Hills District Speech Therapy provides assessment and therapy services for preschool aged children from 2-5 years in a range of practice areas including pre-verbal skills, play, speech, language, social skills, fluency (stuttering) and pre-literacy (i.e. letter sound correspondences and phonological awareness).

Learn more about the services we offer for our preschool aged children under each area of practice!

Pre – verbal & Play Skills

Articulation & Phonology

Expressive & Receptive Language

Social Skills

Fluency (Stuttering)

Pre – Literacy & School Readiness

Receptive Language

Receptive language refers to a child’s ability to understand a spoken message. This includes being able to understand language concepts (e.g. big/little; in/on/under; first/last) and vocabulary (e.g. nouns, action words), and remember and interpret spoken instructions, sentences and questions. Receptive language skills are build on top of and alongside:

  • Attention and Concentration
  • Pre-language Skills (e.g. use of gesture and joint attention)
  • Social Skills (e.g. the ability to engage in reciprocal interactions with others)
  • Play Skills

Our speech pathologists endeavour to work closely with the child, their parent/carer and educators in order to achieve a holistic approach to developing the child’s receptive language skills. We use a combination of direct therapy and compensatory strategies when developing your child’s skills in following instructions, understanding spoken messages, comprehending language concepts and grammatical structures, and understanding wh- questions.

Expressive Language

Expressive language refers to a child’s ability to formulate and produce a spoken message.This includes aspects such as size and use of vocabulary, grammar and the way in which words and ideas are combined into sentences and conversations.

Fluency

Stuttering, is a disruption in the fluency or rhythmic flow of speech.  It often appears during early childhood between the ages of 2-4, and can persist into adulthood if natural recovery or early intervention have not taken place. At HDST, we treat stuttering in pre-school aged children using the Lidcombe Program. To learn more about stuttering therapy at HDST, click here.