Preschool Language
Between the ages of 3 and 5, children are rapidly building the language skills they'll rely on when they start school — understanding instructions, following stories and conversations, and putting their own thoughts into words and sentences. If your preschooler seems to be behind other children their age in understanding or using language, an assessment can help identify what's going on and what support might help before school starts.
What Parent's Notice:
- Trouble understanding instructions, questions or stories compared to other children their age
- Needing things repeated or simplified, or seeming to "tune out" in group settings like childcare
- Shorter or simpler sentences than other preschoolers, or muddled word order and grammar
- Trouble finding the right words, or describing things in a roundabout way
- A childcare educator has raised concerns about your child's understanding or use of language
What's Involved
An assessment looks at both sides of language — how well your child understands language (receptive) and how they use words, sentences and grammar to communicate (expressive) — compared with typical development for their age.
Intervention sessions are play-based and use games, stories and everyday routines to build vocabulary, sentence structure and comprehension, with strategies shared so they can be practised at home.
If significant difficulties continue closer to school age...
For children with more significant, ongoing language difficulties as they approach or start school, the most effective support usually involves close collaboration between your speech pathologist and your child's teacher, since school-based support can include things like curriculum modifications that sit outside what a clinic-based speech pathology service can offer alone. Where this is the case, we'll talk with you about referral options so your child has access to that kind of collaborative, school-integrated support.
Getting Started
You don't need a referral to book an appointment with us at our clinic in Mawson.
Contact us for more information or to book an appointment
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