Category: News

SOCIAL SKILLS GROUPS – TERM 3, 2018

Posted on by Jan Brandon

Subject to interest, we will be running a Self Awareness and Self Esteem group program in Term 3.

The 11 weekly sessions, facilitated by Alice Long (Speech Pathologist), will be held on Wednesdays from 3:30pm to 4:30pm, commencing on Wednesday 18th July (Week 1 of Term 3).

PURPOSE
If we don’t feel good about ourselves, how do we find the confidence to talk to others?
If we can’t talk about ourselves, where do we start our conversation?

Self awareness and self esteem provide the foundations for the development of good social skills. Some children acquire self awareness and self esteem with little or no effort but others need to be taught.

Learning within a group setting is practical and fun. It provides children with the opportunity to interact and build friendships in a safe, controlled environment, while also allowing them to put their new skills into practice.

TOPICS
The group sessions will aim to teach children basic self awareness skills and promote development of good self esteem through some or all of the following topics:

  1. This is me
  2. People in my life
  3. The way I look
  4. What am I like?
  5. My qualities and strengths
  6. Things that make me feel good
  7. The way I feel
  8. I am great!

45-50 minutes will be allocated to group interaction (children only), with the remainder of the session being for feedback to parents/carers.

COST
The fee for the hour long session will be the same as the fee for a half-hour individual therapy session.

PLEASE NOTE
HCWA and BETTER START funding CAN be used for group sessions but Medicare rebated schemes (EPC and ASD/PDD) are NOT able to be used, as stipulated in Medicare’s guidelines.

ACTION
The group will be limited to 6 participants, so please let us know as soon as possible if you are interested.

Exciting News

Posted on by Jan Brandon

As from 1 April 2018, Brandon Speech Pathology will have new owners.

One of our own valued speech pathologists, Allissa Whitehead, has combined with family members to form a company (Entrstd Pty Ltd) to manage the business.

Allissa will become the ‘go-to’ person at the clinic but I will be staying on in an advisory capacity for a further six months and will continue to be available to talk at any time.

So for now, it is business as usual. There are no fee or staff changes planned and your child will be able to continue as usual with his/her speech pathologist.

After many years of helping children, I will miss all the parents, carers, children (and amazing staff members) who have given me a long and enjoyable career. Thank you for your support of Brandon Speech Pathology.

Allissa is looking forward to your continued support and is committed to maintaining our philosophy of caring, family friendly and professional service. I am confident that the team will continue to provide the best possible care for our precious clients and wish Allissa and Brandon Speech Pathology well for the future.

Jan Brandon

Happy New Year 2018

Posted on by Jan Brandon

Happy New Year to all our families! We wish you a healthy and rewarding 2018.

We are all back at work and are looking forward to working with you and your precious children again this year.

For your information:

  • If you would like to have your child assessed before school starts, we have some vacancies next week (15th – 19th January).
  • We are in the process of planning our first social skills group for 2018. In Term 1 (depending on numbers), we are hoping to offer DEVELOPING FRIENDSHIP SKILLS. This is an 8 week program covering topics such as:
    •  What is a friend?
    •  Friendly behaviours
    •  Choosing a friend
    •  Starting out
    •  Being a good friend
    •  Coping with problems

Please contact us if you are interested or have any questions regarding any of the above.

Christmas Holiday Closure

Posted on by Jan Brandon

 

Brandon Speech Pathology will be closed for 3 weeks from Monday 18th December. We will reopen on Monday 8th January.

If you are looking for an assessment before school starts, we have plenty of time slots available from Monday 8th to Friday 19th January.

Thank you for allowing us the privilege of working with your children. We wish you and your family a blessed Christmas and a happy and healthy new year.

 

 

Speech/Language Pathology 2018

Posted on by Jan Brandon

Another year is fast drawing to a close. Thank you all for faithfully bringing your child/children for therapy each week/fortnight and for following up with home activities.

We are starting to timetable for next year. Thanks to those of you who have already responded to our letter asking for your preferences for 2018.

If you are newer clients, you may wonder why we go through the process of re-timetabling. It is really just to cater for changes in days or times needed because of changes in your child’s schedule or your schedule.

Some helpful things to consider:

• If you are not sure whether your child will need to continue next year, reserve a spot anyway. It is much easier to remove your child’s name from our books later on than it is to try to find a suitable spot in the New Year.

• If you are happy with your timeslot, you can keep it.

• Some therapists may change their work days, so if you want a particular therapist, you may need to change days. If you want a particular day/timeslot, you may need to change therapists.

• We try our hardest to give you your preferred time but if someone already has that time and wants to keep it, we will need to use your second or third (and sometimes fourth) preference.

• Children entering Prep and Year 1 tend to be extremely tired after school. For this reason (and so that you get value for money), we encourage Prep and Year 1 (and usually Year 2) children to come after lunch but before school finishing time. This is the best time to be taken out of school as there tends to be less formal learning at school at this time of the day. If you really want your Prep, Year 1 or Year 2 child to come after school, we will try to accommodate you. Another option to consider for this age group is before school.

THE CLINIC WILL REMAIN OPEN FOR 1 WEEK AFTER STATE SCHOOLS BREAK UP (LAST DAY OF SPEECH PATHOLOGY FRIDAY 15th DECEMBER).

THERAPY SESSIONS WILL RE-COMMENCE ON MONDAY 8TH JANUARY 2018 (2 WEEKS PRIOR TO SCHOOL STARTING).