Speech pathology
for autistic adults.
Late-diagnosed, self-identifying, AAC users, unmasking, processing decades of being told you communicate "wrong". You're welcome here.
Adult autistic communication is a real thing speech pathology should be doing
A lot of speech pathology in Australia stops at "paediatric". That's a problem. There's a whole generation of late-diagnosed and self-identifying autistic adults who have unmet communication needs — and the field has been slow to catch up. We're trying to help fix that. Speech Sprout takes adult clients alongside our paediatric caseload, with the same identity-affirming approach.
You don't need a formal diagnosis to work with us. You don't need to have done speech therapy before (most of our adult clients haven't). You don't need to know what you want to "work on" — many adults arrive without a clear goal and we figure it out together over the first couple of sessions.
What adult clients actually work on
- Scripts for tough contexts — medical appointments, GP advocacy, paediatricians (for your own kid), workplaces, admin calls, family events. Pre-written, rehearsed, yours to keep.
- Unmasking — at your pace, in the parts of your life you want to. Not a project to complete. A direction to move in.
- Social burnout recovery — not by teaching you to socialise harder, but by helping you understand your actual capacity and design a life that fits.
- AAC for shutdown / overload days — yes, AAC is for adults too. Many late-diagnosed adults find a part-time AAC system genuinely life-changing for high- overload moments.
- Workplace advocacy and accommodations — writing the letter to HR, preparing for the conversation with your manager, framing your needs in language that gets traction.
- Stuttering-affirming work — for adults who stutter and are sick of being told to "speak smoothly". We don't try to eliminate stuttering. We make speaking less exhausting.
- Processing what earlier therapy did to you — many of our adult clients have compliance-trauma from ABA or ABA-adjacent programs and want a space where the goal isn't to fix them.
How sessions run
Almost always telehealth — adults are typically the easiest group to do telehealth with. 45 minutes. Camera-on is optional. Bring whatever you need. We don't take live notes; you can ask to see written summaries after if it helps.
The first session is mostly a conversation about what's going on, what you're hoping for, and what would be useful to actually work on. Some adults book a few sessions and we're done. Some have monthly sessions for a year. Some come in for a specific upcoming challenge (a new job, a court appearance, a planned medical procedure) and we wrap when that's resolved. Whatever works.
NDIS for adults
If you're an NDIS participant, speech pathology is fundable under Capacity Building (Improved Daily Living) for communication goals, and can also link into Social and Community Participation or Employment goals depending on your plan. We're NDIS- registered, so plans of any management type work. Going into a planning meeting? We can help you draft the goals beforehand. More on NDIS at Speech Sprout.
If you're not on NDIS, sessions are private-pay. No surprise costs — pricing on the first session page.
Starting
A free 15-minute call is the right next step. We'll talk through what's going on, what you're hoping for, and whether we're a good fit. If we're not, we'll point you toward someone who is — there's a small but growing community of identity-affirming SLPs in Australia who work with adults, and we know most of them.