Speech & Language Therapists use a combination of goal-focused conversation, learning strategies, play and role-play activities to assist in the development of:

• Foundation or pre-verbal skills – the ‘building blocks’ of early language development, including appropriate use of eye contact, turn-taking skills, choice making, attention and listening skills.

• Non-verbal skills and alternative and augmentative communication systems.

• Play skills: functional, symbolic and imaginative play skills support social, speech and language development. 

• Speech and vocal development. promoting vocal play and reducing ‘jargon’ speech.

• Voice and vocal health: supporting prosody, rate, phonation, breathing patterns

• Articulation: developing phonology according to milestones of development. 

• Oral motor development: enhancing oral strength and precision to support motor speech activity.

• Eating and drinking skills: arising from behavioural, physical/ or physiological issues.

• Receptive and expressive language skills and verbal comprehension including auditory memory and processing, word finding skills, vocabulary development, semantics, grammar and sequencing skills.

• High-level language skills, such as problem solving, inference and cognitive development.

• Social and pragmatic skills for maintaining relationships with others.

• Independence, confidence and maturity.