pathologists can explicitly teach social skills and increase awareness of subtle communication required for socialisation. Sessions can target the little things like taking turns and sharing all the way to understanding non-verbal cues and repairing a conversation. 
Feeding

Feeding requires an allied health team, including speech pathologists. We often look at the oromotor skills required to eat and provide guidance around ways to support your little one to eat a variety of foods. Our speech pathologist, Ryley is S.O.S trained and uses the S.O.S approach with her knowledge of oral structure and musculature to provide the best advice and support for your child.