The Literacy Clinic
Speech pathologist support for children with who have difficulty learning to read and express themselves in writing.
Every child should feel confident reading & spelling
Strong literacy skills shape how confidently a child participates in learning, or picks up a book because they want to, not because they have to. Reading and spelling are how children participate, at school, in play, and later on, in almost every part of adult life. Identifying challenges early matters, whether that looks like a recent dyslexia assessment or diagnosis, early signs of dyslexia in children, difficulty with the foundations of reading for kindergarteners, or simply homework that's become harder than it should be. This is where literacy based speech therapy comes in — helping to identify challenges early and build a clear path forward. Wherever you're starting from, you're in the right place.
Why engage a speech pathologist?
Because the science of reading tells us that there are several strand of skills that comprise the act of reading, as well as specific principles that guide how it is taught. Speech pathologists are trained to identify these strands - some related to the alphabet, some to our language - and how to deliver effective instruction so that reading becomes something a child cannot unlearn! Reading and language development become intertwined once a child goes to school. Because language disorder (for example, consider rehab for adult stroke victims) sits squarely in the scope of practice of speech pathologists, we care deeply about reading when we look after school-aged children.
About Connection Matters Literacy Clinic
The Literacy Clinic was created to fill a gap I kept seeing: children with reading and spelling challenges — including those with a dyslexia diagnosis — often falling between general speech pathology support and school-based reading programs, without a dedicated place offering literacy based speech therapy, built specifically around their needs. So, I set about to create a solution to this gap:
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A clinical, evidence-led literacy hub focused specifically on reading, spelling and dyslexia support for children
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Built to support individuals with reading and spelling challenges directly, at their own pace
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Built to assist schools and daycares to identify and support children with challenges engaging in early literacy practice such as vocabulary development and phonological awareness, or reading and writing practice.
How I can help
School & daycare partnerships
Screening for early literacy skills and challenges and keeping strategies consistent between clinic and classroom.
Dyslexia screening & assessment
I use a range of evidence-based methods for dyslexia assessment, including the Dynamic Measures of Narrative Language and Decoding (DYMOND), looking at how your child responds to teaching, not just a single test score.
Individual intervention
For children with difficulty reading and spelling, and/or a dyslexia diagnosis, individual, explicit and evidence-informed literacy speech therapy is provided at a pace that works for them.
Why is literacy important?
Once children start school, reading becomes their main way of learning, from building vocabulary to following instructions and expressing ideas in writing. Reading difficulties can have a big impact on a child's confidence and may lead to frustration, “masking” of their difficulty and anxiety. It can also present as disengagement, disruptive behaviour or academic avoidance. This is why language, literacy and early childhood education go hand in hand, and why identifying a difficulty early matters.
What the research tells us
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Reading is a learned skill, not an inherent one like speaking, which is why early years learning framework approaches focus so heavily on oral language and sound play before formal reading for kindergarteners even begins.
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It is estimated at least ~10% of Australian's are dyslexic however that figure may be higher as many children and adults have likely not been identified.
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The "Science of Reading" says a reader needs a long list of things related to: decoding (being able to recognise a word quickly and efficiently) and language comprehension (understanding what has been read aloud), to then be able to understand what they read. Many children need phonics at a slower, more supported pace than the classroom offers.
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Because reading and language development at school go hand in hand, speech pathologists have a clear professional role here.
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This is why speech therapy-based literacy support is often the most effective starting point.
What reading & spelling can look like at daycare & school
Every child develops these skills at their own pace, and there's a wide range of "normal." The best way to know if your child might need extra support isn't to look for deficits, it's to notice how they're going with the everyday building blocks of reading - the same building blocks literacy based speech therapy. Here's what to look for at each stage, and some things to notice if a skill seems to be taking longer to click.
Early primary
By Year 1 and 2, children move from sounding out words letter by letter to reading and spelling with growing accuracy. Real-life moments to notice: At homework time, do they get stuck or frustrated trying to spell words where two letters make one sound, like "shop" or "witch"? In their school writing, do word endings trip them up, such as spelling "running" as "runing," or "hopped" as "hopt"? Do they have trouble reading common words that don't sound the way they're spelled, like "said," "was," "could" or "friend", even after seeing them many times in reading homework? Does someone in their family have a learning difficulty such as “dyslexia”, a developmental disorder such as ADHD or autism, or Developmental Language Disorder? If a few of these feel familiar, it may be worth a conversation with a speech pathologist. A speech pathologist offering literacy based speech therapy can help pinpoint exactly what's going on. This list isn't exhaustive, just a starting point for what to notice.
Later primary
By Year 3, spelling and reading rules get more complex, and this is often when gaps become obvious. Real-life moments to notice: When doing homework, do they try spelling a word several different ways before settling on one, unsure which version looks right? Do they get tripped up by words that sound the same but mean different things, like "peace" and "piece," or "groan" and "grown"? At the dinner table, can they tell a detailed, engaging story about their day, but when it's time to write it down for school, the version on paper is much shorter or simpler? Does homework that should take 15 minutes stretch out over an hour, or do they find ways to avoid writing tasks altogether? Is spelling or reading longer words consistently tricky, for example, always misspelling "controlled" or "excellent," even after practice?
Bondi Junction & the Eastern Suburbs
My clinic is based in Bondi Junction, with families visiting from Bondi, Woollahra, Double Bay, Paddington, Randwick, Coogee, Waverley, and across the Eastern Suburbs for speech pathology and literacy support. This puts me in easy reach of teenagers travelling by public transport.
Ready to get started?
Feel free to get in touch about speech therapy for literacy — whether you're ready to book a consultation or just want to talk through what you've been noticing, I'm happy to help you figure out the right next step.