Setting children up for success in the early years
Setting children up for success in the early years
What We Do
At Word of Mouth Therapy, our Mobile Speech Pathologists and Allied Health Assistants are passionate about supporting children from 18 months of age up through the first few years of primary school. We work with children who are displaying communication difficulties in order to determine which therapies, treatments, and techniques can be used to improve their skills.
Some children have learning difficulties that can cause problems for them at childcare, kinder, school and later in life. A speech pathologist can help determine the nature of the problem and provide strategies to help improve their development.
If your child:
- is difficult to understand or unclear when speaking
- does not connect speech in phrases or sentences as expected
- has difficulty being understood by others
- often asks for repetition or does not respond to his or her name
- regularly gets stuck on sounds or words
- experiences difficulty engaging or playing
- becomes frustrated or upset when struggling to communicate
- has difficulty reading and writing compared to their peers
- only uses single words, or has a limited vocabulary (under 50 words at 2 years old)
- experiences difficulties finding the ‘right’ word
- has problems putting words together to express a thought or idea
- experiences difficulties understanding and following instructions
- requires repetition and additional support (i.e. pointing, showing) to complete a task
- has difficulties listening and responding
If you believe that your child is displaying any of these behaviours, we recommend that an initial assessment be booked with us. We will then provide you with a full report along with our recommendations for treatment and therapy:
To ensure that we can get a complete picture of your child's situation, it is important that you have your child’s hearing tested before attending an initial session, to ensure that his or her hearing is adequate for speech and language development.
If you would like to book an initial consultation, complete the contact form below and we will phone you to set up an appointment. Alternatively, give Mikaela a call on 0455 575 777 for an obligation free, confidential discussion.
About Us
Alana Simpson previously worked at Word of Mouth Therapy as an Allied Health Assistant and has now completed her Masters of Speech Pathology at La Trobe University and is currently working as an Early Career Speech Pathologist full-time.
Alana is passionate about her studies and is very eager to enhance her skills as a Speech Pathologist. In particular, she is very excited about working with children. Alana loves all things health and fitness. She is a big pilates, yoga and boxing enthusiast as well as a lover of books and movies.
Alana has also been trained in the following courses and programs:
Hanen 'More Than Words': an early language program for parents of children with autism or other social communication difficulties.
The Lidcombe Program: a behavioural treatment program for children under 6 years of age who stutter.
Attendance in a 'Colourful Semantics' Workshop with Alison Bryan: a one day-intensive face-to-face workshop presented by the creator of the program, providing a comprehensive understanding of Colourful Semantics and its application in the clinical and classroom setting.
Alana is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist and is registered with Speech Pathology Australia.
Ally Giavasoglou previously worked at Word of Mouth Therapy as an Allied Health Assistant and has now completed her Masters of Speech Pathology at La Trobe University and is currently working as an Early Career Speech Pathologist full-time. Ally is also the Social Media Manager at Word of Mouth Therapy and enjoys creating engaging and evidence-based posts across our social media platforms. She endeavours to educate the public about topics relating to Speech Pathology, including communication development, communication difficulties children may experience, and strategies for parents to implement at home. Ally strives to use this social media and online presence as a way to help to connect with more local families and referrers.
Ally is passionate about working with children and their families to help reach their communication goals. She is excited about her future as a Speech Pathologist. Ally loves music and spends her free time playing the guitar and piano. She also likes to read, do jigsaw puzzles, and travel to new cities.
Ally has also been trained in the following courses and programs:
Hanen 'More Than Words': an early language program for parents of children with autism or other social communication difficulties.
The Lidcombe Program: a behavioural treatment program for children under 6 years of age who stutter.
Ally is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist and is registered with Speech Pathology Australia.
Mikaela Fent is the director and Clinical Supervisor at Word of Mouth Therapy. She is a child and family-centred Speech Pathologist and mentor. Mikaela believes in using a child’s interests to motivate them to communicate and interact effectively with their environment and the people around them.
Mikaela is a firm believer in the positive outcomes of early intervention and commends parents and caregivers on connecting with services when their child first appears to be falling behind in comparison to his or her peers. She is particularly passionate about working with children with autism spectrum disorders and developmental delays, and also has experience working with children with speech and language disorders, fluency disorders, hearing impairment, learning difficulties, and other disabilities.
Mikaela works with families to maximise the benefits of Speech Pathology Intervention, supporting and empowering families to help children as they acquire what may be the most important life-skill of all: effective communication.
Mikaela is Certified to Provide Learning Language and Loving It™-The Hanen Program® for Early Childhood Educators/Teachers
Mikaela has also been trained in the following courses and programs:
Hanen 'More Than Words': an early language program for parents of children with autism or other social communication difficulties.
Teaching Social Thinking to Early Learners: an evidence-based and award winning program for supporting social learning in preschool and early primary aged children.
The Lidcombe Program: a behavioural treatment program for children under 6 years of age who stutter.
Sounds-Write Phonics Program: an evidence-based literacy program for supporting at risk-readers and children with specific learning disability in reading (often referred to as dyslexia). Sounds-Write is a highly structured, cumulative, sequential, explicit and code-oriented instructional program for teaching all children to read and spell.
AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language) Level 2
She also has experience using Key Word Sign, PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) and supports the development of language and pragmatic skills through the use of visual aids and Augmentative and Alternate Communication (AAC).
Mikaela is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist and is registered with Speech Pathology Australia.
Allison Booth is in her final year of a Masters of Speech Pathology at La Trobe University. She is currently working at Word of Mouth Therapy as an Allied Health Assistant. We are thrilled to announce that Allison will be staying on the team in a dual role as an Early Career Speech Pathologist & Office Administrator in 2024!
Allison is a mum of four, and is passionate about helping people to reach and see their full potential.
She is excited about working with children and families and seeing them fulfill their communication goals. In her limited spare time she loves seeing live music acts, spending time with her family and friends and wandering around local markets.
Tom Le is in his final year of a Masters of Speech Pathology at LaTrobe University. He is currently working at Word of Mouth Therapy as an Allied Health Assistant. We are thrilled to announce that Tom will be staying on the team as a full-time Early Career Speech Pathologist in 2024!
Tom is passionate about supporting clients in reaching their desired goals and making therapy fun and exciting for everyone involved. He is excited to finish his studies this year and use everything he has learned to help clients succeed.
In his spare time, Tom loves collecting and listening to records, as well as catching up with his friends.
Funding Options
We work hard to meet the financial and logistical needs of your family. Mikaela is a compassionate business owner and an experienced speech pathologist whose dedication and wide range of skills will provide tools to help your child achieve their potential. Should you have financial concerns, Mikaela will endeavour to assist you with finding the appropriate funding avenues, this will be discussed and clarified during the initial consultation.
As a priority, we always spend time with parents to inform you about the rebates applicable to our services, including Medicare and private health insurance rebates. We want our service to be easily affordable so that we can move forward working with your child to get the best results possible.
The easiest way to get started is to have a free over the phone consultation.This enables us to advise whether your child is ready to begin therapy now and we can help set up your first appointment. Call Mikaela for an obligation free phone consultation on 0455 575 777.
Referrals and Funding
You do not require a referral to see a speech pathologist.
Medicare
We are registered Medicare providers and can provide therapy under two programs:
A Chronic Disease Management Plan - this is organised by your GP and provides rebates for up to 5 sessions per calendar year.
Helping Children with Autism package - this is provided by Allied Health Medicare Services and is a plan provided by your Paediatrician which provides funding towards a total of 4 sessions for assessment and up to 20 sessions of therapy until your child turns 13 years of age.
Other funding
NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme)
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is an Australian Government healthcare scheme designed to provide funding to people with developmental delay or a permanent disability.
Our therapists are not registered providers with NDIS, however, we are able to assist with self-managed or plan-managed (third-party) NDIS clients.
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