Early Communication
23 articles in this category
Watching Bluey with Your Child: Conversation Starters and Language Tips
Pause and talk, name the feelings, predict then check, retell afterwards, then play the games for real. Bluey episode picks by language goal, kept low-key.
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Why Bluey Is a Speech Pathologist's Dream: Language Lessons from Bluey
Why Bluey models the play, feelings talk and back-and-forth that build language, what the show gets right, and what it cannot do on its own.
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Building Communication Skills Before School Starts: Strategies for Parents
Conversation games, directions in daily routines, retelling stories and turn-taking on play dates: everyday ways to build talking skills before Prep.
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Is My Child Ready for Prep? A Communication and Language Checklist
What listening, talking, storytelling and social skills look like in the year before Prep in Queensland, plus a word on hearing and when to assess early.
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Making Screen Time Work for Your Child's Language: Practical Tips
Choosing content that leaves room for talk, watching together, turning watch time into talk time, and why video calls with Grandma are the exception.
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Screen Time and Language Development: What the Research Actually Says
Screen time, content and company all matter for language. Background TV, why toddlers don't learn from video, the Australian limits, and why AAC isn't screen time.
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Supporting Your Child After a Tongue Tie Release: What Comes Next
After a tongue tie release: what recovery looks like, whether feeding improves, why speech won't fix itself and when a hearing or speech check is worth it.
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Tongue Tie in Children: Facts and Myths Every Parent Should Know
Tongue tie rarely affects speech, but it can affect feeding. What the rise in frenotomy means, who should assess, and what to ask before a release.
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Speech Sound Therapy: Assessment and What Helps
What happens in a speech sound assessment, how minimal pairs and phonological awareness work in therapy, and how to help at home without correcting.
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Helping Children Follow Directions: Strategies
What to do when a child needs every instruction repeated: get attention first, shorten the language, add visuals, and play barrier games.
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Concepts and Following Directions: Key Milestones
'Put it inside, not under.' Spatial, time and quantity concepts sit inside every instruction, and gaps in them explain a lot of 'not listening'.
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How Speech Pathologists Use Play in Sessions
A walk through a play-based session from setup to wrap-up, how the same game changes for language, speech-sound and social goals, and what to try at home.
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Play and Speech Therapy: Why Play Is Serious
Play is how young children learn language, so a speech pathologist plans it on purpose. What that looks like and why it isn't a lesser approach.
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Phonological Speech Patterns vs Articulation Explained
Articulation or phonological? The two can sound alike at the kitchen table but call for different therapy. How to tell which one your child has.
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Shared Reading: Language Modelling with Books
Comment, expand, link to life: how to model language with Dear Zoo, Brown Bear, Where Is the Green Sheep? and We're Going on a Bear Hunt.
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The Power of Shared Reading for Language
What shared reading does for vocabulary, storytelling and comprehension, why the talk around the book matters most, and what to do if your child won't sit.
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How to Use Aided Language Stimulation at Home
How to model on your child's AAC system during ordinary routines like meals and bath time, without turning every moment into a test or waiting for a reply.
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What Is Aided Language Stimulation? A Parent Guide
Aided language stimulation means talking on your child's AAC system while you speak. What it is, why modelling matters, and how to start with a few words.
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When to Worry About Babbling: Signs to Watch For
No canonical babbling by 10 months, few consonants, a very quiet baby or sounds that stop: what each can mean and what a baby assessment involves.
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Babbling: What It Is and How to Encourage It
From cooing to jargon, the five stages of babbling with rough ages, why babbling predicts later talking, and simple ways to encourage it every day.
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How to Help a Late Talker: Evidence-Based Tips
Follow, comment, expand: the Hanen-based habits that help a late talker, what a toddler language assessment involves, and what happens afterwards.
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Late Talkers: When to Worry About Toddler Speech
How many words should a toddler have at 18 and 24 months? The milestones, the signs worth a conversation, and the problem with 'wait and see'.
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Alternative Access for Communication: A Guide
Eye gaze, switches, partner-assisted scanning and head tracking: what each one is, which children they suit, and what an access assessment looks at.
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