FAQ’s
General FAQs
The length of time that your child will require therapy is very individual. You will need to chat with your therapist following your child’s initial assessment for a better understanding of their needs.
We currently have a waiting list for all of our clinicians, but we endeavour to provide realistic time frames concerning each clinician. Please give us a call on 03 7012 5038 to chat further with our clinic co-ordinator.
That’s easy! Just complete our booking request form, and our clinic co-ordinator will be in touch shortly to let you know the next steps.
Yes! Our clinicians are experienced in providing therapy via telehealth. Please give us a call on 03 7012 5038 to chat about our telehealth services with our clinic co-ordinator.
Depending on the level of your cover and your insurer, you’re likely able to receive a rebate from your insurer. In saying this, in almost all cases, there is an out-of-pocket expense. Your child may be eligible for a Medicare rebate if referred by their GP with a CDMP. Please see our ‘Rebates and Fees’ page for further information.
No, your child does not need a referral to see one of our clinicians. However, if your child has previously visited other specialists, it would be helpful for you to provide any reports to our clinicians before the first appointment.
We are located at 98 Somerville Road, Yarraville, 3013. There is 2-hour parking available outside the clinic and all-day parking available on Gamon Street.
If you need to cancel your appointment, please either call us on 03 7012 5038 or contact your clinician directly. We require 24 hours’ notice for all cancellation for all appointments, otherwise cancellations fees will apply.
Easy! Check out our ‘Join the Hub’ page for a gallery of pics and more info about how to join or give our Director, Becky, a call on 03 7012 5038 to have a chat and a tour 🙂
Speech Pathology FAQs
A baby who doesn’t respond to sound or vocalize should be checked by a doctor right away. But often, it’s hard for parents to know if their child is taking a bit longer to reach a speech or language milestone, or if there’s a problem.
There are some things to watch for, so give us a call if:
by 12 months: your child isn’t using gestures, such as pointing or waving bye-bye
by 18 months: your child prefers gestures over vocalizations to communicate
by 18 months: your child has trouble imitating sounds or has difficulty understanding simple verbal requests
by 2 years: your child can only imitate speech or actions and doesn’t produce words or phrases spontaneously
by 2 years: your child says only some sounds or words repeatedly and can’t use oral language to communicate more than their immediate needs
by 2 years: your child can’t follow simple directions
By 4 years old, a child should be mostly understood, even by people who don’t know the child
When a child has trouble understanding other people (receptive language) or explaining thoughts, ideas, and feelings (expressive language), this is a Developmental Language Disorder.
Receptive Language Disorder
A receptive language disorder means that a child has difficulties understanding what is said to them. There is no standard set of features that indicate a receptive language disorder, as all children are different.
However, symptoms may include:
Not seeming to listen when spoken to.
Parroting words and phrases.
Unable to follow spoken instructions.
Appearing to lack interest in storybooks read to them.
Expressive Language Disorder
An expressive language disorder means a child has difficulty using words to get their message across. Symptoms of an expressive language disorder may include:
Making grammatical errors when talking,
Using shorter, simpler sentences than children their age.
Being unable to ‘come to the point.’
Having difficulty retelling stories in an organised way,
Finding it hard to maintain conversations.
A clinical assessment of language will help pinpoint the specific areas of language that your child is struggling with to best support them in these areas.
Children develop at varying rates in all sorts of ways, including language, so there is no set age where every child should talk. If your child is between 18 and 30 months, appears to have problems understanding language, uses very few gestures to communicate, and is slow at learning new words, it is a good idea to seek professional advice. communicate, and is slow at learning new words, it is a good idea to seek professional advice.
If you have a child with glue ear, we recommend that you DON’T wait to start speech pathology. Many children improve after inserting grommets, but even with this improvement, we know that most of these children don’t develop ‘normal’ speech and language skills without some assistance. Speech pathology can help your child develop foundational skills that will help them to make the best use of their better hearing once they have it.
Ahhh, the BIG question! Parents just want to know how well their child will cope with the demands of school, both socially and intellectually.
Here are some questions to ask about school readiness:
Can your child listen and follow instructions?
Can your child sit still?
Can your child tolerate frustration and not getting his or her way?
Can your child accept and follow the rules?
Can your child hold a pencil and draw simple drawings?
Can your child cut with scissors and paste things?
Can your child write his or her name?
Can your child copy basic shapes?
Does your child know the alphabet?
Can your child count at least to 20?
Can your child recognise shapes and colours? Does your child separate from you easily?
Can your child dress independently and pack a bag?
Does your child know to ask for help?
Can your child ask to go to the bathroom?
Can your child go to the bathroom independently and wash his/her hands?
Can your child play with other children?
Does your child smile at possible new friends?
Can your child play and take turns with other children?
Can your child talk with other children and adults?
Can your child walk, run, and climb easily?
Can your child skip and balance on one leg?
Can your child go without a midday rest?
If you have any concerns about your child’s ability to undertake the above tasks, you can call to have a chat with our Educational and Behavioural Psychologist. There are in-depth assessments that can be done to determine exactly how your child is going, which may help you make your decision.
Research evidence suggests that approximately 50% of all early readers require additional literacy support outside of the classroom to master reading. This does not mean that these children have dyslexia, but it does mean that they may struggle to keep up with school reading and writing expectations without additional support. In young children, literacy difficulties may present as a lack of interest in books and nursery rhymes and a difficulty learning (and remembering) letter names. Older children and adolescents with poor literacy skills may present with difficulties comprehending school texts, interpreting test and exam questions, or reading aloud fluently. It is vital to help children with reading and spelling as early as possible, as difficulties can lead to low self-esteem and disengagement from schooling.
Occupational Therapy FAQs
Occupational Therapy (or ‘OT’) helps people to go about their day-to-day activities more easily. For children and teens struggling with any part of their development, this can range from their handwriting to making new friends, concentrating, or longer-term challenges such as being on the autism spectrum.
Occupational therapists help children with a whole range of developmental challenges. Here are just some of the things we help with:
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Dyspraxia
ADHD
Sensory Processing Disorders
Handwriting
Fine & gross motor co-ordination
Social skills and self-regulation
Self-care skills
Feeding skills
Things to look out for:
Movement
Clumsy, trips often, and seems a bit uncoordinated, finds it hard to throw and catch a ball or participate in organised sports activities.
Writing
Finds it hard to hold a pencil correctly, form letters or numbers, write sentences, plan writing tasks, and write age-appropriate text types.
Hand Skills
Struggles to cut basic shapes, draw simple figures or play with small objects (like beads, LEGO® or marbles)
Behaviour
Has meltdowns, or finds it hard to cope with change, lack of resilience, highly emotional.
Social Skills
Finds it hard to make new friends, pick up on body language, or understanding the expected behaviour in a range of social settings.
Self-care
Struggling to get dressed by themselves, tie shoelaces, organise themselves, or use cutlery correctly.
Eating
Is a fussy eater.
Sensory Regulation
Has difficulty regulating self due to sensory processing difficulties
Organisational Skills and Motor Planning
Motor planning is the ability to conceive, plan, and carry out a skilled, non-habitual motor act in the correct sequence from beginning to end. The child with motor planning difficulties may be slow in carrying out verbal instructions and often appears clumsy in new tasks.
Play Therapy FAQs
Play is vital to every child’s social, emotional, cognitive, physical, creative, and language development. It helps make learning concrete for all children and young people, including those for whom verbal communication may be difficult.
Play Therapy uses various play and creative arts techniques to alleviate chronic, mild, and moderate psychological and emotional conditions in children, causing behavioural problems and preventing children from realising their potential.
Play Therapy helps children in a variety of ways. Children receive emotional support and can learn to understand more about their feelings and thoughts. Sometimes they may re-enact or play out traumatic or difficult life experiences to make sense of their past and cope better with their future. Children may also learn to manage relationships and conflicts in more appropriate ways.
The outcomes of Play Therapy may be general, e.g. a reduction in anxiety and raised self-esteem, or more specific such as a change in behaviour and improved relations with family and friends.
Play Therapy sessions last about 50 minutes because play therapy is hard work, and for most children, this is ample time to think about or experience different feelings.
If your child is anxious about leaving you, you and your child may come into the playroom together initially. When your child feels comfortable with you leaving, we conduct the rest of the session, and following sessions, with only the therapist and your child in the playroom. This allows your child to freely express their feelings and concerns without the worry of upsetting you.
In Play Therapy, your child selects the toys and activities to play with. The Play Therapist may join in the play with the child’s invitation or direction.
In a typical play therapy session, the Play Therapist will be reflecting on how your child is engaging with toys and the underlying emotions which seem to accompany the actions rather than asking questions.
Limits are set as and when needed. This is done in a way to help your child make choices and develop responsibility.
A child does not have to talk directly about their problems or feelings to gain relief. In Play Therapy, children are provided with specially chosen toys to enable them to say with toys and through play what they have difficulty saying in words. This allows children to distance themselves from difficult feelings and memories, but through expression, these feelings and memories may become less intense.
Play Therapy allows your child to play out their worries and concerns with support from the Play Therapist. Sometimes they may re-enact traumatic or difficult life experiences to make sense of their past. Play Therapy allows children to change the way they think about, feel toward, and resolve their concerns (Kaugars & Russ, 2001).
Play Therapy can help parents, teachers, and caregivers to understand what a child is going through, and suggestions can be given to assist the individual needs of the child.
Troubling problems can be confronted in play therapy, and lasting resolutions can be discovered, rehearsed, mastered, and adapted into lifelong strategies (Russ, 2004).
Yes, your child must know you are waiting in the waiting room and that we can come and check should he or she need to do this.
Please feel free to make yourself comfortable and enjoy some time for yourself.
Psychology FAQs
Children and teenagers may benefit from psychological therapy for a range of reasons, but this does not mean that there is a problem. Kids can sometimes benefit from having someone to talk to outside the family.
The following markers may indicate your child needs to seek the help of a psychologist. For example, if your child is:
Experiencing problems that are having negative effects on their family and peer relationships.
Expressing negative thoughts about themselves.
Worried or anxious a lot of the time.
Expressing a feeling of hopelessness.
Exhibiting a noticeable change in their sleep or eating.
Irritable or angry, or if there is a sudden change in behaviour.
Engaging in self-harm.
You know your child best and will have some idea of how best to approach the subject with them. However, here are some tips for chatting to your child about their psychology sessions:
Don’t make it a big deal; it’s not! Loads of kids and adults attend psychology sessions; it’s totally normal!
Tell your child they do not have to answer any questions that they feel uncomfortable about answering.
Give your child suitable notice about the upcoming sessions. A few days to a week’s notice is usually reasonable.
Find some info and a photo online about their new psychologist, so they know who they’re meeting before-hand.
Art Therapy FAQs
No, you don’t need to be an artist to benefit from Art Therapy as you will be gently guided and supported during each session. The art materials are merely tools to aid self-expression, build motor skills, calm sensory needs, sooth anxiety, and process feelings.
This depends on each client’s needs: a child aiming to improve motor skills may create Among Us figurines out of polymer clay whilst an adult may need to express repressed feelings through a series of scribbles. If a client wants to learn art techniques, that is available to them too as the Art Therapist is a practicing artist.
Creating art is a mindful activity; the act of putting your head where your hands are naturally lowers anxiety. If big feelings do come up, the Art Therapist is trained to help a client manage them in therapeutically supportive ways.
Again, this depends on each client’s needs. Autistic clients find regular ongoing sessions that build confidence, self-expression, art technique, and motor skills over time beneficial whilst another client may just need one or two sessions to help process a particular issue.
Assessments FAQs
You are able to use Medicare rebated sessions only when:
- There is a valid 82000 referral from a Paediatrician to assess for Autism. At this stage ADHD and cognitive assessments are out of pocket expenses.
- The child is present for the session.
Yes, provided that this is not used solely for diagnostic purposes but is part of a client’s ongoing functional assessment and a diagnosis will support treatment goals. It is best to check with your NDIS coordinator regarding your individual plan.
A good report is intended to be readable to the parties it is designed for. Whilst it may contain some medical information, your practitioner will go through the report on the day of feedback, walking through what has been done and what each section means. If you walk away and still have a few questions, you are always welcome to email us or set up a time for a phone call to clarify information. Our involvement does not end simply at feedback, and we maintain a lifelong relationship with you as your assessing practitioner.
Dietitian FAQs
No!! We want families to eat food that works for them. We recognise that food looks different in every home for a bunch of reasons, and that is perfectly ok. We are not the food police or body shamers, our job is to help people connect with food and feel good about themselves.
**However if someone in your family has a medical condition that prevents them from eating certain foods we will certainly advise to omit those foods.
You know your child better than anyone else. If you are worried, it’s worth booking in for an assessment.
Other things to look out for are:
• Loss of weight; we are always concerned when children loose weight, especially if it is unexplained.
• Dropping more and more foods from the preferred list.
• Cutting out food groups, eg. meat, dairy, “carbs” and/or “healthy eating” that seems extreme.
• If mealtimes are making you anxious or are stressful for your family.
Feeding therapy is helpful for anyone that has a limited range of preferred foods, sensory sensitivities or anxiety that impacts their food preferences or ability to eat with others. We often see this in people that have allergies, coeliac disease, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, anxiety.
In feeding therapy children are invited to explore foods in a respectful and non-threatening environment. They learn skills to help manage sensory sensitivities and anxiety related to food. We teach them words and phrases to describe the sensory characteristics of food and express their own sensory preferences. Continued feeding therapy assists children to develop a bank of strategies to manage sensory challenges and anxiety, helping them to feel confident eating at home and in social settings.
Physio FAQs
We will assess your child to understand more about their movement. Based on the assessment findings, we will show you how to set up activities and exercises at home to help your child develop their movement skills to their full potential. We may also suggest a Paediatrician referral if we feel further investigation is warranted, or referral to another allied health professional.
We see babies from birth. A big part of our role is ‘neurodevelopmental surveillance’ – assessing whether babies are developing normal movement patterns and identifying babies who are at risk of a neurological condition such as Cerebral Palsy. From birth, we can show you how to position your baby to maximise opportunity for gross motor skill development.
No. When working with children, we mostly use play and age-appropriate activities to assess and treat movement dysfunction. We show you how to set up activities in your home to maximise opportunity for your child to develop their movement. In some conditions, manual soft tissue therapy is beneficial (e.g., massage) in addition to exercises, however this will be discussed with you first.
In feeding therapy children are invited to explore foods in a respectful and non-threatening environment. They learn skills to help manage sensory sensitivities and anxiety related to food. We teach them words and phrases to describe the sensory characteristics of food and express their own sensory preferences. Continued feeding therapy assists children to develop a bank of strategies to manage sensory challenges and anxiety, helping them to feel confident eating at home and in social settings.
Supervision FAQs
The supervision process helps to ensure you are supported and engaged in critical reflection on your practice. We can also help you brainstorm assessment & therapy options for tricky clients.
Supervisors are not liable for the provision of a client’s care. They provide supervision based on the information provided. Accountability rests with the clinician’s line manager with the employing organisation and supervisee.
You can expect:
- regular 1:1 supervision meetings
- suggestions of relevant professional development activities
- suggestions of relevant assessments and therapy resources
- support with clinical problem solving
- honest feedback on performance
- support managing complex cases
Supervision can occur face to face or by video conference. While some contact typically occurs via email, it is important that a majority of time spent in supervision is in real time.
Group supervision is acceptable in small groups of two or three. For early career clinicians, it is advised that at least as much 1:1 supervision is provided as group supervision.
The need to engage an external supervisor arises when:
- there is only one speech pathologist employed by the service,
- there are no experienced speech pathologists with at least 3 years experienced employed by the service
Groups FAQs
Yes, if you have self-managed or plan-managed NDIS funds in ‘capacity building’, you should be able to use those funds to cover our parent workshops.
Parent Workshops
Yes, if you have self-managed or plan-managed NDIS funds in ‘capacity building’, you should be able to use those funds to cover our parent workshops.
