Evolution Speech Pathology

⚡️ Gestalt thinking ⚡️

Gestalt thinking means that your child sees and understands things as complete wholes rather than focusing on individual parts. This way of processing information helps them create a clear and organised picture in their minds.

When something in their expected routine or plan changes or a small detail is missing, it can be really upsetting for them because it disrupts the whole picture they've built in their minds.

🧩 Picture your child's daily routine as a puzzle they piece together every day. 🧩

Each piece represents a part of their routine or plan. When all the pieces fit together perfectly, they feel comfortable and secure. But if even one piece is missing or changes unexpectedly, it's like the puzzle isn't complete anymore, and this can leave them feeling uneasy or upset.

Here’s an example: We were going to the Zoo. We were expecting four friends to join us. Sadly, one friend was sick, so there were only three friends.

My child became fixated on the person who was missing and didn’t say hello to the three friends who were there with us.

Understanding your child's Gestalt thinking style is crucial in providing effective support. It enables you to respect their internal experience and perspective of the world. This understanding empowers you to guide them through situations with understanding and empathy.

We offer Speech Pathology for kids 0-12 years in Brunswick Melbourne.

Meditation has a rich history, with some archaeologists tracing its origins back to 5,000 BCE. This enduring practice has been valued for centuries due to its positive impact on both mental and physical well-being. Mastering the art of meditation can be challenging, which is why starting at a young age can be beneficial.

The paper, “‘Let's keep calm and breathe’ – A mindfulness meditation program in school and its effects on children's behaviour and emotional awareness: An Australian pilot study,” was recently accepted for publication in Psychology in the Schools.

Dr Joe Dispenza partnered with Dr Peta Stapleton at Australia’s Bond University to study meditation’s effects on children over a 10-week period. This is the first study on children and meditation ever conducted at this scale – following 900 primary school students across two age groups. The remarkable findings include:

✨ Daily meditations of just five minutes for 4-8-year-olds predicted an increase in happiness, school performance, and a decrease in emotional and behavioral difficulties.

✨ Daily meditation of just five minutes in 9-11-year-olds predicted an increase in emotional awareness and a decrease in emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Daily meditation of just five minutes over 10 weeks enhanced self-regulation in all primary school children.

✨ The published research shows clear evidence for the potential benefits of school-based meditation programs and will be followed by a similar study in Acapulco later this year.

We offer Speech Pathology for kids 0-12 years in Brunswick Melbourne.

A great celebration of First Nations people and their success - this video of Briggs reading his book, Our Home Our Heartbeat.

There are so many amazing individuals listed in this book. You can’t be what you can’t see, but Briggs puts First Nations people front and centre for children to see.

Do you know them and their stories?

My favourite line in the book is: Our history is our strength, our future is our own.

Wanganeen in 1993
The Sapphires
Nova Peris
Cathy Freeman
Adam Goodes
Miranda Tapsell
Patty Mills
Evonne Goolagong
Doug Nicholls
Jimmy Little
Lionel Rose
William Cooper
Buddy Franklin
Thelma Plum
Jess Mauboy
Dan Sultan
Emily Wurramara

This years NAIDOC theme: ""Blak, Loud and Proud" encapsulates the unapologetic celebration of Indigenous identity, empowering us to stand tall in our heritage and assert our place in the modern world. This theme calls for a reclamation of narratives, an amplification of voices, and an unwavering commitment to justice and equality."

Adam Briggs Reads Aloud Kids Book - 'Our Home Our Heartbeat' | Camp Quality Adam Briggs reads aloud his kids' book 'Our Home Our Heartbeat' for Campfire Storytime. Indigenous Australian rapper, record label owner, comedy writer, acto...

This free printable version of our popular Phonics Activity Pack features grapheme cards representing the 44 sounds (phonemes) of English. The accompanying Activity Booklet includes useful information about how to use these versatile resources for reading and spelling practice. There is also a helpful video explaining how to use this pack.

➡️ Download the Phonics Activity Pack printable cards, Activity Booklet and Word Chain Activity for free from https://dsf.net.au/booster-pack/home-packs/phonics-activity-pack

➡️ A ready-to-go version is also available from the DSF Bookstore https://dsf.net.au/resources/online-store/item-details/phonics-activity-pack-complete-(1)-dd36c042

We have a great range of decodable readers! This free download shows you all of our titles: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0452/9848/3366/files/DecodableReadersLevel1-8AllBooks.pdf?v=1694409930

Check out our full range of books in our online shop: https://www.decodablereadersaustralia.com.au/pages/shop-page

Did you know that TILLS can now identify language disorders in college-aged young adults? According to 2023 research conducted and published by Alexander Choi-Tucci, Melissa White, and TILLS co-author Elena Plante, TILLS can be used to accurately differentiate between college-aged adults with and without language disorders, using an adjusted cut-score for the Identification Core. An adjusted cut-score of 51 gives you 92% sensitivity and 85% specificity for students ages 18 through 23.

This development will help college-aged adults with language disorders as they pursue postsecondary education and employment. Securing an actual diagnosis with a reliable tool like TILLS can help young adults access the academic support and communication therapy they need to thrive. See the abstract of the AJSLP article here: https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2023_AJSLP-23-00331

🖤💛❤️ NAIDOC 🖤💛❤️

We all speak through our art. Deb Belya SAMUAWGADHALGAL, TORRES STRAIT painted the 2024 National NAIDOC Week poster. She explains her message below, which is powerful!

Urapun Muy by Deb Belyea:

"‘Urapun Muy’, from the Kalaw Kawaw Ya dialect of the Top Western Islands of the Torres Strait, means ‘One Fire’.

The title of this work pays homage to Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal people everywhere, as we all have that one fire: our passion for our culture.

In this work, I have depicted the hands of our ancestors who carefully dropped a burning ember onto a fire. This ember burns hot with intensity, stoking the flames, as it combines with the new fire.

The linear detail shows the energy and power as cultural knowledge is transferred from our ancestors to us today. Culture is the fire that gives us knowledge, wisdom and purpose. It is our responsibility to maintain, practice, and pass on our fire to our future generations.

Afterall, Culture keeps us Blak, Loud and Proud."

Language is an important tool for managing how we feel in different situations. We use language to discuss our feelings with others. A lot of Mental Health therapies are “talk” based therapies.

What can we do if a young person has not developed language as expected and does not have the words to discuss their feelings? With about 7.5% of children having Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), the likelihood of you knowing or teaching someone with language difficulties is high. There are a few things to understand first:

💥 Children with DLD are more likely to have delays in social and emotional development
💥Children with DLD are more likely to have difficulty identifying and explaining the emotions of others
💥 Not all children with DLD will have poorer mental health outcomes. Other factors, such as family history and cooccurring conditions, also contribute to mental health outcomes.

Here's some encouraging news: There’s a minimum threshold of language proficiency, beyond which having more words and more complex sentences isn’t necessarily linked to better mental health. This means that even small improvements in a child's language skills can have a significant positive impact on their emotional well-being.

This wonderful video provides a snapshot of some research outcomes from the UK-based Scales study around DLD and Mental Health. The video includes some comments from children with lived experience of DLD and its impacts on their mental health. As we strive to be human-affirming, it’s an excellent idea to hear and amplify the voices of the population you are working with. The lived experience POV is powerful!

🔗 Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-orJLnCgGJw

So, what can we do to support the mental health of children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) or other communication needs? Here are some practical strategies that can make a significant difference in their lives.

✅ Understand the link between language skills, social-emotional development and mental health. Alert your child’s care team and encourage the supportive team around your child to monitor your child’s mental health. Remember, it takes a village.

✅ Work with Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists to build language and social-emotional skills.

✅ Think about emotions as energy in motion within our bodies. There are many ways for this energy to flow through us and be released rather than stored and suppressed. It’s not always about ‘talking therapies’. Art therapy, dance and movement, music therapy, play therapy and connecting with nature can all be ways that we allow energy in motion to work its way up and out of our bodies.

✅ Check out two free webinars on adapting Mental Health care to meet the needs of children and young people with communication differences by Orygen and Speech Pathology Australia

If you are a Mental Health provider offering talk-based therapies to children and young people, contact their speech pathologist for tips on communicating effectively with your young client. It’s important to tailor your therapy to meet the needs of these vulnerable children.

Quick tips for Mental Health providers

✅ Slow down your rate of speech
✅ Avoid jargon and technical terms. Use plain simple language
✅ Repeat key things several times in different ways
✅ Use sketches, pictures and visual supports to support comprehension. This video provides some great examples of using cause-and-effect visuals to support problem-solving.
✅ Stop frequently and ask the young person to repeat what you said in their own words.
✅ Allow for silences. Your young client might need processing time before they speak. Learning to lean into the pauses can be so rewarding.
✅ Link emotion words to body sensations and simple terms eg “anxious” might be linked to or better explained as “feeling sick in the tummy”
✅ Work together to build up your client’s emotional vocabulary. You might collaborate on phrases they can use to alert others about their mental health or to describe their state. Rehearse these phrases and scripts together and, with consent, share this list with family and friends so they can be aware.
✅ Acknowledging the critical role of language in managing emotions and behaviours helps create a supportive environment for children with DLD and other communication needs. We all have a role to play.

From 2025, students at Victorian state schools will all be taught reading using phonics.
What a win for the state! However, there is still a lot of work to be done to support teachers and schools in implementing this well. For some schools, it will be a massive shift.
Here's a snapshot of the announcement.
All Victorian state schools will embrace phonics from next year as the government tries to improve reading levels in prep to year 2 students across the state.

The government has announced an updated Teaching and Learning Model for all government schools to be implemented from next year that focuses on what's known as "explicit teaching".

Students from prep to grade 2 will be taught reading using synthetic phonics, which helps students break up words into individual sounds.

Teachers will spend a minimum of 25 minutes a day on explicit teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness in classrooms.

All Victorian state schools will be required to use this approach when teaching reading.

All Victorian state schools will teach reading the same way from next year Students in Victorian state schools will all be taught reading using phonics from next year as the government takes a uniform approach to early leaning.

Such excellent news for Victorian children. 🙌👏👏👏
*Explicit teaching of systematic, synthetic phonics in the first three years of school will be required of all Victorian schools from 2025*
Spelfabet has a great article here and offers small group workshops to help teachers, schools, librarians, parents, and interventionists choose high-quality, good-value decodable phonics practice texts.
Check it out at the link. Can't recommend this enough!

www.spelfabet.com.au

Wumindjika (hello) from Taungurung Country 👋👋👋

I spent the weekend reconnecting with nature - what a beautiful place! While I love the city life, i find myself escaping most weekends to explore regional Victoria.

Now.... where to next? Taking recommendations!

Reconciliation Week 2024

This year, the theme is "Now more than ever". This is a call to action, to engage for longer than just one week. Reconciliation is a commitment. It’s a tangible action, not just a conversation.

Centering the voices, experiences and culture of First Nations people into our children’s lives allows them to continue the commitment of reconciliation.

What can we do with our kids? How can we equip our children with the tools to continue this long into the future? We created a resource to start you on your journey.

Visit www.evolutionspeech.com.au/resources to learn more.

I’ve been reflecting on my service delivery options, balancing convenience for me against what works best for some families. I am very tempted to find a clinic space I can inhabit full time, set up lots of storage to house my treasure trove of resources, create cute cosy corners, including a mandatory lamination station, and showcase my extensive collection of decodable readers

And then I wonder if I would inhabit that space as much as I imagine I would. Should I continue to build my ever-expanding mental model of Melbourne by pressing on with all the home visits I do for preschoolers in the early intervention space?

The significance of home visits in empowering parental coaching cannot be overstated. These visits bring about a notable shift in power dynamics, starkly contrasting clinic-based sessions. In clinic settings, the clinician is responsible for orchestrating activities, providing toys, and shaping the environment. This can inadvertently create a power dynamic skewed towards the clinician. Parents may perceive the clinician's toys and skills as unattainable or out of reach.

We've likely encountered scenarios where introducing a captivating toy in a session led to a remarkable moment of language stimulation, only to find the parent acquiring the same toy later, attributing power to the object itself. However, we understand that true power lies not in the toy but in the clinician's relationship dynamics, timing, and skills in attuning to the child's needs.

When we visit a home and take nothing with us, we use the caregiver’s space, time, family toys, and environment. There is an immediate and significant shift in the power balance. The focus is no longer solely on you and your skills, but on the caregiver and their potential to support their child's development. This shift is a powerful tool in your coaching arsenal.

As a speech pathologist, you can model attunement behaviours and language in their setting. Suddenly, their toys seem as powerful as yours. The home space holds as much potential and possibility for their child as your clinic space. Whether sitting under the outdoor clothesline or splashing water together in the bathroom hand basin, the caregiver can feel their potential to support their child's development. This shift is transformational because it starts to feel possible. It starts to feel like it can be part of their real life.

A structured literacy approach is the only way to go.

What is your school using?

Once done away with, the importance of phonics to learning to read is back Learning to read in his 40s changed Morris' life. Advocates hope the tactic that worked for him will help millions of others and boost literacy rates.

💥 15 Practical ways to model consent to children 💥

✅ Ask before entering:
Knock on the bedroom door before entering

✅ Ask before helping yourself:
May I have some of your chips?

✅ Respecting Their Choices:
If a child says "no" to something, whether it's a physical activity, sharing a toy, or participating in an event, respect their decision without pressuring or coercing them.

✅ Teach awareness of verbal and non-verbal cues:
For example, during rough-house play help your child notice verbal and non-verbal cues. This includes noticing their own internal body signals. Children can need support to check in when they get excited. Are they still feeling ok about this game? Do they need to honour requests to stop. Teach them to check in on each other- are we both still enjoying this?

✅ Ask before helping:
Remember to presume competence. Give your child time and space to work it out let them know you are nearby if needed. “Let me know if you need help.”

✅ Ask before posting:
Seek permission before publicly posting photos of your children on social media.

✅ Ask before touching:
Always ask for permission before hugging, cuddling, or touching a child, even if it's to help them with something like getting off a swing.Before you swoop in to wipe that snotty nose!. “I can see you might need help with cleaning your nose. Can I help you by wiping your nose with this tissue?

✅ Model setting your own healthy boundaries:
If you need privacy to use the bathroom, let your child know the door will be shut and they can wait outside.

✅ Avoid assuming consent:
A long-term relationship does not imply that consent given previously is still accepted today. Ask every time. Consent is also not implied simply because this is your child. For example, “Can you do that? Can you share that? Can you help with that?”

✅ Respect your child’s choices in play:
If they like lining up their toys in that way, honour that. “I love how you put all those colours together!” Asking your child if you may join in their play, take a turn, add to their construction

✅ Respect your child’s choices with touch:
If they don’t want to hug Aunty Jane, honour that. Support your child to voice their boundaries “Aunty Jane, Rashid doesn’t like hugs but he can do high-fives and waves. Give it a go!”

✅ Give your child choices:
“Do you want to wear the blue top or the red one? Do you want to wear your beanie or your cap today?”

✅ Honour “No”:
Set a great example of how to handle a rejection. “No” doesn’t mean the other person doesn’t like you. Respectfully validate their response. “Oh ok. Maybe we can hug later. Thanks for letting me know.” Don’t coerce, whine or try to override.

✅ Explaining Consent:
Use age-appropriate language to explain the concept of consent to children, asking for permission and respecting others. If you need some ideas try

✅ Consent in Play:
Incorporate consent into games and role-playing scenarios, where children can practice asking for and giving consent

✅ Use Children’s books to introduce conversations about safety and consent -
some wonderful titles here. https://www.littlebookroom.com.au/consent/

Consent is crucial because it respects individual autonomy and promotes safety, trust, and mutual respect in all interactions. It ensures that each person has the power to make informed choices about their own body, boundaries, and experiences.

33 women in 4 months killed in Australia as a result of violence against women is a pandemic. Don’t tell me otherwise.

How do we become consent-conscious humans? How do we model consent within our spheres of influence? What can I do in therapy, coaching and in my own family? So glad you’re curious to know more!

Step 1: Understand the concept.

Consent is at the heart of all relationships. Consent is all about communication, choices, boundaries, listening, understanding and checking in with each other. These are the essential elements for a safe and respectful relationship. Would you want any other kind of relationship?

Step 2: Embed an autonomous consent framework into your life and work.

You can only model what is inherent to your belief and values system. Assess your position. Can you do better, now you know better? Read about consent, reflect on autonomy, strive for mutual understanding and respect, being mindful of power dynamics that may impact consent.

Step 3: Shift the language you use with children

Let’s consider some of the things we might say as a parent or an adult caregiver:
"Be a good girl/boy."
"Stop being so shy. Say hello! Give him a hug."
"Stop crying. You’re fine. You’re being too emotional."

There are oodles more I could quote, but I think you get the idea. When adults respond in these ways, children are set up to internalise shame, invalidate their own inner experiences, and centre someone else’s feelings over and above their own. The message the child internalises is “What I see, think or feel inside ISN’T what is good, right or acceptable”. There is no autonomy in that. Here begins the gradual erosion of autonomous consent.

Recognise children as capable decision-makers from birth, particularly regarding their own bodies.

Step 4: Practical application of your consent-conscious framework.

Give it a test drive. Put it into practice. You’ll be surprised how simple it is. Tomorrow I will share some examples you can implement immediately within your family unit, with your class, in therapy. You’ll be creating consent-conscious humans. You become change-makers. Together we shift the paradigm. Together, we have an impact.

Life is seasonal.
I found this mural on my local primary school wall and wanted to share its beautiful message and artwork. I haven't lived in a big city for years. This was a reminder to me not to get caught up just looking at the buildings but to look at Country, and to remember origins.

The Kulin nations are the five language groups that traditionally lived in the Port Phillip region in Victoria. The original inhabitants of the area for more than 40,000 years. The five language groups of the Kulin are: • Taungurung • Wurundjeri • Wadawurrung • Boon Wurrung • Dja Dja Wurrung

I live and work on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri People, and I acknowledge them as the Traditional Owners. My mobile service and personal pursuits take me further afield, all over these beautiful Kulin lands.

We recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continued connection to culture, country, waterways and language. Sovereignty was never ceded. This always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.

The space where you create change is not in your office or clinic, not in the kindergarten, or even in the home. Yes, these are physical spaces and environments where you will see change happening, but let's be clear: the space I'm talking about is within the relationship.

It's the “betweenness” - the connection you have between you and the caregiver and between you and the child. That's an energetic space where there is a continual exchange of energy and information.

That's the space where you co-create. That's the space where change happens.

"Betweenness" in Dan Siegel's Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) framework refers to the interconnectedness and mutual influence between individuals in relationships. It emphasises how our interactions with others shape our neural networks, emotions, and behaviours. Through betweenness, we co-regulate and co-create experiences. It’s here that we foster empathy, understanding, and attunement. It highlights the importance of relational dynamics in shaping our mental and emotional well-being.

The relationship with the client/caregivers is the space where change and growth occur. 🌈

Hi! I'm Jane.
I live and work in Naarm, Melbourne, Australia.

I've been working as a Speech Pathologist for 30+ years.
My work began in a very traditional, medicalised way. I was excellent at identifying deficits, setting goals to "fix" them, and encouraging clients towards "normal".

I'm happy to report I've changed a lot since then. Many years of professional and personal learning have shifted my practice. Let's celebrate the process of growing!

So here I am now, offering Speech Pathology services through a lens that has become more contemplative, heart-centred, authentic, and human-affirming.

Connect if this feels aligned for you 😊

Ok
It's the New Year. January is two-thirds done.
It's time to get my creative on and define who I am and what I do as Evolution Speech Pathology.
There's a website to be made and posts to create in Canva.

You can also follow on Instagram to see more.

Evolution Speech Pathology

I've been to the moon and back in the last 12 months.
How about you?
Happy to be sharing with you again.

Already downloaded and ready to go
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Embedded Picture Mnemonic picture files Example bookmarks for Sounds-Write beginners, whipped in a word processor table in about 30 mins. Since devising the Spelfabet Embedded Picture Mnemonics, illustrator Cat Macinnes and I have receiv…

Only a few sleeps left before school starts here in WA.

If we want to raise readers, bathing children in great books will inspire them but won't teach the skills needed. All children have to be able to decode words easily.

To do this, we must teach them all about the alphabet code in a systematic sequence that explicitly teaches skills such as blending and segmenting sounds to build words and pull them apart.

It is easier for children to decode words if we show them how speech sounds and graphemes link.

In the beginning, keeping those eyes on print is tricky. Talking about pictures or first sounds doesn't teach the skills needed for reading. But talking about pictures does have a place when reading picture books together, as this will develop vocabulary, curiosity and imagination.

👇To read more and grab some free printable resources!
https://www.theliteracyhill.com/post/here-we-are-the-alphabet-code

What do you want the world to know as a neurodiverse person? Here is Claudia's take.

Catch the replay of the video here: https://buff.ly/3FFtBbS

Fantastic

Let’s be on the front foot this year and set the scene with schools using some of these great resources

Oh yes. We’ve all been there, but for what gain?
Help children develop a sense of autonomy by giving them space for some choice and control 🌈