Unlock your child's potential, make meaningful progress, and improve your family life.
SLCN therapy empowers you to take a hands-on role in your child's learning and development. We guide you and your child step by step through individually-tailored sessions and activities, leading to meaningful progress for your child and a more enjoyable family life.
At SLCN we offer therapy at your home, your child's school, at a clinic in Derrimut, and online. Home and school visits are for those living in the western and northern suburbs of Melbourne and online sessions available to all of Australia.
At SLCN, our journey began with a profound belief in the potential of every child. We envisioned a world where children, irrespective of their unique challenges, could lead happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives. This vision serves as the unwavering motivation behind our therapy, driving us to make a meaningful impact on the lives of children and their families.
We start with an assessment of your child's skills compared against developmental milestones. This involves interacting, playing, and or chatting. Together we discuss the goals you would like to work on and your child's strengths and areas of improvement in social, play, language, daily living, motor, thinking, and academic skills.
We believe in the strength of families as the foundation of a child's support system. Our motivation extends to empowering families with the knowledge, skills, and support they need to help their children flourish.
We understand the significance of early intervention in addressing childhood challenges. Our motivation lies in providing timely and effective therapies that can make a profound difference in a child's life, setting the stage for a brighter future.
Achieve meaningful progress for your child across a complete range of eight development areas.
Help to customise therapy plans specifically tailored for your child
Support your child to use new skills at home, school, and in the community
Play an active role in your child's development
the ability to communicate effectively and understand others
various forms, including interactive, independent, functional, and pretend computer
the ability to engage independently in activities, from dressing and toileting to setting the table
the visual, oral, and motor skills a child needs to communicate effectively, participate in play and daily living activities, and succeed academically
ability to understand the mental states of oneself and others, such as sarcasm, empathy, and pretending
social interactions and relationship building, as well as social language skills and self-esteem
English and math skills to work independently on assignments at school
Paediatric Speech Pathlogist
Whatever your family’s case, we will work together with you and your child to offer the best possibilities for success in therapy, tailored to your time and budget constraints and your child's needs.
If you’d like to book a FREE consultation here, we’ll be able to discuss our therapy services and recommend therapy suitable for your circumstances.
Our therapists come from many fields, such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, psychology, physiotherapy, and special education, and work together as a team with you to help your child.
A speech pathologist is a university-trained health professional who works with anyone who has trouble communicating. This could be trouble with:
speech and sound – for example, trouble making and combining sounds in words
language – for example, trouble understanding what other people say or trouble using words and sentences to express ideas
literacy, including reading and writing
social skills
stuttering
voice problems like hoarseness or breathiness.
Speech pathologists help people find the best way to communicate to meet their needs. This might include strategies to improve speech clarity or fluency, or signs, symbols, gestures and other forms of assisted communication.
Speech pathologists also help people who have trouble swallowing food and drink.
Occupational therapists are university-trained health professionals who help people improve their ability to do the everyday things that they want or need to do.
Occupational therapists help people to:
improve their ability to look after themselves – for example, eat, dress or complete personal hygiene tasks
take part in activities at work, school and preschool or in the community
literacy, including reading and writing
take part in leisure activities
move around more easily in physical environments – for example, with ramps.
Occupational therapists work with people who might have difficulties because of injury or illness, psychological or emotional problems, developmental delay, intellectual disability or physical disability.
Psychologists are university-trained health professionals who have studied human behaviour. Psychologists are experts in the ways people think, feel, behave and learn.
Psychologists work in many different areas. Most psychologists work directly with people when they’re upset or troubled – for example, when someone has anxiety or depression or is experiencing stress. They also work with people who are going through challenges in life, like parenting or relationship problems. Psychologists can help people find better ways of coping or managing parts of their lives.
Psychologists also help people improve performance, health and learning. They sometimes work in research, training and education.
Psychologists work on changing thoughts, behaviour and emotions using different therapies and approaches. They don’t prescribe medications to help people feel better.
A physiotherapist is a university-trained health professional who can treat conditions or injuries that affect the way you move and do your daily activities.
Paediatric physiotherapists are physiotherapists who specialise in working with children from birth and during childhood and adolescence.
Special education teachers are usually teachers who have done extra training to support students with disability or learning, social or behaviour difficulties. They create learning environments and programs to help students get the most out of education.
Special education teachers work directly with students. They also provide professional advice, support and mentoring to classroom teachers and other school support staff on:
catering for the range of different learning needs in classrooms
working with families to create the best possible learning opportunities for students at school and at home
using the right equipment and resources to support learning needs
meeting the Disability Standards for Education
developing a school culture that makes all students feel included
developing positive partnerships with other disability services.
Families may wish to use funding to help pay for the cost of therapy. If you already have NDIS funding then you can use your child’s NDIS funds for therapy. Children under the age of seven may be able to get NDIS funding based on needing a range of support from multiple professionals such as speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and psychologists. Children under the age of seven do not need a diagnosis to get NDIS early childhood early intervention funding. Typically children above the age of seven do need a diagnosis to get NDIS funding or to continue to get NDIS funding. NDIS funds may be managed by the NDIA (agency managed), managed by an external plan manager (plan managed), or managed by yourself (self managed).
Families may also be able to use their private health insurance to cover some of the cost of therapy. The amount that is covered depends on the private health insurance company so check with your private health insurer.
Families may also be able to get a rebate from Medicare to cover some of the cost of therapy. You will need to get a referral from a medical professional such as a general practitioner (GP) or paediatrician to be able to get a Medicare rebate. A GP can start a chronic disease management plan (previously enhanced primary care plan) or a paediatrician or other specialist can write a referral with medicare items (typically Medicare item 110 or 116) to cover some of the cost of therapy. The Medicare rebate that you receive from a paediatrician or specialist is higher than the rebate from a GP (approximately $55 rebate for a referral from a GP and $77 rebate for a referral from a specialist).
Only one type of funding (NDIS, Medicare, private health insurance) may be used to cover the cost of therapy.
Ideally, daily practice with your child will be required. Three practice sessions per week would be considered a minimum. Without sufficient practice your child is unlikely to progress in skill development and in the long term this may in turn lead to a decrease in motivation.
Therapy should focus on the specific goals and materials that have been set in therapy sessions by you and your child’s therapist. Other forms of practice, such as incidental practice are not likely to be as effective.
In order for your child to develop and extend new skills, feedback on practice attempts is required. This feedback should typically be delivered as labelled praise. Labelled praise will specifically let your child know what was correct about the attempt and will provide motivation and encouragement to keep trying.
As the focus of therapy is on training and supporting you, you are required for all therapy appointments. If you are unable to attend, please ring 03 80 880 527 or or email [email protected] as soon as possible.
