Speech pathology
for teens.

For the teen reading this

If you've ended up on this page yourself, hi. A lot of teens we work with were dragged to speech therapy as little kids and hated it — sticker charts, eye contact drills, someone telling them to use a "calm voice" when they were dysregulated. That isn't what this is. We don't have an agenda about how you should communicate. You drive the work. We help with whatever you actually want help with.

That might be writing scripts for tough situations (medical appointments, job interviews, telling a teacher you need a break, coming out to family). It might be working out how to use AAC sometimes and speech other times without people guilt-tripping you. It might be processing what your earlier speech therapy did or didn't do for you. It might just be talking — to an adult who's not your parent and isn't trying to fix you.

For parents reading this

Teens are often the first time a young person actually drives their own therapy. If your teen is going to engage at all, the work has to be on their terms. That means sessions are confidential by default (we share general goals with you, not session content), we follow their lead on what we work on, and we don't push them to perform neurotypical social norms. Many of our teen clients come to us after years of well-meant but harmful early intervention. Recovery is real.

Your job as the parent during this stage is mostly logistical (booking, NDIS, funding) and emotional support. The clinical relationship is between us and your teen.

What teen sessions usually focus on

• Self-advocacy — scripts and confidence for asking for what you need, in classrooms, at the doctor, in friendships, at home, in workplaces.
• Unmasking — at your pace. Not all at once. Some teens unmask first with us, then at home, then with a couple of friends, then never with everyone — and that's the goal, not "full unmasking everywhere".
• Identity processing — what late diagnosis means, who in your life knows, what you want to do with the information.
• Peer and online communication — Discord servers, group chats, the specific weirdness of texting, the difference between IRL and online energy.
• AAC for teens — late-introduction AAC for shutdown days, situational mutism, sensory overload. AAC is not just for kids.
• Stuttering-affirming work — for teens who stutter and have been told their whole life to "speak smoothly". We don't try to make stuttering stop. We make speaking less exhausting.
• School / TAFE / uni advocacy letters — written by us, used by you.

How sessions actually run

Mostly via telehealth, 45 minutes. Camera-on is optional — we don't care. Bring a fidget, lie down, walk around, eat — whatever helps you focus. We don't take notes obviously during the session; you can ask to see notes after. There's no homework unless we agree on something specific you want to try.

For Gold Coast teens we can also do in-clinic sessions at Burleigh Heads if that suits better — but most teens prefer telehealth.

NDIS for teens

We are an NDIS-registered speech pathology provider. Teen-stage speech pathology typically sits under Capacity Building (Improved Daily Living) — communication, self-advocacy, lifelong learning goals. We can also support transitions: end-of-school, job-hunting, moving out, getting a Medicare card on your own. We write reports in plain language and we let the teen review them before submission.

Starting

A free 15-minute call is the right next step. If you're the teen — feel free to be on the call yourself (or just listen, or do other things, totally up to you). We'd rather you decide than have someone decide for you.

Common questions