Therapy in blocks, with an end date. Not forever.
We work in eight-session blocks with goals written down at the start and measured at the end. Then we stop, you practise at home for a term, and we review before booking another block — not an open-ended weekly booking that runs for years.
How this practice runs
Four facts about how we book and run appointments — not a claim about how quickly any particular child will progress. Nobody can promise you that.
Practising from the same rooms on Honour Ave.
Sessions in a block, with goals written down at the start.
Every therapy session, with the same speech pathologist.
Assessments here that end with no therapy recommended.
Common reasons parents ring
Late talking
Few or no words, or words that have stopped coming. The area where families call first, and the one we try to see soonest.
Unclear speech
Sounds left out or swapped. If strangers cannot understand your four-year-old, do not wait.
Stuttering
Repeating, stretching or getting stuck on words. Early intervention has genuinely strong evidence here.
Language & comprehension
Trouble following instructions, telling a story, or finding the right words. Often mistaken for not listening.
Reading & spelling
Literacy difficulties and suspected dyslexia. Reading is built on speech sounds, which is why this is our work.
Autism & social communication
Practical communication support, including AAC and devices where speech is not developing.
And why we use it
Open-ended weekly therapy suits a clinic’s cash flow better than it suits a child. Blocks with a defined end force everyone — us included — to be honest about whether it is working.
Assessment
Ninety minutes, $190. You leave knowing whether therapy is needed, and if so what for.
A block of eight
Weekly or fortnightly, with two or three specific goals written down at the start.
Review & measure
The same measures repeated. Either the goals were met, or we change approach — and say so.
A break
A term off, practising at home. No appointments, no charges. Then we review.
Between blocks there are no appointments and no charges. What matters in that gap is the ten minutes a day at home — which is where nearly all the progress actually happens, and why every session here finishes with the parent knowing exactly what to do.
The rough milestones
“Wait and see” is reasonable advice for some children and costs others a year. If your child is behind on any of these, an assessment is worth it even if the answer is that all is fine.
12 months. Use one or two words, respond to their name, point at things they want.
18 months. Use around twenty words and follow a simple instruction like “get your shoes”.
2 years. Put two words together — “more milk”, “daddy gone” — and be understood by family about half the time.
3 years. Use short sentences, ask questions, and be understood by people outside the family most of the time.
4 years. Tell you about something that happened, be understood by strangers, use most speech sounds.
5 years. Tell a story in order, use nearly all speech sounds correctly, follow instructions with two or three parts.
Four ways families fund therapy here
Most parents do not know that a GP care plan gives five rebated sessions a year, or that NDIS plan-managed funding can be used here without any paperwork on your end. We will work out which applies before you book.
Medicare
Private health extras
Registered provider. Plan-managed and NDIA-managed invoiced direct — no gap, no paperwork for you.
Reduced-fee places
Five rebated sessions a year with a GP care plan. Up to twenty via a paediatrician for complex needs.
No call-out charge
Typically $40–$70 back a session, depending on your level of cover.
No sales visit
Two held at $95 for families in hardship. No means test — just ask.
Our speech pathologists
All Certified Practising members of Speech Pathology Australia.
Alice Farnworth
Late talkers, stuttering, Lidcombe.
Dev Raghunathan
Literacy, language, school-age.
Nour Haddad
Autism, AAC, social communication.
What parents ask
The things people ask before they ring.
Should I just wait and see?
Sometimes yes — about one assessment in five here ends with no therapy recommended because the child is within normal range and simply on the later side of it. But “wait and see” applied to the wrong child costs a year at the age when help is easiest to build in. Two things are never worth waiting on: a child who has stopped doing something they used to do, and a four-year-old strangers cannot understand. An assessment costs $190 and gives you an actual answer instead of a guess.
Why blocks instead of ongoing weekly therapy?
Because open-ended therapy has no point at which anybody has to be honest about whether it is working. A block has two or three written goals and a defined end, and at the end we measure the same things we measured at the start. Every block runs eight sessions, and either the goals were met, we change approach, or we discharge — not an open-ended weekly booking that runs for years.
Do I have to be in the room?
Yes, and we would insist even if you offered not to — unless your child is a teenager who would rather you waited outside. You are the one doing ten minutes a day at home, and that daily practice does more than our 45 minutes does. If you cannot see what it looks like, you cannot do it. Siblings are welcome and the noise does not bother anyone.
How does NDIS funding work here?
We are a registered provider. If your plan is plan-managed or NDIA-managed we invoice directly and there is nothing for you to pay or claim. Self-managed families pay us and claim it back. We charge at the NDIS price limit rather than above it, so there is no gap either way. Report writing for plan reviews is billed at the NDIS hourly rate and always quoted before we start.
What if we cannot afford it?
Ask about a reduced-fee place — we hold two at $95 and there is no means test beyond you telling us. Also ask your GP about a Chronic Disease Management plan, which most parents are never told about and which rebates five sessions a year. Queensland Health also runs free community speech pathology with a long wait; it is a genuine option and we will help you get on the list rather than pretend it does not exist.
First assessments are usually available within three weeks
No referral needed for a first appointment. Ring between 8:30am and 5:30pm weekdays and we will find a time.