What we do
Speech Pathology with inpatients of the Wonthaggi Hospital and the outpatients of the preschool and post school age of the South Coast Region.
Speech Pathologists provide assessment, management, and referral services for communication and swallowing difficulties.
Communication difficulties may be in the areas of:
- Speech (how clear speech is)
- Language (ability to formulate words or sentences and to understand what is said)
- Reading and writing
- Voice quality changes
- Fluency (stuttering)
Feeding and swallowing difficulties may include these problems:
- Chewing and manipulating food or fluid in the mouth and swallowing safely. These skills can be impacted by medical conditions and changes to cognition
- Difficulty communicating and / or swallowing can be due to things such as developmental delays, stroke, brain injuries, learning disability, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, dementia and hearing loss.
Speech pathologists also work with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), devices that help people who find it difficult to speak or write to communicate more easily
Admission criteria
Pre-schoolers and post-school adults are eligible for outpatient services.
School aged children - parents can discuss strategies and available services to support their child's development with the classroom teacher and school leadership team, or access private speech pathology service via the Speech Pathology Australia website.