Frequently Asked Questions

As a parent, it can be difficult to determine if your child needs support from a speech pathologist or not. Determining if therapy is needed or not will require an assessment. However, if you have any concerns about the way your child communicates, feel free to give us a call and we can have a brief chat about whether or not an assessment would be recommended. 

At Making Waves, we currently do not offer all speech pathology services. We are able to provide support for goals pertaining to speech sounds (articulation, phonology and motor speech disorder), language skills, reading, spelling, and some areas of early intervention. We do not provide services for swallowing or voice and are only accepting children aged 3-16 years of age. 

Speech pathologists are able to provide services across a very wide range of areas and for clients across all ages however it can be difficult to maintain skills across all areas and keep up-to-date with current research across such a wide scope. At Making Waves, we allow our therapists to focus on their areas of interest and experience. This allows therapists to gain more knowledge and confidence in select areas as well as hone in on their areas of passion to ensure they are motivated and able to provide the best care to their clients. 

Block therapy is an evidence-based approach that delivers intensive speech pathology sessions over a short period which is referred to as a "block". For example, the "block" may be 10-12 weeks where therapy is provided at a minimum frequency of weekly (may also be twice weekly) followed by a short break or a full "block" off from therapy. Research shows this model supports faster progress, especially for speech and language skills. At Making Waves Allied Health, we use block therapy to keep sessions focused, engaging, and flexible for families.

Making Waves is a mobile service which means we do not have a clinic or base location at this time. Instead, we travel to our clients to provide services which may be at home, school or preschool. In some circumstances this may even be in other places out in the community. 

Making Waves is a new business that is currently only able to offer speech pathology services. However, as our business name suggests, we hope to be able to expand our services into other areas of allied health in the future to offer our clients an even more comprehensive healthcare experience. 

Yes. We are able to offer services to self-managed and plan-managed participants only. We do not currently accept agency-managed participants. 

Unfortunately we are unable to accept agency-managed participants at this time. 

Yes. Private clients are accepted and will be charged at a different rate to NDIS participants. Clients are able to make payment via bank transfer or EFTPOS payment immediately after sessions. Those wishing to claim the Medicare rebate are welcome however please note that you will be required to make claims directly from Medicare after submitting payment to Making Waves for the services provided. Any further questions can be directed to your therapist. 

Yes we do! If you are interested in telehealth services, please speak to your therapist prior to or during your assessment as each client will need to be individually considered for appropriateness of telehealth services. If you come to an agreement with your therapist that telehealth is appropriate, you may be asked to download a video conferencing app and/or create an account in preparation. Speak to your therapist about further information at the time. 

It is likely that you will be expected to complete activities at home that are targeted at helping your child to achieve their communication goals . Targeting these goals requires a collaborative approach across multiple people and environments. Your therapist will guide you on how and what to do at home. If you have concerns about completing home practice, speak to your therapist about this as they will be able to offer tips and potentially make adjustments to activities to make them more achievable.