Hello Kids Therapy Hub

26/08/2026

We don't just fix the s sound!

It is Speech Pathology Week (23 to 29 August), and this year's theme from Speech Pathology Australia is Communication creates possibility. So it feels like the right week to answer the question we hear often: what does a speech pathologist actually do?

Most families find us through one worry. A four year old nobody outside the family understands, or a Grade 1 reader still guessing from the picture. Then they discover the full scope: understanding language, using words and sentences, speech sounds, stuttering, reading and spelling, social communication, and eating and drinking.

Swipe through for what each one looks like.

09/08/2026

Your Year 1 reader guesses from the picture. Sometimes that's completely normal. Sometimes it's the first sign that reading isn't clicking the way it should.

In the 2025 NAPLAN, about 1 in 3 Australian students didn't meet the reading proficiency benchmark. If reading is hard at your place, you are far from alone, and it is not because your child isn't trying.

Struggling readers don't usually need more books. They need different teaching: sounds and letters taught in a set order, books with words they can actually sound out, and enough practice that reading becomes automatic. That's structured literacy, and it's the approach with the strongest evidence behind it for children who find reading hard.

Try the new book test this week. A favourite book can be read from memory. A brand new one shows you how your child really decodes. If you notice guessing, avoidance or big feelings, slide 7 has the signs worth a closer look.

And if you're reading this with a knot in your stomach: reading can be taught. To every child. Including yours. The earlier we look, the easier the catch-up.

Save this for later, or send it to a parent mid-worry.

17/06/2026

Reading looks like one skill. It is actually six skills working together, and any one of them can trip a child up.

First comes phonemic awareness, hearing and playing with the separate sounds in words. It is the foundation everything else sits on. Then phonics, knowing which letters make which sounds and blending them to read and spell. Next is fluency, reading smoothly enough that the brain is free to think about meaning rather than wrestling each word.

Then vocabulary, because the more words a child knows, the more they understand. And comprehension, actually understanding the text, which is the whole point of reading in the first place.

Holding all of it up is oral language: strong talking and listening. Language and literacy are not separate, they grow together, which is exactly why a speech pathologist has so much to offer a young reader.

Save this for the school years.

05/06/2026

Good readers do not guess, they decode. So if your school-age child reads a word by glancing at the picture or just the first letter, that habit can feel clever at first, but it runs out fast as books get harder.

Here is the part that surprises a lot of parents. Children do not soak up reading the way they soak up talking. Reading has to be taught, step by step. It starts with hearing the separate sounds inside words, then learning which letters make which sounds, then blending those sounds together. That blending, left to right, is called decoding, and it is the engine that lets a child read words they have never seen before.

With enough practice, the brain files each decoded word away for instant recall. That is why fluent readers look so fast. They are not guessing or memorising word shapes, they built each word through sound and then stored it.

Save this for the school years, and send it to a parent whose child is learning to read.

05/06/2026

01/06/2026

Most kids who struggle to read were never taught how.

1 in 5 kids struggle with reading. It's not about how smart they are, or how hard they try. It's about how they were taught.

Reading isn't natural the way speaking is. Brains have to be taught to read, step by step, using what we know about how reading develops.

Taught that way, 95% of kids learn to read.

If reading is hard in your house, save this and send it to your child's teacher. We work with kids on this every week.

20/05/2026

Your baby/toddler has thoughts 👶 💭Here are 9 of them.

We spend so much time worrying about whether we're doing the right thing: the dummy, the books, whether he's "just being a boy." Most of the time, the worry is bigger than the actual risk.

But sometimes the things we brush off, the cute errors, the milestone ticks, the "at least they can talk," are the things worth paying attention to.

This carousel covers 9 of the most common speech myths we hear from parents, explained by the only expert who really matters: your baby.

Save this one. You'll want to come back to it.

01/05/2026

"Mo wawa peez." "Daddy go tar!" "I goed to the pawk wif Mumma." If you've heard your child say something like this and translated it without thinking, you're a parent. If a stranger had to guess, that's intelligibility.

Here's what most parents aren't told: you understand way more of your child's speech than anyone else does. You fill in the gaps. You know they mean "water" even when it sounds like "wawa." Strangers can't. And what a stranger can understand is the clinical measure of intelligibility.

Swipe through to read what 25%, 50%, 75% and 80%+ intelligibility actually look like in real toddler talk, transcribed. (Yes, R is allowed to wobble at 4. Promise.)

If a stranger consistently understands far less than these markers for your child's age, or if your child gets frustrated being misunderstood, come chat. Save this for the next "is it normal?" moment, and share it with a parent who needs it. 💛

26/03/2026

Most parents I speak to say the same thing: they noticed something was off but weren’t sure if they were overreacting.

You’re not overreacting.

These four signs are some of what we look for clinically in 5 to 8 year olds when we’re assessing for literacy difficulties.

They’re not about effort or intelligence, they’re about how the brain is processing language and sound.

If you recognised your child in any of these, the most important thing to know is that early support makes a significant difference. This doesn’t have to be the whole story.

26/03/2026

🌸🐰 Egg-cellent Easter fun is here! 🐰🌸

Calling all little explorers aged 4–6! Join us for a fun-filled Easter program packed with crafts, games, movement, and plenty of giggles 🥚✨

From bunny games to creative crafts and teamwork activities, your child will build confidence, social skills, and make new friends along the way 🧡

📍 North Melbourne Clinic
📅 Tues 14th & Thurs 16th April
⏰ 9–10am

Spots are limited – hop in quick! 🐇💨
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