Tag Speech Pathology

The Australian Government has introduced a Medicare Healthy Kids Check for three-year-old children, available from 1 November 2026. The health check aims to identify developmental and health concerns early, helping families access appropriate advice, assessments and support before their child starts school.

For parents wondering whether their child is meeting developmental milestones, the new check provides an opportunity to discuss communication, learning, behaviour and overall development with their doctor.

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Evett Lattouf

Evett is Clinical Director of Innerlink Therapy and a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist with extensive experience supporting children and adults across a range of settings. Her areas of interest include communication, learning, feeding and swallowing, autism, developmental disabilities and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

Evett holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Speech Pathology from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Certificate in Dysphagia from La Trobe University. She also provides external clinical supervision to speech pathologists and speaks Lebanese Arabic, supporting communication with Arabic-speaking clients and families.

Outside the clinic, Evett enjoys spending time with her rescue dogs and caring for her flock of chickens.

innerlinktherapy.com.au/our-team/#evettlattouf

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Does your child sometimes repeat sounds or words, stretch out sounds, or appear to get stuck when trying to speak?

Stuttering in children can affect the smooth flow of speech. It may involve repeating sounds, syllables or words, prolonging sounds, or experiencing moments where speech feels blocked.

Stuttering often begins during the preschool years. If you notice your child stuttering, a Speech Pathologist can assess their speech and help determine whether support is recommended.

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Asking for help is an important communication and problem-solving skill that children develop over time. It allows a child to communicate when they need assistance, clarification, comfort or support and can help them become more confident and independent in everyday activities.

Children can ask for help in many different ways. Some may use spoken words, while others may communicate through gestures, pointing, eye gaze, signs, pictures or an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system. Parents and carers can support this skill by recognising these different forms of communication and creating natural opportunities for children to practise asking for help at home.

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Taking turns with music can be a fun and natural way to support a child’s early communication skills. Songs, actions and familiar routines create repeated opportunities for children to listen, respond, anticipate what comes next and participate in back-and-forth interactions.

Turn-taking is an important foundation for communication because conversations involve sharing attention and giving another person an opportunity to respond. Children can begin developing these skills before they use spoken words, through sounds, movements, gestures, eye gaze or other forms of communication.

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Evett Lattouf

Evett is Clinical Director of Innerlink Therapy and a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist with extensive experience supporting children and adults across a range of settings. Her areas of interest include communication, learning, feeding and swallowing, autism, developmental disabilities and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

Evett holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Speech Pathology from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Certificate in Dysphagia from La Trobe University. She also provides external clinical supervision to speech pathologists and speaks Lebanese Arabic, supporting communication with Arabic-speaking clients and families.

Outside the clinic, Evett enjoys spending time with her rescue dogs and caring for her flock of chickens.

innerlinktherapy.com.au/our-team/#evettlattouf

Home practice can help children strengthen and use the skills they are developing in Speech Pathology sessions. Short, regular opportunities to practise at home can help children become more familiar with new speech, language or communication skills and use them in everyday situations.

However, fitting therapy activities into family life is not always easy. Home practice does not need to be long or complicated. A few minutes of focused practice, incorporated into routines, play or everyday activities, can often be more manageable for children and families.

Research suggests that parent-implemented home programs can support children’s speech and language development when families receive appropriate guidance and training from their therapist.

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Evett Lattouf

Evett is Clinical Director of Innerlink Therapy and a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist with extensive experience supporting children and adults across a range of settings. Her areas of interest include communication, learning, feeding and swallowing, autism, developmental disabilities and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

Evett holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Speech Pathology from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Certificate in Dysphagia from La Trobe University. She also provides external clinical supervision to speech pathologists and speaks Lebanese Arabic, supporting communication with Arabic-speaking clients and families.

Outside the clinic, Evett enjoys spending time with her rescue dogs and caring for her flock of chickens.

innerlinktherapy.com.au/our-team/#evettlattouf

Music and language development are closely connected through rhythm, sounds, repetition and shared interaction. Songs and musical activities can create enjoyable opportunities for children to listen, anticipate what comes next, take turns and communicate with other people. 

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Evett Lattouf

Evett is Clinical Director of Innerlink Therapy and a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist with extensive experience supporting children and adults across a range of settings. Her areas of interest include communication, learning, feeding and swallowing, autism, developmental disabilities and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

Evett holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Speech Pathology from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Certificate in Dysphagia from La Trobe University. She also provides external clinical supervision to speech pathologists and speaks Lebanese Arabic, supporting communication with Arabic-speaking clients and families.

Outside the clinic, Evett enjoys spending time with her rescue dogs and caring for her flock of chickens.

innerlinktherapy.com.au/our-team/#evettlattouf

Learning a new skill can take time. Whether a child is developing speech, language, communication, motor or everyday functional skills, progress often happens through many small steps rather than one sudden change.

Celebrating small wins can help children and families notice progress that might otherwise be overlooked. Recognising effort, persistence and new skills can also help make therapy feel encouraging and meaningful while keeping the focus on each child’s individual goals.

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Evett Lattouf

Evett is Clinical Director of Innerlink Therapy and a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist with extensive experience supporting children and adults across a range of settings. Her areas of interest include communication, learning, feeding and swallowing, autism, developmental disabilities and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

Evett holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Speech Pathology from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Certificate in Dysphagia from La Trobe University. She also provides external clinical supervision to speech pathologists and speaks Lebanese Arabic, supporting communication with Arabic-speaking clients and families.

Outside the clinic, Evett enjoys spending time with her rescue dogs and caring for her flock of chickens.

innerlinktherapy.com.au/our-team/#evettlattouf

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Story writing for children can be much easier when they have something meaningful to write about. Real experiences, familiar people, photographs, drawings and imaginative play can all provide ideas that help children organise their thoughts and turn them into a story.

Writing a story involves more than putting sentences on a page. Children need to think about characters, settings and events, organise ideas in a logical sequence and use language that helps the reader understand what happened. These narrative skills also support everyday communication, reading comprehension and the ability to share experiences with other people.

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Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Children develop communication skills through everyday interactions with the people around them. Mealtimes, play, getting dressed, travelling, reading and household routines can all create natural opportunities for children to listen, respond, make choices and share ideas.

Supporting communication at home does not require turning everyday life into a therapy session. Small changes to the way adults interact, pause, model language and respond to a child’s communication can help create more opportunities for meaningful back-and-forth interaction.

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Writing can be easier for children when they have something meaningful and familiar to write about. Real experiences such as a family outing, school activity, cooking, shopping or visiting a new place can give children ideas, vocabulary and a clear sequence of events to draw on.

Using real experiences for writing can also reduce the pressure of having to invent a story from scratch. Children can talk about what happened, organise the events in order and then use those ideas to create sentences, recounts or stories.

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