Nurture Nest Speech Pathology

23/11/2025

Did you know that babies 'spitting out' parts of food is very typical?!

As they learn their own safety boundaries, they will often push food forward and out of the mouth with their tongue.

Their sensory perception and motor skills are gaining rapidly in the early months, and exploring through sight and touch is key.

Try not to panic but to respond calmly, acknowledging that they are being safe when things feel too big, and this too shall pass.

>> If this does persist and you are concerned, ask for assessment from a Paediatric SLP with knowledge of early feeding, so that they can check for delayed mealtime skills and support you to support their development.

19/11/2025

Did you know about all the 'parts of speech'?

These are word-types that perform differing functions within sentences (or questions) and are elements we often target in therapy.

Knowing the names of these can help children because we can use them to prompt attention to certain elements during comprehension tasks, or to including element when speaking or writing language.

19/11/2025

As Parents and Carers, we can feel stressed and frustrated when our little ones don't respond to our 'no!' instructions.

Sometimes this occurs because of safety concerns.

For our little toddlers, there language systems are still learning to process 'terms of negation' - things like 'no', 'don't', 'none'.

We can use the affect we pair these words with, and visual supports to help children to understand the meaning and the importance of this word to protect them when it is needed, and support them to learn boundaries.

It's important to remember that our little ones are not trying to upset us and be disobedient at this age.
There is so much neural development occurring and their language systems are learning at a huge rate.

Sometimes saying what you DO want your little one to do, rather than what NOT to do is really helpful.
For example:
"Let's use gentle hands"
"Food stays on the plate"
"Walking inside"

Modelling these concepts as you say them helps to build comprehension in the longer term.

18/11/2025

Realistic expectations..... are they in place in your child's settings?

🧠 Impulse control isn’t a behaviour problem — it’s brain development.
Punishing a child for being impulsive is like punishing them for not knowing algebra yet.

Ages 2–4 act first and think later.
Ages 5–7 can pause sometimes.
Ages 8–12 are learning tools — and still fall apart during big feelings.

They don’t learn self-control through fear or shame.
They learn it through co-regulation, connection and practice.

If this hit home, you’ll love my book Guidance from The Therapist Parent.
It’s full of real-life scripts, calming strategies and connection-based behaviour support that actually works — especially in the hard moments.
📖 Available on my website and on Amazon.

17/11/2025

This looks great!!!! If you are a parent looking for a great guide for your next transition this might be for you.

Our December speaker is Dr Samantha Hornery who will be talking about Resetting for a New Year at School: Practical Strategies for Parents of Kids With ADHD & Learning Differences on Wednesday 10th December 2025 @ 7pm AEDT.

The start of each school year gives you an opportunity to grab onto the things that worked in a new classroom and perhaps tweak some of the things that weren’t so successful for your child and family. This could be for significant transition years like preschool to primary or primary to high school, but is possible every year – because every year your child transitions to a new teacher and class.

This talk will equip parents with realistic, practical strategies to help their child adapt, stay confident, and develop the skills they need to thrive—without nightly battles over school.

Key Topics:
✅ Year in review – tools to take stock of the year, how to identify what to continue, start and stop going into a new year.

✅ Emotional Resilience & Anxiety Management – Recognizing signs of stress and helping your child develop coping strategies for when things feel overwhelming.

✅ Working With (Not Against) Their Learning Needs – Understanding your child's ADHD-related learning challenges and how to help them succeed in a way that suits them.

✅ Preparing for a new teacher – How to identify the right information to give your child’s new teacher year after year.

✅ Fostering Independence Without Letting Them Flounder – How to support your child in managing their schedule, responsibilities, and social challenges without doing everything for them.

✅ How to Help Without Nagging or Micromanaging – Encouraging self-advocacy and problem-solving while maintaining a strong connection.

✅ The Social Side of School – Navigating friendships, peer pressure, and social struggles in the teen years.

This session will provide practical, easy-to-implement strategies that help parents support their child’s transition without unnecessary stress or conflict.

Samantha Hornery - Tutor and Owner (Samantha Hornery Education Consulting) and Executive Manager Education and Learning (Learning Links)

She is strongly committed to the improving the educational outcomes of children with learning difficulties and ensuring they have every chance of finding success in life.

Professionals attending will receive a Certificate of Attendance to help them keep track of their professional development.

To find out more/book tickets visit the website: http://www.adhdsupportaustralia.com.au/events

Unable to attend and would like to see a recording of this and past talks?

Check out our Patreon membership site: https://www.patreon.com/ADHDSupportAustralia

Join our Newsletter list to receive news of events/meetups/slides: http://eepurl.com/iqqlow

The talk commences 7:00pm AEDT (Sydney time) so if you are not in this time zone please check using this link what time this will be for you - www.worldtimebuddy.com

I look forward to seeing you there – Vivian

17/11/2025

Take a look at this handy checklist from the Myomunchee Team to explore whether your child might have signs of oral dysfunction >>> early intervention and assessment by the right professionals is key🔑

13/11/2025

We have shared this statistic on our page before, but it is worth a 2nd round, because this is so important for ANYONE who communicates with an AAC-user!!!!

We must model and engage with them, even BEFORE they are using their systems to engage with us to "speak" in language in multiple modalities, so that they can step into using these systems themselves in time.

If you want to learn more about modelling without expectation, .aac.coach has some fantastic resources on her website that you can share with others in your child's team.

13/11/2025

The debate around appropriate use of screen-time is undoubtedly one of the biggest and most stressful factors today's Parents and Carers face.

POV: this post is not designed to bring shame to families who are using screens!!
They most certainly still have a place in the home and let's face it - all Parents need tools to 'get things done'!

Our caution based on the research is that learning vocabulary from devices does not allow the opportunity for the rich experiences that come from flexible, co-regulated back and forth interactions with a partner.

If you have concerns about limiting screen-use due to big emotional responses, you can talk to your child's Therapy Team about strategies for this, as well as ways to build in apps that are better-targeted to your little one's developmental needs for the times that they are needed.

10/11/2025

If you are an early-intervention SLP or an early years educator, head over to Sounds-Write to check out their free taster for their new course: "From Speech to Print: Getting Children Ready for Reading".

There is a full course available for Educators based on the Synthetic Phonics literacy intervention program they are famous for, but also you can access some excellent free lesson plans to get you started in your early years rooms as children approach their transition to school!

Free short online training video for early years practitioners who want to help their children get ready for reading.

10/11/2025

👊🌟

Attention is a valid need. No one thrives on being ignored. ✨

10/11/2025

Have you heard of "Selective Mutism" or "Selective Speaking"? Thank you to Autisticality for sharing this post!

Situational Mutism - a quick introduction to what it is, preferred terminology, when someone might experience it and what could potentially help

10/11/2025

🫶🫶🫶 Sometimes the best thing we can do is to strip back to the basics and fill those little love cups! 🧋

Love your children simple because "they exist".❤️