We are excited to welcome you to the Farmhouse Chatter speech pathology team and to support you in achieving your speech pathology goals! Please kindly complete the referral form below to proceed with your referral.

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Speech (phonology, childhood apraxia of speech & articulation): Speech is how we say sounds and words. Speech includes:

  • Articulation: How we make speech sounds using the mouth, lips, and tongue. For example, we need to be able to say the “r” sound to say “rabbit” instead of “wabbit” (The Royal Children’s hospital Melbourne, 2018).
  • Phonology: Phonology refers to the pattern in which sounds are put together to make words (The Royal Children’s hospital Melbourne, 2018).
  • Child Apraxia of Speech: Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a rare speech disorder that makes it difficult for children to say words, syllables, and sounds (Mayo Clinic, 2023).

Motor speech disorders: (apraxia of speech, dysarthria): Motor speech disorders are a group of speech disorders that make it challenging for an individual to speak. They occur when the brain or nervous system is damaged, which affects the muscles used for speech. 

  • Apraxia of speech: A motor speech disorder that occurs when the brain has trouble telling muscles how to move (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2025).
  • Dysarthria: A motor speech disorder that occurs when brain or nerve damage changes how muscles work (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2025).

Voice: How we use our vocal folds and breath to make sounds. Our voice can be loud or soft or high- or low-pitched. We can hurt our voice by talking too much, yelling, or coughing a lot (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2025).

Fluency (including stuttering): This is the rhythm of our speech. We sometimes repeat sounds or pause while talking. People who do this a lot may stutter (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2025).

Literacy: The ability to read, write, speak and listen in a way that lets us communicate effectively and make sense of the world (Queensland Government, no date).

Language: Language is both expressive (e.g., speaking, writing, signing) and receptive (e.g., listening, reading, watching). Spoken language, written language, and their associated components are each an interdependent system comprised of individual language domains that form a dynamic integrative whole (Berko Gleason, 2005).

Aphasia: Aphasia is a communication disorder caused by damage or changes to the language networks of the brain. It can affect all forms of language including speaking, reading, writing, and understanding spoken language (Speech Pathology Australia, 2023).

Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) & multimodal communication: AAC means all of the ways that someone communicates besides talking. People of all ages can use AAC if they have trouble with speech or language skills. here are a lot of different types of AAC. No-tech and low-tech options include things like: pointing to photos, pictures, or written words, gestures and facial expressions, writing, drawing, spelling words by pointing to letters, and High-tech options include things like using a computer with a “voice,” sometimes called a speech-generating device, using an app on an iPad or tablet to communicate (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2025).

Sensory feeding and swallowing support: a person has difficulty eating because of sensitivities to the smell, look, texture, taste, and/or sound of foods (Alexis Irazoque, 2024). Swallowing difficulty, also known as dysphagia, is any problem with: sucking, swallowing, drinking, chewing, eating, controlling saliva, taking medication, or protecting the lungs from food and drink going down the wrong way (Speech Pathology Australia, 2024).

Supporting individuals with Neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson’s, dementia, Alzheimers), stroke, traumatic brain injury, demyelinating diseases (MS), autism, ADHD, intellectual disability, speech sounds delays/disorders, motor speech disorders, motor planning disorders and more.

Alexis Irazoque, M.S. (2024) What parents need to know about sensory feeding disorders, Expressable. Available at: https://www.expressable.com/learning-center/feeding-and-swallowing/what-parents-need-to-know-about-sensory-feeding-disorders (Accessed: 26 January 2025).

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2025) Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Available at: https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/aac/ (Accessed: 26 January 2025).

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2025) Dysarthria. Available at: https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/dysarthria/ (Accessed: 26 January 2025).

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2025) What Is Speech? What Is Language?, Typical speech and language development . Available at: https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/ (Accessed: 26 January 2025).

Berko Gleason, J. (2005). The development of language (6th ed.). Pearson Education.

Mayo Clinic (2023) Childhood apraxia of speech, Mayo Clinic. Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/childhood-apraxia-of-speech/symptoms-causes/syc-20352045#:~:text=Childhood%20apraxia%20of%20speech%20(CAS,the%20movements%20needed%20for%20speech. (Accessed: 26 January 2025).

Queensland Government (no date) Literacy and Numeracy Fact sheet . Department for Education and Training.

Speech Pathology Australia (2023) Media release: Bruce Willis has aphasia. Available at: https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/Public/Public/About-Us/News-media-campaigns/Media-releases/MR-Bruce-Willis-aphasia.aspx#:~:text=Aphasia%20is%20a%20communication%20disorder,140%2C000%20Australians%20live%20with%20aphasia. (Accessed: 26 January 2025).

Speech Pathology Australia (2024) Swallowing. Available at: https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/Public/Public/Comm-swallow/Swallowing.aspx (Accessed: 26 January 2025).

The Royal Children’s hospital melbourne (2018) Speech problems – articulation and phonological disorders, The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. Available at: https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/articulation_and_phonological_disorders/ (Accessed: 26 January 2025).