The Thrive Spot

The Thrive Spot Where All Children Grow
Providing Multidisciplinary Allied Health Services to children in the Illawarra

✨ A little Taylor Swift moment in the office today ✨Today’s session had main character energy 🎶💕What started as a shared...
12/02/2026

✨ A little Taylor Swift moment in the office today ✨
Today’s session had main character energy 🎶💕

What started as a shared love of Taylor Swift quickly turned into some beautiful therapy wins:

💬 Building conversation skills through shared interests
🤝 Creating connection through mutual topics
🧠 Practising turn-taking, commenting & asking questions
👐 Using bracelets as a quiet fidget to support regulation and focus
To our therapists — don’t be afraid to lean into the fun 💛

Connection comes first, and sometimes the most powerful therapy moments begin with something as simple as shared joy, creativity, and meeting kids in their world ✨





11/02/2026

Some children spend the whole school day holding it together…
Then everything comes out at home.
This is called masking — and it can be exhausting.

Masking is often misunderstood. Many children:
• try hard to “fit in”
• hide sensory needs
• copy social behaviour
• suppress overwhelm

And when they get home — their nervous system finally lets go.

If your child seems “fine at school but struggles at home” — this might be why!

What can help:
• quiet decompression time after school
• connection before questions
• reduce pressure to perform
• support sensory needs
• accept different communication styles

You don’t need to “fix” masking — you need to understand what’s underneath it.

If this sounds all to familiar, save this post for later and share with another parent who might need it. You’re not alone 💛





09/02/2026

Dot… dot… dot… and suddenly…
🎉 100 TRIALS COMPLETE 🎉

Last week, Maddy turned speech sound practice into art + play using paint dabbers — helping us reach those all-important repetitions while keeping the session fun, engaging and motivating 🎨💬

When therapy feels like play, kids stay regulated, engaged and willing to keep going… and that’s where the real progress happens 💛

Bonus? A colourful masterpiece to take home AND 100 powerful practice opportunities ✔️

Parents — you can try this at home too!
The 100 Trials Chart is an amazing way to turn repetition into something visual, motivating and fun ✨

Because sometimes… speech practice just needs a little paint 🎨💛

Full hearts. Big smiles. So much pride 💛Cody, Rhianon and Sharon — your new grad year is DONE (and what a year it has be...
06/02/2026

Full hearts. Big smiles. So much pride 💛

Cody, Rhianon and Sharon — your new grad year is DONE (and what a year it has been!) 🎉

From those first nervous days… to confident, capable clinicians making real impact — we have watched you grow, learn, laugh, problem-solve, celebrate wins, support families and truly step into yourselves. And somewhere along the way, you didn’t just become amazing therapists… you became such a special part of our Thrive family 💫

You’ve brought joy, kindness, dedication and so much heart to our team — and honestly, you’ve been an absolute delight to work alongside.

We are incredibly proud of you.
And we cannot wait to see what this next year brings!

— Your Thrive Team





World Cancer Day is especially close to our hearts. Over the years, we have supported children within our clinic who are...
04/02/2026

World Cancer Day is especially close to our hearts. Over the years, we have supported children within our clinic who are cancer survivors, and their strength, courage, and resilience continue to inspire us.

Today, we send our love and support to all children and families who are in the midst of their cancer journey. We stand with you 💛





02/02/2026

✨ Now welcoming new referrals ✨

At The Thrive Spot, our Speech Therapy, Art Therapy, and Play Therapy supports are all about meeting children where they’re at and helping them feel safe, understood, and confident to grow.

Whether a child needs support with:
🗣️ communication and language
🎨 expressing big feelings through art
🧸 play-based emotional and social development
—we work alongside families to build skills in a way that feels meaningful and achievable.

📩 Ready to refer or learn more?

👉 DM us or head to the link in our bio to chat!

Because every child deserves the chance to thrive 💛

We can store so much information about other people's interests, experiences, family and friends in our brain - kind of ...
02/02/2026

We can store so much information about other people's interests, experiences, family and friends in our brain - kind of like a file folder! 📁

During last week's session, student speechie Emma was working with a client to build a "social file" - brainstorming what we know about someone and then using that information to ask meaningful questions during conversation.

This activity was a great way to build connection and practice initiating and maintaining conversation, supporting social communication goals! 💬💛





30/01/2026

POV: Your quarterly PD leaves you buzzing with new ideas ✨
Assessment, AAC trials, devices and practical strategies with Pashenka from —and now we can’t wait to put this into action with our clients.
So many ideas we’re excited to start using in sessions straight away.

27/01/2026

This or That: Speechie Edition 🧸✨ Student vs Clinician—can you guess who chose what?

Emma (our student speechie) and Cody (our speechie) are sharing their favourite therapy rooms, toys, and must-have resources at The Thrive Spot 👀

This is a little peek behind the scenes of what therapy really looks like—lots of play, lots of creativity, and lots of intentional choices to support communication and connection. We all have our favourite spaces and toys (and strong opinions on the best ones 😂).

Can you guess who picked what before the reveal?
Drop your guesses in the comments 👇 and tell us which one YOU would choose!

22/01/2026

Team meeting but make it fun 🎉

This week we played “Guess the Therapist” — each team member wrote a fun fact about themselves on a post-it note, and we had to match the fact to the therapist.

Now it’s your turn! Can you guess which fun fact belongs to your child’s therapist? 👀

We love creating a place where learning, laughter, and connection go hand-in-hand. 💛

Drop your guesses in the comments and see if you’re right!

19/01/2026

Neuro-affirming therapy is often misunderstood 🤍
It doesn’t mean no expectations or no goals.

It means:
✔️ respecting neurodiversity
✔️ building skills in ways that make sense for the child
✔️ supporting regulation before learning
✔️ focusing on what’s functional and meaningful

When children feel safe, understood, and supported — real progress happens.

If you’ve ever wondered what neuro-affirming therapy actually looks like in practice, this is it.





14/01/2026

And just like that… we’re back in the clinic! 💛
So excited to support our families, empower our kids and do what we do best – helping children thrive in 2026.
So grateful to our families for trusting us on their journey. Here’s to a big year ahead at The Thrive Spot ✨

Address

Unit 3, 130-134 Princes Highway, Dapto
Wollongong, NSW
2530

Telephone

+61491174791

Website

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