Adult Speech Pathology

We support autistic, ADHD and otherwise neurodivergent young adults who would like help with communication.

You might find it difficult to organise your thoughts when speaking, follow lengthy conversations, explain your needs or navigate misunderstandings. Communication may also feel more demanding when you are tired, overwhelmed or under pressure.

Depending on your needs and goals, support may include:

• Understanding your communication strengths and preferences

• Organising and expressing thoughts and ideas

• Strategies for understanding spoken information and following conversations

• Communicating needs, boundaries and preferences

• Managing communication demands at work, study and in everyday relationships

• Helping communication partners understand and respond to your needs

Our approach is neuroaffirming. We respect different communication styles and recognise that communication is a shared responsibility. Goals focus on being understood, self-advocacy, and making communication more accessible, without pressure to mask or change who you are.

A stroke or acquired brain injury can change how you understand language, express yourself or produce speech.

We support adults experiencing acquired communication difficulties, including challenges with finding words, understanding conversations, organising a message and speaking clearly.

Support can include targeted practice, everyday communication strategies and guidance for family members or carers.

Aphasia can affect speaking, understanding language, reading and writing. You may know what you want to say but struggle to find the words, or find it harder to follow what others are saying.

We work with you on the communication activities that matter most to you. Therapy may focus on language skills, alternative ways to get your message across and strategies that make conversations more accessible.

With your consent, we can also help family members and other communication partners understand how to support you.

Neurological illness or injury can affect the movements involved in speaking. Speech may become less clear, slower or more effortful.

Our speech pathologists assess your speech and develop individual strategies to support clarity, being understood and participation in everyday conversations.

We support adults living with neurological conditions that affect communication, voice or swallowing, including:

• Parkinson’s disease

• Dementia

• Huntington’s disease

• Stroke

• Acquired or traumatic brain injury

• Other neurological conditions

Support is tailored to your current abilities, preferences and daily routines. As your needs change, we can review strategies and provide guidance for the people involved in your care.

Dysphagia is the clinical term for difficulty swallowing. You may notice that eating or drinking takes more effort, certain foods are difficult to manage, or you cough during meals.

We provide clinical swallowing assessments and individualised recommendations for adults experiencing swallowing difficulties.

Assessment considers your concerns, medical history and how you manage food and fluids. Recommendations may include:

• Practical swallowing and mealtime strategies

• Adjustments to positioning, pacing or assistance

• Food texture and drink thickness recommendations, where clinically indicated

• Education for family members and carers

• Referral for further medical or instrumental swallowing assessment where needed

Your speech pathologist will explain the findings and discuss appropriate next steps with you.

Mealtime recommendations need to work in your everyday environment and be understood by the people supporting you.

We provide mealtime assessment and practical education for individuals, families, carers and residential aged care staff. Support may address the mealtime environment, assistance strategies and how to follow individual recommendations.

Where appropriate, we use the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) framework to describe recommended food textures and drink thicknesses.

Our approach considers swallowing safety, comfort, preferences and quality of life.

A quieter, strained or changed voice can make it difficult to be heard and take part in conversations.

We support adults experiencing:

• Dysphonia and changes in vocal quality

• Reduced voice volume associated with Parkinson’s disease

• Changes in pitch and resonance

• Functional voice difficulties

• Voice care and vocal hygiene needs

Assessment guides your therapy plan and helps identify whether medical or ear, nose and throat review is needed.

Attention, memory and information processing all contribute to communication. Following neurological illness or injury, changes in these areas can make it harder to follow a discussion, remember information or organise what you want to say.

Support may focus on:

• Following conversations and processing spoken information

• Remembering and using information shared in conversations

• Planning and organising what you want to say

• Problem solving during everyday communication

• Communicating choices and needs

• Using practical supports to participate in discussions and appointments

Strategies are connected to your priorities and the communication situations you encounter in daily life.