Our Services
Speech Pathology
Our Speech Pathologists work with children and adolescents to diagnose and treat difficulties with:
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Receptive language: Understanding language, e.g. understanding concepts and following instructions, understanding questions and different sentence structures and genres.
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Expressive language: Use of language, vocabulary and sentence structure - including written expression
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Production of speech sounds: Articulation, phonology, motor coordination for speech
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Phonological Awareness and Literacy: Pre-literacy sound knowledge, reading fluency, reading comprehension, spelling support and Dyslexia Support
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Social skills: Using non-verbal skills such as turn taking and eye contact and verbal communication for social situations
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Memory for learning: Strategies to aid in storage and retrieval of information.
Orofacial Myology
Orofacial Myology is the treatment of the orofacial muscles to improve muscle function and tone.
Our Speech Pathologists who have undertaken specific training in Orofacial Myology work with children and adolescents to diagnose and treat Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders. These disorders include patterns involving the muscles of the face and mouth that interfere with normal growth and development, such as:
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Incorrect tongue posture at rest and in speech production
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Mouth breathing
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Incorrect chewing and swallowing patterns
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Oral habits (e.g. thumb sucking)
Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy may include treatment to:
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Establish the correct tongue rest posture
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Establish or restore nasal breathing with lip seal
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Eliminate non-nutritive sucking and chewing habits (e.g. thumb sucking)
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Eliminate compensatory muscle patterns and improve jaw stability
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Establish correct swallow patterns
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Improve the strength and coordination of the oral and facial muscles
Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapists work with children to assess and develop skills they need to achieve success and independence completing their daily activities. They diagnose and treat difficulties with:
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Motor skills: Core stability for postural control, motor planning and coordination (for playground participation, riding a bike, and in general daily life), hand strength and dexterity, pencil grasp, coordination for drawing and handwriting.
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Sensory processing: Identifying and assisting children who are over or under sensitive to different sensory input (e.g. children who are sensitive to noise and become disorganised in noisy, overwhelming environments), children who are constantly “on the move” and children who are over or under-sensitive to touch.
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Self-regulation: From babies (settling, irritability) through to school-aged children (attention for learning, activity levels).
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Self-care skills: Toilet training, hygiene, dressing and grooming (e.g. morning/night-time routines)
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Visual skills: Visual perception, processing and visual motor coordination.
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Play skills: Early play and engagement, pretend play and building creative thinking skills, and social engagement with peers for play.
Therapy
Assessment
​Initial assessment is vital in understanding and planning programs tailored to suit the child and their specific areas of need. All of the assessments at Leap Therapy Group are conducted in collaboration with the child's parent/guardian and other relevant health professionals to gain a greater insight into the child. Leap Therapy Group offer a range of customised Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy assessment services. These include; individual, joint (multidisciplinary) and preschool based screening assessment.
Individual Assessment
An individual evaluation is comprehensive and customised, and dependant on the child's age, presenting concerns and interests of the child. These assessments usually take 1.5-2 hours and all the therapists at Leap endeavour to provide the parent with as much feedback on the day of the assessment. A comprehensive report will be prepared following the assessment.
Multidisciplinary Assessment
Leap Therapy Group offer multidisciplinary assessments for children with both a Speech Pathologist and Occupational Therapist. These assessments provide a wholistic view of a childs skills. They are useful in the case whereby a child presents with concerns with multiple skills or to fully understand underlying reasons for difficulties such as literacy or general developmental concerns. Both Therapists will work in close collaboration to prepare a joint Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy report following the assessment.
Preschool Based Screening Assessment
The Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists at Leap offer preschool based screening assessments to Day Care and Preschools in the Sutherland Shire and St. George region. These assessments provide parents with an opportunity to refer their child for a screening evaluation to ascertain if follow up testing or therapy is required in the clinic setting. Preschool based screening usually takes 45 minutes per child and usually require a minimum number of children per centre.
Therapy
The Therapists at Leap Therapy Group tailor all therapy to cater for the child's and families needs. Goals are determined for each child and a therapy program recommended with the family in mind.
Our team is always striving to make therapy a fun and positive experience for the child.
Individual Therapy
Clients are seen for 30-45 minute session with a Therapist. The regularity of sessions will depend on the child's needs and the families requests. Most sessions are weekly or fortnightly to ensure consistency for the greatest improvement.
Group Therapy
Leap Therapy Group also offer group therapy sessions targeting:
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School Readiness
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Social skills
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Fine motor and handwriting
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Language skills
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Parent training language and speech stimulation techniques.
These groups run depending on client interest and time of year. Clients are chosen to take part in the groups if their goals are relevant to the group.
Therapy Assistants
We have a warm and enthusiastic team of Therapy Assistants at Leap. The Therapy Assistants work under the supervision of our experienced Therapists on a client's current therapy goals. Their sessions are in addition to their normal therapy sessions and provide the client's further practise and support in achieving their goals. The Therapy Assistants work with children in their home, school or early childhood setting which promotes further carry-over and success.
Goals are set in collaborative manner with the Therapists, client's family and Therapy Assistant. Regular meetings and feedback is undertaken by the Therapy Assistants and Therapists to ensure best practice for the clients.
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Click on the flyer below for further information and pricing.
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Workshops
Our Team at Leap Therapy Group are experienced in running parent workshops, childcare, preschool and school in-services and professional development for other Health Professionals.
We feel education and professional development for all people involved in a child's life is important for prevention, identification and successful support of children.
We have workshop packages for early childhood educators available (information below) or we can tailor workshops to suit the audience and desired area of interest. Feel free to contact our staff to discuss how we could provide a workshop for your communication, education or health setting.
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