Information for parents
Our health professionals work with normally developing children as well as those showing developmental or learning difficulties.
Proactive steps
In January 2012 we ran our first School Holiday Program course to give children aged 4-7 a leg up through improved classroom communication and participation skills. This great course, run by our high-energy Speech-Language Pathologists, helped participating children succeed and received positive feedback from the parents. It has since become a regular offering during the summer and winter school holidays, and almost always books out.
Dealing with learning difficulties
Communication problems can sometimes be missed; the cues can be subtle. If you have a child you suspect of having learning difficulties, getting an assessment done will either eliminate causes of concern or highlight some for focus; either way you will come out of it armed with more information specific to your child.
If a hearing test (45 minutes) has not been done recently, that is generally a good place to start. Suitable for anyone aged 3+, a hearing assessment only takes 45 minutes, the tests are highly objective and reliable, and you walk away with a report containing your child's audiogram (hearing ability at various frequencies) and a clear written assessment and recommendations.
After ruling out hearing as an issue, a speech and language assessment can be considered. This looks at the child's abilities in both expressive language (making yourself understood) and receptive language (understanding others, or comprehension). Once again, this is available for all ages 3+, it only takes 45 minutes, and a comprehensive, personalised report is delivered to you after the assessment.
If your child is 8 years or older and the indicators match, a final assessment for consideration is that for Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD, or APD). You will receive guidance on this from our health professionals if warranted.
As a final note, if your child has a problem with chronic ear infections or has had grommets inserted, you might be interested in our custom ear plugs so your child won't miss out on swimming lessons.
