Nurture Nest Speech Pathology

24/12/2025

It's officially Christmas Eve, and time for the Nurture Nest Speech Pathology Team to 'switch off' and be with their families and friends!

We want to wish all our treasured Families; our Colleagues and Referrers; our Educators; our Team and our Followers the most wonderful break full of love, joy, rest and reflection.

It has been a huge year for most, and we feel privileged to have walked alongside many of you through the highs and the lows.

Have a fabulous break everyone!!! See you in 2026.
Xoxo

24/12/2025

Our last post related to helping children manage their big feelings.

This post marries well, as it discusses helping children to reflect on their experiences with you, without feeling judged and criticised.

For kiddos, reflecting in the moment when emotions are heightened can be very challenging - circling back to talk with them once things are more settled can be helpful, because rather than being in fight or flight mode where their neurocognitive framework drives them to survive, they come back into their logical brain where they can process and utilise the language and strategies we give them.

24/12/2025

Guiding children through big feelings can be challenging.

This is especially true of anger, which is usually a surface emotion for deeper feelings and tends to 'mis-cue' adults as to what a child is really needing and seeking underneath the tough exterior!

This post shared some tips for leaning in and connecting in order to help our little ones get through the storm of emotions to safety, so that we can build their ability to regulate in the longer-term.

24/12/2025

Autism is not always diagnosed in early childhood, especially in females.

They are often skilled at 'fawning' - reading the room, and attempting to follow rules and expectations as best they can to please.

But over time this can come at a cost, and restraint collapse can appear, especially in the home setting where Parents tend to have noticed signs earlier than external people.

Here is an example of a profile that might present in this subtle, older profile.

The key take-away is that support-needs fluctuate and that wrapping the right strategies and accommodations around these children is just as important for their long-term well-being!

19/12/2025

Feeding challenges can present stress for children and their families.

Often there is an anxiety-component associated with feeding challenges, and over time the link between the 2 can become more engrained and reciprocal.

When we work with children on their mealtime confidence and competence we include Parents and Carers so that we can help the family unit and reduce stress-responses.

There are a range of great interventions available.

Sometimes having the right Therapist's in a team working collaboratively is critical - OT's, Dietitians, Oromyofunctional Therapist's and Psychologists can also be great allies for mealtime difficulties.

For some children identifying other medical factors such as airway issues, allergies or intolerances and things like Reflux or Gastrointestinal issues must come first for mealtime therapy to be effective.

If you want to learn more head to our website and check out our blog posts on the topic.

19/12/2025

Providing specific feedback on children's speech is really beneficial.

The way we praise positions of the mouth, voicing and resonance (mouth/nose sounds) can help children to learn to self-monitor.

It also helps them to know what it is that changed to make their sound or word easier to understand.

16/12/2025

There is a set sequence that guides the language load children can handle at various stages of development.

**This applies to Analytic Language Processors as Gestalt Language Processors don't tend to move from single words to longer phrases.

16/12/2025

There are differences in differing speech disorder profiles.

It takes specialist knowledge to be able to distinguish these things and there are gold-standard assessments and guidelines that assist with this.

Here are some key observations to watch out for in your child's speech productions if you are querying their speech profile.

POV: the type of speech difficulty determines the therapy that will give the best and most effective intervention, so detailed assessment is core to your Speech Therapy journey!

16/12/2025

Did you know that it's not just about WHAT you communicate, but also WHY?

When we assess children's communicative competence, one of the important things to explore is the social functions (pragmatic functions) of the communication they exchange.

We need to have language (whether that be in spoken form or in other forms) to convey messages for a wide range of reasons.

This allows us to flourish in back and forth (reciprocal interactions).

When we implement AAC systems we try to ensure that a variety of functions are programmed into devices or displays.

If we work with children with low clarity of speech or few words, we try to ensure that words from a range of functions are targeted within intervention so that they have some range in what they can say and convey.

Check out our post and have a listen to your child's repertoire - are there functions missing that you could model to bolster their communication functions?

02/12/2025

👐🌲

It's the second day of christmas and Christmas is the word of the day!

Happy signing!

Download the full calendar to keep the fun going all month long!https://kwsa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Christmas-calendar-2.pdf

30/11/2025

Do you know what things you might see in early language development that could go on to a diagnosis of DLD (Developmental Language Disorder)?

Detailed assessment of receptive and expressive language and narrative skills can provide a framework for early intervention.

Getting therapy at the right dose in the critical early window can be key.

30/11/2025

Play is the way!!!

In early intervention Speech Therapy, we use play as the vehicle and then build our goals and therapy techniques in to that.

Why?

Because the brain in the early years learns best this way.

There are so many skills and systems that are integrating when we choose our play carefully, and engage in connected and shared experiences with a child whilst they feel safe and are having fun.

Trust us - this IS learning.
This IS intervention.
This IS powerful.
This IS effective.

🎉💯🏋️‍♀️