Speech therapy for speech delay

Why parent-coached works better than child-only

For preschool-aged kids, the strongest evidence base is for parent-mediated interventions — Hanen's "It Takes Two to Talk", PROMPT-informed home-coaching, the Lidcombe Program for stuttering. All of these work because:

• The child gets dozens of language opportunities a day at home vs. 50 minutes a week in a clinic.
• The strategies get embedded into normal play and routine, not isolated to therapy time.
• The parent becomes a high-quality language model 24/7.
• Generalisation happens automatically — there's no "transfer to home" step.

Hey Sprout's online format suits parent-coaching even better than in-person therapy. You're sitting with your child in your own home, your own toys, your own routines — the speech pathologist coaches the strategy in the actual context where you'll use it.

What changes after 6–10 sessions

For a typical late-talking 2-year-old starting weekly therapy:

• Sessions 1–2: Assessment, baseline vocabulary measure, first two strategies introduced (modelling, expansion).
• Sessions 3–6: Strategies expand based on what's working at home. Vocabulary usually grows 30–60 words in this window.
• Sessions 7–10: Two-word combinations typically emerging. We start to retire the parent into independent practice.
• Re-assessment at session 10: For about 60% of kids, this is enough — we discharge. For ~30% we adjust the goal and continue. For ~10% we add a second discipline (OT or psychology) because the picture has clarified.

NDIS funding

Speech delay alone may or may not qualify for NDIS access — it depends on whether functional impact crosses the threshold. We can do an initial functional capacity assessment to support an access request. For kids already on a plan, speech therapy is funded under Capacity Building → Improved Daily Living, typically.

For privately-paid families, our rate matches the NDIS price guide ($193.99/hr) — no minimum block, invoice-on-session.