What We Do
Assessment and Therapy
We offer comprehensive assessment of an individual’s language, speech and social skills, including school observations and liaising with parents and teachers to obtain information.
If indicated, we offer therapy for the following areas:
- Social Skills
- Speech (e.g. Speaking more clearly, help with specific speech sounds, remediation of phonological processes)
- Voice (e.g. Using the voice more effectively and hygiene strategies)
- Fluency (e.g. Stuttering)
- Expressive and Receptive Language
- Written language (e.g. Reading comprehension, creative writing)
- Phonological Awareness
- Auditory Processing
We have therapists skilled in:
- Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment
- Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) PROMPT
- Lidcombe program for stuttering
- Smooth Speech for stuttering
- Zones of Regulation
- Social Thinking
- Hanen It takes two to talk
- Cued Articulation
Social Skill Group Sessions
We offer intensive social skill groups over the school holidays, after school social skill groups and groups during school hours at some schools too. We ensure that participants will be placed in a group that matches their abilities and age, regardless of whether or not they have a diagnosis such as Autism Spectrum Disorder or ADHD. Preschool, school age, adolescent and adult groups are offered.
We cover a range of areas in our groups such as:
- Strategies for effective conflict resolution
- Perspective taking
- Reading social cues such as identifying facial expressions, body language and tone of voice
- Increasing the participant's awareness of how their actions impact on others’ thoughts and feelings
- Reinforcing the importance of giving things a go when they feel anxious or scared
- Conversational skills
- Working Cooperatively including negotiating and compromising
- Learning to listen to others' ideas and not being too passive or too dominant
- Emotional regulation and expressing emotions appropriately
Professional Development
We have a range of presentations and workshops that we regularly present to teachers, integration aides and parents on.
Some topics we present include:
- Successful Social Interactions
- Understanding Language Disorders and making appropriate accommodations.
- Strengthening Phonological Awareness Skills
- Fragile X Syndrome - What is it and how can we help?
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
Funding Information
Funding Options
Clients may be able to be reimbursed for some of the costs of private speech therapy services under Medicare, their private health insurance fund, or a range of other government or state initiatives.
Private Health Rebates
It is recommended that clients contact their private health insurance provider to find out if they are covered for speech pathology services.
The relevant items are as follows:
The relevant items are as follows:
- Initial consultation: Item 310 to 330 (depending on time of consultation)
- Subsequent consultation: Item 340 - 360 (depending on length of consultation)
- Group session: Item 370 to 390 (depending on length of consultation)
Chronic Disease Management Program
Formerly referred to as Enhanced Primary Care Program. This is written up by your GP. They are responsible for preparing and lodging a GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangements and they make the referral to a speech pathologist.
Spark clients may be eligible for a CDM plan if:
Spark clients may be eligible for a CDM plan if:
- The client has social communication difficulties due to a developmental or language delay or disorder.
- The client: has not met their speech and/or language milestones due to a developmental delay or language delay or disorder.
- The client has speech, language and/or swallowing difficulties related to a physical and/or intellectual disability.
- The client is difficult to understand because of a speech delay or disorder.
- The client finds it difficult to understand people, has a reduced vocabulary, cannot put sentences together or take part in conversations due to a language delay or disorder.
- The client loses their voice, cannot talk loudly or has poor voice quality due to a voice problem.
- The client has dysfluent speech due to stuttering.
Government Programs
Spark Speech Pathology is registered under the ‘Early Intervention Service Provider Panel’ for Helping Children with Autism (HCWA) and Better Start packages administered by the Department of Social Services. Children who are diagnosed before age 6 years with either Autism, Fragile X Syndrome, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy or Hearing Impairment including children with a cochlear implant, can register with FaHCSIA to access these packages (up to $12,000 per child over 2 years, eligibility criteria apply). In summary:
Helping Children with Autism
This program was created for the early diagnosis and treatment of children with autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. A child can be referred by a consultant paediatrician or psychiatrist for allied health services including speech pathology for:
Under the early intervention component of the package, all eligible children up to the age of seven years will have access to funding of up to $12 000 ($6000 per financial year). Eligible children need to have been diagnosed and registered with an autism advisor before their sixth birthday to receive funding.
Clients over seven are not able to access early intervention funding through HCWA or Better Start programs, but are still eligible for Medicare items.
Medicare items can be claimed for children whether or not they have accessed early intervention funding, as long as they have an eligible disability.
The first step is to develop a treatment and management plan with your child’s health care professional. You can access up to four diagnostic/assessment services to assist the referring practitioner with diagnosis or to contribute to a child’s treatment and management plan. This plan needs to be in place before your child turns 13.
You can access up to twenty treatment sessions once you have a treatment and management plan in place. This may include sessions with psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, audiologists, optometrists, orthoptists or physiotherapists. These sessions can be used up until your child turns 15.
Better Start for Children with Disability program.
Eligible disabilities include: · Sight impairment · Hearing impairment · Cerebral palsy · Down syndrome, and · Fragile X syndrome. · Deafblindness · Prader-Willi syndrome · Williams syndrome · Angelman syndrome · Kabuki syndrome · Smith-Magenis syndrome · CHARGE syndrome · Cornelia de Lange syndrome · Cri du Chat syndrome · Microcephaly · Rett’s Disorder.
Helping Children with Autism
This program was created for the early diagnosis and treatment of children with autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. A child can be referred by a consultant paediatrician or psychiatrist for allied health services including speech pathology for:
- Up to four diagnostic / assessment services to assist the referring practitioner with diagnosis or to contribute to a child’s treatment and management plan (for a child under 13 years of age).
- Up to twenty treatment services for a child under 15 years of age, providing a treatment and management plan is in place before their 13th birthday.
Under the early intervention component of the package, all eligible children up to the age of seven years will have access to funding of up to $12 000 ($6000 per financial year). Eligible children need to have been diagnosed and registered with an autism advisor before their sixth birthday to receive funding.
Clients over seven are not able to access early intervention funding through HCWA or Better Start programs, but are still eligible for Medicare items.
Medicare items can be claimed for children whether or not they have accessed early intervention funding, as long as they have an eligible disability.
The first step is to develop a treatment and management plan with your child’s health care professional. You can access up to four diagnostic/assessment services to assist the referring practitioner with diagnosis or to contribute to a child’s treatment and management plan. This plan needs to be in place before your child turns 13.
You can access up to twenty treatment sessions once you have a treatment and management plan in place. This may include sessions with psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, audiologists, optometrists, orthoptists or physiotherapists. These sessions can be used up until your child turns 15.
Better Start for Children with Disability program.
Eligible disabilities include: · Sight impairment · Hearing impairment · Cerebral palsy · Down syndrome, and · Fragile X syndrome. · Deafblindness · Prader-Willi syndrome · Williams syndrome · Angelman syndrome · Kabuki syndrome · Smith-Magenis syndrome · CHARGE syndrome · Cornelia de Lange syndrome · Cri du Chat syndrome · Microcephaly · Rett’s Disorder.
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Our EventsSpark Speech Pathology has frequent events where we focus on educating potential patient, parents or anyone interested in our services. At our events, we can answer any questions our potential patients have, and explain further how we intend to begin our work with you. We design and execute our treatment plans on an individual basis, and make sure to provide support to all of our clients for the duration of their time with us at Spark Speech Pathology. Our goal is to help all of our patients begin igniting as many connections as they can. |
