The answer depends on a large amount of variables including: the type of therapy required, the severity of the impairment, your goals, other diagnoses, motivation, time spent doing carryover activities, frequency of sessions, individual personality and learning styles. Your clinician will be able to give some guidance after assessment and as therapy progresses.
Your clinician will guide you with this one. With most speech and language therapies, there will be some type of activity to complete at home during the week. These may vary from activity sheets to specific tasks added into your normal routine or play.
No. Simply contact the clinic to discuss your child’s needs and arrange your appointment as necessary.
Standard clinic therapy sessions are a 45min booking. This includes 35mins of direct therapy (face to face or via telehealth) and 17.5mins for indirect supports (including session notes, homework, cleaning, emails needed and commencement of planning for the next session). Assessments generally take longer than therapy and depend on the child’s age and areas of concern.
School based therapy sessions are generally a 35min booking. This includes approximately 25mins of direct therapy and 12.5mins for collecting/returning children, discussions with teachers, sessions notes and homework planning.
An initial assessment is undertaken to determine individual strengths and weaknesses as well as overall communication skills in comparison to age expectations. This allows the clinician to establish where a breakdown is occurring and where to focus therapy. A detailed assessment is necessary to help select the most appropriate therapy goals and will help to ensure therapy is efficient and effective.
The length of an assessment will vary, depending on age and types of concerns raised. As a guide, a standard assessment is generally 1 to 1.5 hours for pre-schoolers and 2 hours for school aged children. Assessments for older teens and adults will usually range from 1-2 hours, depending on the areas needing evaluation. We make sure that assessments are effective, fun and engaging! We will use toys and other reinforcers to help keep children motivated throughout the assessment.
Sometimes for various reasons clients aren’t able to complete a formal assessment. At times like this, we will use an informal assessment, with some information being gained via parent or carer report.
In a typical assessment, we will assess: speech, receptive language, expressive language, stuttering and voice production. If the child is school aged, an assessment of their literacy skills will also be conducted.
Early intervention is proven to lead to the best outcomes however it is never too late to commence therapy and work on improving those areas of concern. To help maximise progress, homework is provided for completion between sessions to help clients achieve their therapy goals and may reduce therapy time.
ACM attends a number of schools around both our Hornsby and Erina offices for either a full day or for some schools two days due to the number of clients. We collaborate with the teachers and at some of these schools a screening program is offered to Kindergarten children, as well as provision of in-services to teachers on specific areas. You can call our main office to enquire whether your child’s school is currently a location we attend.
ACM clinicians do not provide home visits for therapy. For existing adult clients, we may provide occasional group home, day program or work visits when required for observation or training.
We can also organise to attend preschools and schools for observations.
At ACM we accept that all brains are unique and form part of our personal communication styles. We support client diversity and work together to help individuals achieve their personal communication goals in a way that suits them best.
If you have private health insurance and are eligible for a speech therapy rebate you can present your card at the clinic on the day of your appointment, so that you need only pay the remaining gap, after rebate. Or if your services were not clinic based, you can pay in full and claim the rebate back directly from your private health service.
A GP Chronic Condition Management Plan (GPCCMP) is provided at the discretion of a GP. If you are entitled to receive a GPCCMP, you can claim a partial rebate for the nominated number of Speech Therapy sessions indicated by your GP (up to 5) from Medicare over a 12 month period. Your invoice must be paid in full to All Communication Matters first and then they will issue you a receipt eligible for claiming at Medicare.
ACM clinicians do not provide swallowing assessment or therapy as this is a specialised area. We recommend that you look on the Speech Pathology Australia website for a list of clinicians that are able to provide this service.
Depending on the nature of your feeding concerns, your clinician may be able to provide assistance. Please discuss this as part of your intake or ongoing discussions.
After school spots are in high demand and we generally have an extensive waitlist for these times. We advise clients that the more flexibility they have with availability the better it may increase their chances of being offered an available appointment. Day time appointments (10am-2.30pm) tend to have a shorter waitlist, or no waitlist depending on the days you are available.
We do offer clients therapy intensives during the school holidays after an assessment so they can access services while waiting for a regular therapy spot.
If you are attending the clinic, we strongly recommend that parents or carers attend sessions. This allows us to provide information on progress and help provide coaching on how you can support and work on goals at home.
If your child is being seen at school, they will be provided with post session updates on how the appointment went and areas to work on at home via the homework sheet. The clinician will touch base with you if they have any concerns and will provide an update during the term via phone or email. You are also encouraged to schedule a termly meeting with your child’s therapist to discuss your child’s progress and observe therapy techniques in more detail to expedite progress. These appointments can be conducted in person or over Zoom.
ACM will seek payment for the services provided on the day that the client has received this service (excluding reports as these require pre-payment on the day the report is requested). Paid receipts are issued within 1-2 business days of payment being received.
Clients receiving telehealth, school and preschool based appointments your invoices are processed through our secure online payment processing platform, Stripe, within 24hours of your appointment, after the appointment has occurred.
You can complete the form on our website to be added to our WAITLIST.
Alternatively, you can call our main office on 02 9482 8099 so your details can be taken to be added to our waitlist.
We will contact you when an assessment or therapy spot is available. You are welcome to call if your availabilities change.
We provide therapy for a number of areas including: speech, language (expressive and receptive), literacy, fluency, voice, social skills and AAC.
Visit our SERVICES page for more detailed information.
Indirect support covers all the work that happens outside of your session – things like preparing materials, writing notes, planning, and liaising with other professionals. For every hour of face-to-face therapy, we add a small additional charge equivalent to half that time to cover this behind-the-scenes work. In reality, our therapists often spend more time than this, but we’ve capped the rate at 50% to keep therapy fair and affordable for families.
Not at all! The indirect support charge is 50% of your face-to-face time – so for every hour of therapy, you’re paying for one and a half hours in total, not two. It’s simply a fairer way of reflecting all the work that goes into supporting your therapy, not just the time spent in the room together.
Some tasks are already covered – report writing is included in initial assessment fees, and brief check-ins with teachers or other professionals are part of your regular support. For anything more extended, such as detailed reports or lengthy coordination, an additional charge will apply. We’ll always be upfront about this and agree on any extra costs with you beforehand.
No need to worry – we’ll work closely with you to make sure the services we provide align with your plan’s funding. Where needed, we’ll suggest options that fit within your budget and discuss any alternatives together, so you’re never left without a clear path forward.
Our standard cancellation and rescheduling policy still applies. Because preparation work is completed ahead of your session, late cancellations will incur a charge based on the full session cost – covering both the face-to-face and indirect components. If you’re unsure of the notice required, please refer to our cancellation policy.