Welcome to the New Year! We have lots in store this year and look forward to providing all kinds of supports and services to help kids reach their potential. Read on to see what Talking Matters can offer you or your child in 2017.
More Speech Pathology Services!
At the end of last year we had four final year speech pathology students on placement, Amy, Claudia, Le, and Shauna. They all did a brilliant job and we are very excited to announce that all four are joining our speech pathology team this year. Sarah, who comes to us highly recommended from a private practice in country Victoria, also joins our speech team.
This expansion of our speech pathology team means we can expand some school services, add extra schools and have more appointments in the office available especially on Saturdays which are very popular.
You can find out about how Talking Matters supports children with speech difficulties, language difficulties and literacy needs on our website.
More Occupational Therapy Services!
We are also adding four new OTs to our team, Francesca, Marisa, Olivia and Sophie. Francesca did work shadowing alongside some of our OTs for several months at the end of the year and Sophie have worked alongside Peter on the Goyder Light Project (more about that below). We are excited to have all of them on board as a part of the OT team and this will allow us to offer increased OT services and reduce the waiting time for OT.
You can find out more about the Talking Matters OT services here.
An Expanded Group Program
Our group programs run during school holidays have been very popular and we are offering a number of new programs in 2017, including Touch Typing, Language and Literacy and Motor Skills, as well as continuing our popular groups for developing social skills, handwriting and play skills, support for children starting school as well as food school for fussy eaters.
You can find our group program for April on our website and call us on 82557173 to book a place.
Professional Development Training Sessions
This year we are reintroducing our popular training sessions for teachers, SSOs, child care workers and parents. We have sessions for supporting children with ASD, speech and language issues, feeding difficulties, sensory issues and more. You can find out more, and download a schedule and booking sheet here.
We can also provide training sessions on site at your centre or workplace. This is a cost effective option for groups of six or more. To discuss this option call us on (08) 8255 7137 and ask to speak with Stacey Nelson.
Expanded school based services.
We have been providing regular, high quality services to schools in the north for over ten years. We currently support more than 40 schools in the northern suburbs and Barossa. With a growing team we have the capacity to provide services to new schools.
We are excited to be providing OT services to Kapunda, Freeling, Wasleys and Eudunda schools this year under the Goyder Light Project. One of our OTs Erin Docherty will be working alongside school staff to provide group programs to develop students to develop a range of skills to support success in the classroom.
If you would like a speech pathology or OT service at your school please call us on (08) 8255 7137 to discuss this further.
Support for Behaviour
In addition to our popular psychology services we also have an Autism and Disability Consultant who specialises in developing positive behaviour support plans. Sharna has a qualification in teaching and training in psychology. Her passion is to support parents to manage their child's behaviour in a positive way. She can provide support for families struggling with a range of problem behaviours including: meltdowns, bedtime and self care routine refusal, arguing with friends or siblings, sleeping issues, aggression, running away, self injurious behaviours, destructive behaviour and tantrums, repetitive, obsessive or disruptive behaviour and more.
Find out more about this service on our website and call the office to arrange a booking on (08) 8255 7137.
Support for School Challenges
Does your child struggle at school with behaviour, participation, transitions or getting along with peers? Our Autism and Disability Consultant works with parents, teachers and other school staff to help children stay at school, engage in the classroom and learn to the best of their ability.
Chris has many years experience supporting children with special needs in education settings and can help support teachers to understand children's needs, then develop and implement appropriate strategies for these needs. She can also advocate for children and parents.
Find out more about this service on our website and call the office to arrange a booking on (08) 8255 7137.
Information for Parents and Professionals
Since our beginning in 2006 we have provided information to support parents and teachers to better support kids with special needs. We have an extensive range of information on our website which is growing all the time. We also share useful tips, ideas and resources through our social media on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. All this is available free to anyone who like us, wants to support all children to reach their potential. We have a variety of topics planned for our blog for this year so follow, so you don't miss a post.
Support for Future Professionals
As a team we believe that it is important to develop the professionals of the future. We currently provide observations and student placements to a large number of speech pathology and allied health assistant students each year. We aim in 2017 to extend this into support for OT students as well. Our students aim get to experience a variety of activities including individual, group, multi-disciplinary and school based services. We hope that spending time at Talking Matters can help student develop not only skills but also a passion for working with children. Working with students can benefit children in therapy too, find out how here.
Constantly Aiming to be Better
As a team we work hard to constantly innovate and improve our services. We constantly evaluate and update our programs and facilities. Our team work hard to constantly develop their skills so that our services are based on the best and most recent research. As a large team with varied skills and experiences, we share knowledge and support each other to develop and grow. This year we have a number of specific programs aimed at continuing to improve the services we offer and build the skills of team members. All this aims to provide the best services we can to the children and families we work with.
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