How we can help

Speech sound difficulties (sometimes called speech sound disorders) are when certain sounds are hard to make or get swapped in predictable ways-e.g., “wabbit” for “rabbit,” leaving off end sounds, or finding longer words tricky. Sometimes it’s about how a child's mouth moves (articulation); other times it’s a pattern the brain uses to simplify words (phonology). 

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At Illawarra Mobile Speechie, we support social communication and play through a strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming approach that honours your child’s neurodiversity. Support typically includes:

• coaching key communication partners (parents/carers, educators) to understand and respond to your child’s neurodiversity

• building your child’s self-advocacy and self-awareness

• collaborating with early learning settings and schools to advocate for your child

• identifying communication needs and preferences across home, school, and the community

• co-creating neurodiversity-affirming goals with your family and, where appropriate, your child

 

Our aim is for your child to communicate, connect, and play as their authentic self across their everyday environments.

Language skills are often described across two domains:

• Receptive – understanding language

• Expressive – using language

 

Language difficulties can look different for each child. Some children are “late talkers”; and make strong gains with early support, while others may need ongoing help or have language difficulties alongside another diagnosis (or suspected diagnosis), which forms part of the overall support they require.

Literacy refers to the skills needed to read and write. Children with literacy difficulties may find it difficult to access the curriculum. This can show up as challenges with decoding (reading words accurately), fluency, spelling, reading comprehension, or later written expression (planning, writing paragraphs, and grammar). In younger children, early signs often include difficulty rhyming, breaking words into syllables, and hearing or manipulating sounds in words (e.g., hearing the first or last sound). These are parts of phonological awareness, a key foundation for reading and spelling.

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Language and literacy go hand-in-hand. Strong oral language (vocabulary, sentence structure, understanding instructions, and storytelling) supports reading comprehension and writing. Equally, ongoing language difficulties can make reading and written tasks harder, even when a child can sound out words.

AAC refers to tools and strategies that support understanding and expression for children with complex communication needs. Options range from low-tech supports (Key Word Sign, picture symbols, communication books),to high-tech speech-generating devices (for example, systems using LAMP Words for Life). The aim is a robust system your child can use across home, school, and the community.

 

How we help:

• assess communication needs and goals

• guide device trials to find the best-fit system

• set up and personalise vocabulary

• coach parents, carers, and educators in aided language modelling

• provide ongoing therapy so your child learns to use their AAC to communicate, play, and participate

• collaborate with key stakeholders for smooth day-to-day use