Eat, Speak, Learn - Allied Health Services

17/11/2025

World Prematurity Day, observed every year on 17 November, is a global awareness day dedicated to highlighting the challenges and impact of preterm birth.

Early intervention supports from allied health professionals such as speech pathologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists help support early developmental milestones and maximize potential in feeding, communication, growth, motor skills and cognitive development.

At Eat Speak Learn, we’re privileged to walk alongside our families who have welcomed their child a little earlier than expected, and build their capacity to grow, learn and develop.

13/11/2025

Yesterday we became aware of a recall for coloured sand, which may have traces of asbestos. We acknowledge that we have purchased and used this sand in our clinic. Since hearing of the recall, we have followed the advice from ACCC and removed this sand from our clinic and disposed of it.

The safety of our clients, families and team are of highest importance to us. If you have any concerns or questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

The ACCC has published a recall notice over children’s sand products that may contain asbestos and were sold at various retailers including Officeworks.

13/11/2025

Friday Favourites with Amy, Dietitian.

The Embrace Hub is Amy’s favouritr resource for families and educators. It’s packed with tips on helping children, teens (and adults!) connect with their bodies, build confidence and get curious about their food choices.

She especially loves the “Flip The Script” resource which empowers individuals to celebrate all foods and bodies. There are also some fantastic blog posts on neurodiversity, intuitive eating and how to add fun and flavour to mealtimes! These practical tools and insights make such a difference in building lifelong, joyful food and body relationships.

Www.thermbracehub.com

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11/11/2025

Can you believe there’s less than 5 weeks of school left for the year!?!

We know January is full of holiday fun, beach trips and family time so get in early to book school holiday appointments to suit your families schedule.

Give us a call on 02 61562804 or chat to our Client Support Team when you’re in next.

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11/11/2025

🌟 Life Skills in Action! 🌟

Our life skills crew went to the shop to pick up ingredients for their dinner, and one of our amazing members proudly shared the meal they helped cook.

What made us smile even more? He bravely asked a staff member a question, someone he didn’t know, and felt so proud of himself for stepping up and practising his social communication skills!

Building confidence and independence in our community, one step at a time. 💬👏

06/11/2025

📣 Let’s protect our park and keep Belconnen green!

The vacant block beside Margaret Timpson Park has sat boarded-up since the old Community Health Centre was demolished years ago. Now there’s a proposal for community housing on Block 45 Section 54 — right next to the park.

While we absolutely support the need for more community housing, we believe this particular site should become part of our public green space 🌳💚

Here’s why:
A new play area and toilet block are due to be built soon on the existing green area, so it’s vital that we keep the same amount of open grass for everyone to enjoy.Once greenspace is gone, we don’t get it back.
The petition asks the ACT Legislative Assembly to:
Rezone Block 45 Section 54 to public open space.Find a more suitable site for the proposed community housing.Work with residents on future park design and improvements.
🖊️ Add your name and share your support:
👉 https://epetitions.parliament.act.gov.au/details/e-pet-076-25

Together, we can support housing needs and protect the green heart of Belconnen for our kids. 💚

This petition of certain residents of the Australian Capital Territory draws to the attention of the Assembly that the ACT Government intends to develop Block 45 Section 54 Belconnen, adjacent to Margaret Timpson Park, for social housing.

06/11/2025

Friday Favourites with Jesse, Exercise Physiologist.

His favourite resource - the Theraband! Why? It might just look like a stretchy piece of rubber but it’s versatile, effective and can be used almost anywhere!

Therabands help kids build strength, coordination, and body awareness, all through fun, movement-based play. They can be used for resistance exercises, movement games, proprioceptive input, or even to help kids learn how to regulate their bodies.

They’re easy to adapt for all ages and abilities and they can be used in sessions and at home to continue building strength! 💪

02/11/2025

Food fun in our Messy Play Feeding Group last week!

Exploring food through play helps children get comfortable with the sights, smells, and textures of different foods, without the pressure to take a bite. Touching, squishing, smelling, and even painting with food are all powerful steps toward building confidence and curiosity at mealtimes.

We want to create a low pressure, fun environment to create positive experiences with foods. Over time, these playful interactions help build confidence to try new foods.

30/10/2025

It’s Friday and time for Friday Favourites with our wonderful Bec, OT.

Her favourite resource is……. Shaving cream.

Shaving cream is such a versatile resource to work on decreasing tactile sensitivities in a fun and playful way, a way to make fine motor activities so much more engaging and a fun way to work on a vertical surface to build that shoulder stability and wrist extension needed for handwriting.

If doing at home always remember to never force touching a texture or provide rewards for touching a texture they don’t want to - that causes more negative associations and can intensify tactile sensitivities / avoidance. We want to couple messy play exposures with fun, relationship and regulation in a low pressure environment and always have an ‘out’ (a towel to wipe hands, access to a sink to wash hands as often as needed, maybe gloves to wear or put the texture inside a ziplock bag).

Do you want more tips to help your child with tactile sensitivity / avoidance?? Let us know below.

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28/10/2025

Myth vs Fact – Tube Feeding

🙅‍♀️Myth: “Tube feeding means my baby won’t ever eat by mouth.”
👏👏Fact: Tube feeding is often short term, and can actually make progress toward oral feeding safer and less stressful by meeting nutritional needs!

For other children tube feeding is a long-term support, which provides some or all of their nutrition or hydration needs. For many of these children tube feeding takes the pressure and stress away from eating, so food can be purely for joy!

✨ However you feed your child, we're here to celebrate it! Our clinic helps families navigate tube feeding, as well as safe, child-led transitions to oral feeds when safe to do so.

📞 Unsure where you're at in your tube feeding journey? Chat to our feeding team for supports that meet you where you are!