Role of a Speech Therapist

Evidence  

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/dmcn.14360 

Katherine Sanchez, Jessica O Boyce, Cristina Mei, Miya St John, Jodie Smith, Linda Leembruggen, Stephanie Mills, Alicia J Spittle, Angela T Morgan 

Children born before 30 weeks’ gestation had poorer language than children born at term. Children born preterm with neurodevelopmental disabilities or high social risk experience poorer language outcomes and would benefit from enrichment of their language environment. 

Education 

A speech therapist is an expert in the space of language and communication. They are trained to assess, diagnose, and treat people presenting differing and complex speech, language, social, language, and literacy delays. When it comes to paediatric speech pathology, a therapist works to identify these obstacles your child.  

Whatever the communication impairment, a speech therapist will work with your child, family, their educators, and other key influences to ensure your child is supported in the development of their communication skills. 

A speech therapist works to make this journey fun your child. They use active activities and play to develop not only communication and language abilities, but also to help your child grow in important developmental areas such as: play, cognition, motor skills, social skills, and overall behaviour. 

Working with a speech therapist can be extremely beneficial for many different children. There are a wide variety of different conditions, disorders, impairments, or general difficulties that can be positively affected by the use of speech pathology therapy sessions. Paediatric speech therapists assess and treat children of all ages who present with: 

• Delayed early language development (‘late talkers’) 

• Language-based literacy or learning delays 

• Stutters or lisps 

• Developmental delay 

• Difficulty with comprehension 

• Play, social, or conversational concerns 

• Attention difficulties 

• Autism Spectrum Disorder 

• Unclear speech or articulation 

• Dyspraxia 

• Intellectual disabilities that require alternative ways to communicate

There are also several other conditions, not necessarily regarding communication, that a speech pathologist can work on with your child. Speech pathology can help your child work through key developmental areas that may be posing challenges, such as: 

• Difficulty feeding 

• Issues as a result of a cleft palate 

• Problems swallowing 

• History of ear infections 

• Difficulty reading 

There are certain speech development milestone markers which, if not met, can indicate a speech or language disorder. 

From birth to approximately fourteen months of age, babies will mostly communicate through crying. 

Around four months of age they may start babbling, although you can add a month or two to this for those born prematurely. 

Most children will speak their first word between fourteen and twenty months. 

Empowerment  

Remember that children develop on their own timelines, and in all likelihood, your little one will be saying "no!" and "mine!" before you know it. But if your baby isn’t babbling by the 8-month mark or does not have one to two words by 12 to 15 months and you feel concerned, it’s worth talking to your GP or paediatrician.  

Useful Links  

Speech Pathology Australia  

https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au 

Miracle Babies Foundation 

https://www.miraclebabies.org.au/content/baby-soundsbabbling/gmf58o 

https://www.miraclebabies.org.au/content/speech-language-difficulties/gmw21c 

Raising Children Network 

https://raisingchildren.net.au/guides/a-z-health-reference/speech-pathologist 

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