Our Approach

We are passionate about outcome driven therapies that improve client participation in everyday life.

Our team of speech pathologists are passionate about delivering effective evidence based services to clients of small TALK speech therapy.

We believe that children are unique and their interests and strengths should be respected and valued. The approach and intervention strategies used are unique to each child’s preferences and needs.

Play-based Therapy

We use a combination of strategies and techniques including Hanen. Sessions are fun and exciting which builds attention and connection. Attention Autism is one unique therapy we offer at small TALK.

Structured Therapy

Many children respond well to the use of clear and explicit activities. We use a variety of games, visuals, timers, schedules and choice boards depending on thee child's preferences. We have LEGO trained therapists who are skilled at using this favourite activity to work on speech and language goals.

Functional Communication Therapy

We are well known for our experience and ongoing commitment to helping children find their voice through a variety of tools. We help children communicate using high tech devices, communication boards, PODD books, sign language and more.

Neurodiverse Affirming Practise

With an understanding of the impacts of sensory and emotional regulation on Autistic (and human) communication, we have adopted a Neurodiversity-affirming paradigm.

This means we accept that ALL brains and people are unique and this diversity is what makes our community whole.

We work with children and families to:

Meet them where they are

Build strong and meaningful relationships valuing the individual’s interests and strengths

Support each person to work towards their own goals, in a way that suits them best.

Collaborate with other professionals to ensure the best environmental supports for individual leaners

A note on ABA

Previously our speech pathologists were trained in, and used, the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) and positive behaviour support.

As we are dedicated to serving the Autistic population with best-practice approaches we no longer apply ABA in our sessions. This is the result of listening to Autistic voices about the potential harmful impact of ABA and its contribution to Autistic Masking, as well as, the latest evidence reviews surrounding the lack of intervention maintenance for ABA approaches.*

Functional Communication

Our practice has a strong commitment and focus on providing services that make a real difference for families and children. By collaborating with families and teachers there is no limit to what we can achieve.

Moving away from a medical deficits based model to a strengths based functional model of service means that Small TALK takes time to understand your child and nurture their strengths as well as empowering them to gain skills that will make a difference in their everyday lives.