Ellinore Russell Speech Pathology

About Speech Pathology & Our Services

Speech Pathologists are communication and swallowing specialists.

Speech Pathology for Paediatric (Child & Adolescent) Clients

For child and adolescent clients, I specialise in improving communication. I have particular expertise in treatment and management of, speech sound disorders, (including severe speech sound disorders) and language delay and difficulty, including diagnosing developmental language delay and working with pragmatic (social) language difficulty. I am Hanen 'It Takes Two to Talk' trained and certified. We will collaborate in assessing your child’s communication strengths and areas of difficulty, and then targeting the areas they need support.

We will work together to improve your child’s communication with appropriate goals from the following areas (children can have targets in one area or multiple).

Phonology and Articulation (Speech): You may notice your child:

• having trouble saying a wide variety of sounds

• substituting one sound for another sound (for example saying ‘tat’ instead of ‘cat’)

• being very difficult to understand when talking (more than their same aged peers)

• making limited sounds or not babbling as much as their same aged peers when a baby (this could also be a language issue)

• getting frustrated at not being able to be understood as their language and the amount they want to say increases

‘Speech’ refers to the physical production of sounds. We also look at the way sounds are stored and accessed when we are speaking, which is known as ‘phonology’.  All children will have trouble saying sounds as they learn to speak.  We may need to assess and provide therapy for children who continue to have difficulty with sound production as they get older.

Generally speaking, by 4 years of age, children should be understood by anyone they talk to 100% of the time.  They may have some sound errors still (‘th’ and ‘r’ sounds for example), but they should be able to be understood all the time.  

Language: Language refers to our ability to exchange meaning using sounds, symbols, words and groups of words. Language is broadly broken into two areas; expressive and receptive.

Expressive Language: This refers to use of language, and includes the following areas:

• Vocabulary: If your child has a reduced range of words (vocabulary) and/or difficulty with retrieving words they will find difficulty sharing their message clearly and concisely.

• Grammar: in order to be understood well and use language well, your child needs to be able to use correct words including; past tense, pronouns (e.g. ‘he/she’) and plurals.

• Sentence structures: Your child needs to be able to use a range of different types of sentences (for example questions, comments, explanations) in order to express a full range of language including wants, needs and interests .

Receptive Language: This refers to understanding of language, and includes the following areas:

• Following instructions: as your child gets older, they will need to be able to follow instructions of increasing length and difficulty, including multiple steps, accurately.

• Concepts: Your child needs to understand what words mean and how they may be used in a variety of different ways.

• Word Classes: Your child needs to understand how words relate to each other and how they can be grouped into words with similar meanings.

Pragmatics: This refers to the social skills involved in communication. Children generally naturally learn these ‘unspoken rules’ of communication, but these can sometimes be more difficult for some children, particularly for children who are neurodiverse. Therapy for pragmatic language should always be about supporting understanding and building tools for communicating in a variety of social situations, and never about masking their identities or true selves.

Speech Pathology for Adult Clients

I have a specialty in providing assessments for adults with dysphagia (swallowing difficulty). I am able to provide assessments, refer for instrumental assessment (e.g. pictures of swallowing) if needed and provide meal-management plans and rehabilitation as required.

While I am happy to discuss referrals for other adult clients, I am generally an adult swallowing specialist, and not specialised in other areas of adult assessment or therapy.