First Choice Allied Health

19/11/2025

It’s important to seek professional support from a qualified health professional if your child:

👉 Eats fewer than 15–20 different foods

👉 Avoids entire food groups (such as all fruits or all vegetables)

👉 Gags, chokes, or vomits when eating certain foods

👉 Becomes distressed or anxious around mealtimes

👉 Has trouble chewing or swallowing safely

Helping a child with fussy eating is never about forcing or pressuring them to eat it. It’s about understanding, patience, and building trust.

Seeking support early can make a big difference. With the right guidance, most children can learn to enjoy mealtimes, build confidence with food, and take positive steps toward a healthy relationship with eating.❤️

17/11/2025

A key part of feeding success is parent involvement. Whilst medical assessment and intervention are necessary in many cases, parents should not underestimate the role they can play to help children develop a positive relationship with food, and the skills they will need for the future.

Parents can get children involved in activities such as:

🛒 Grocery shopping (giving them a list of items they need to get)

🍇 Helping to wash fruits and vegetables

🥫 Helping to put groceries away

🥣 Stirring and mixing during cooking

🔪 Cutting with kid-safe knives and supervision

📖 Getting them to help read and follow recipes

These strategies help your child to interact with those newer foods in a pressure-free way where they aren’t expected to eat the foods in the moment. In addition, having shared mealtimes and modelling the behaviour you want to see is incredibly valuable to children as they grow up. 💛

17/11/2025

Speech pathologists are able to provide feeding therapy that is tailored to individual needs and may include:

👉 Play-based food exploration: Using games and sensory play to help children interact with food in fun, low-pressure ways.

👉 Skill development: Practising chewing, sipping, or tongue movements in enjoyable and supportive sessions.

👉 Family coaching: Helping parents build calm, consistent mealtime routines and respond confidently to food refusals.

Progress often happens step by step – the goal isn’t just to add more foods to your child’s plate and to eat a greater variety, but to make eating a relaxed and positive experience for the whole family. 🙌

14/11/2025

Speech pathologists support fussy eaters by looking beyond the behaviour to understand why a child is struggling, and then they find practical ways to help. Speech pathologists can:

👉 Assess feeding and swallowing skills to identify any oral-motor difficulties.

👉 Explore sensory preferences to find out which textures, tastes, or smells your child enjoys or avoids.

👉 Develop positive mealtime strategies that reduce pressure and build comfort and curiosity around food.

👉 Support gradual food expansion using gentle, play-based steps to increase a child’s confidence in trying new foods.

First Choice's speech pathologists have been trained in the “Get Permission Approach” to feeding — a responsive, sensitive, and supportive approach to feeding therapy. “Get Permission” strategies lovingly support children and their families to create positive change at mealtimes.

Regardless of the cause of your child’s fussy eating, our speech pathologists work closely with each child and family to help them manage food and fluid safely, and improve their ongoing relationship with food through a responsive, child-led therapy approach. 🧡

14/11/2025

Tham dự buổi hội thảo đặc biệt

KẾT NỐI & LAN TỎA - Thương nghiệp & Cộng đồng

Một sự kiện ý nghĩa nhằm gắn kết cộng đồng và thương nghiệp, tuyên dương vai trò của phụ nữ, và ghi nhận những đóng góp xuất sắc của các cá nhân và tổ chức người Việt tại Brimbank.

⏰Thời gian:
Thứ Sáu, ngày 21 tháng 11 năm 2025
Lúc 6:30pm để bắt đầu chương trình đúng 7pm
Buổi ăn tối sẽ phục vụ từ 7:10pm

📍Địa điểm: Lamour Reception, 85 Henry St, St Albans

Đây là một cơ hội để quý vị:

 Kết nối và mở rộng mạng lưới giữa các nhà lãnh đạo, tổ chức, thương nghiệp và cộng đồng người Việt chúng ta

 Lan tỏa vai trò của phụ nữ thông qua chia sẻ kinh nghiệm, câu chuyện truyền cảm hứng và các hoạt động hỗ trợ cho cộng đồng

 Vinh danh những thành viên và tổ chức tiêu biểu đã có đóng góp nổi bật cho sự phát triển và gắn kết tại Brimbank

** Nếu quý vị muốn đề cử các doanh nghiệp hay cá nhân phục vụ tốt cho cộng đồng sống trong Brimbank, xin vui lòng email qua: info@serlink.com.au

Quý vị có thể scan QR Code để mua vé hoặc qua link:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/ket-noi-lan-toa-thuong-nghiep-cong-ong-tickets-1969155840126?aff=oddtdtcreator

Hoặc liên lạc trực tiếp với các số điện thoại trong poster.

Một sự kiện ý nghĩa nhằm gắn kết cộng đồng và thương nghiệp và ghi nhận những đóng góp xuất sắc của các cá nhân và tổ chức người Việt

14/11/2025

If mealtimes feel like a daily struggle, you’re not alone. Many families find themselves worrying when their child refuses to try new foods, eats only a few familiar meals, or becomes upset at the sight or smell of something different.

While occasional pickiness is a normal part of childhood, ongoing feeding challenges can affect a child’s nutrition, growth, and family harmony – and that’s where a Speech Pathologist can help.

Fussy or selective eating can happen for lots of reasons. For some children, it’s simply part of how they explore their independence and preferences. But for others, it may be linked to underlying challenges such as:

👉 Sensory sensitivities: certain textures, smells, or temperatures may feel overwhelming.

👉 Oral-motor difficulties: chewing or swallowing certain foods might be physically harder.

👉 Feeding experiences: stressful mealtimes, medical conditions, or early feeding issues can affect a child’s comfort with food.

Rest assured that with the right guidance, most children can learn to enjoy mealtimes, build confidence with food, and take positive steps toward a healthy relationship with eating. ❤️

31/10/2025

The First Choice Team have been celebrating Occupational Therapy Week this week. 🎉

On Wednesday, the team got together for some OT-inspired games designed by our dynamic OT Team: Phoebe, Cherry and Ivy.

Game One: The Colour Challenge 🌈

This game tested cognitive, perceptual, social, and emotional skills. Each team had four pieces of coloured papers in front of them, and when Ivy (acting as game master) called out a colour (for example, “yellow”), competitors were not allowed to touch the yellow piece of paper or any paper with the word “yellow” written on it.

Our brilliant Director Mai was feeling confident after watching a few teammates play but she was the very first one 'out' in the first round. 😂 We shall never speak of this again!! 🙊

Game Two: Cup Stacking Tower Challenge 🥤

This activity focused on teamwork, planning, and problem solving. Each team had to stack cups as high as possible without them falling.

Despite a lot of 'talk' by psychologist Richard (who was trying to will a win) it was the admin/speechie team, who showed that they had nerves of steel and took the crown!!! 🏆

To finish off the occasion, the team had a “cups of questions” activity over lunch, where everyone picked one question from a cup and shared their answer. The questions were fun, thoughtful, and meaningful. Thank you so much to our wonderful OT team for preparing such enjoyable games and helping us strengthen the First Choice team's bond. 🧡

29/10/2025

Early intervention and regular therapy are the most effective ways to help children overcome communication difficulties. There is no quick fix, but we're here to help your child speak more easily, feel better about themselves, and communicate more effectively.

First Choice Allied Health have a number of speech therapy slots available now. Please complete our intake form at https://www.firstchoiceallied.com.au/intake-form, or reach out to our reception on (03) 9687 2365 if you have any questions.💚

http://bit.ly/3X57Lre?utm_content=sked_690155cc68dbcccaebbaad66&utm_medium=social&utm_name=sked&utm_source=facebook

26/10/2025

This week, we're celebrating OT Week and the wonderful occupational therapists in our team and the broader community. Occupational Therapy is a unique profession that assists people from all walks of life and all abilities to participate in activities that are meaningful for them. OTs support people to reach their goals. They are trained in a holistic way of problem solving and partner with clients to make helpful changes to their environments and the way they participate. OTs are for function, for reaching potential, and for participation.🧡

21/10/2025

Neurodiversity and neurodivergence are nonmedical terms used to describe people who experience the world differently than others. This may be because they live with a condition such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD or Dyslexia.

First Choice Allied Health offer various psychological assessments including evaluations for autism, and ADHD. Each assessment is conducted by our trained professionals and is designed to identify specific challenges and strengths to guide future support, intervention plans and, in some circumstances, funding.

⭐ Autism Assessment
Our autism assessments follow best-practice guidelines to evaluate social communication, behavioural patterns, and sensory processing. These assessments aid in diagnosis and intervention planning for individuals that have been identified as potentially being on the autism spectrum.

⭐ ADHD Assessment
This assessment evaluates a client’s attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity levels to determine whether an individual meets the criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It provides insights into appropriate strategies and interventions in order to offer the best support.

If you'd like your child to be assessed, please complete the intake form: https://www.firstchoiceallied.com.au/intake-form or contact our reception for further information.

Sources: https://headspace.org.au/
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/neurodiversity-and-neurodivergence

16/10/2025

The First Choice Team have increased speech pathology and psychology appointment availability and can commence regular, ongoing therapy right now to new and existing clients. Woo hoo! 💃

If you'd like to commence therapy please complete the intake form: https://www.firstchoiceallied.com.au/intake-form or contact our reception for further information.

05/10/2025

Here are some more ways you can develop your child’s gross motor skills, in ways that feel like play!

IDEA 6: Boost Active Time when Using Screens 💃

While screens are a part of modern life, it’s important to balance them with movement at every opportunity.

👉 Teach Active Breaks: Set timers for short dance or stretch breaks in between screen time and teach children that this is necessary part of using screens.

👉 Interactive Games: Choose video games that get kids up and moving, like motion-based or dance games such as Ring Fit Adventure and Just Dance.