Glossary of Speech Pathology Terms

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) refers to ways of communicating in addition to, or instead of, spoken speech. AAC can include gestures, signing, communication books, picture symbols, communication boards, apps and speech-generating devices.

An acquired brain injury is damage to the brain that occurs after birth. It can result from causes such as stroke, trauma, infection or other neurological conditions. Speech pathology may help with communication, language, cognition and swallowing following an acquired brain injury.

Advanced Morphology Training explores how meaningful word parts, including prefixes, suffixes and base words, influence spelling, vocabulary and reading comprehension. This professional development supports educators and literacy professionals to develop students’ understanding of complex words, improve decoding and spelling, and strengthen higher-level literacy skills.

Advanced Morphology Training supports educators, speech pathologists and literacy professionals to explore how prefixes, suffixes, base words and meaningful word parts influence spelling, vocabulary and reading comprehension. This specialised professional learning builds understanding of word structure and meaning to support more advanced literacy instruction.

Articulation refers to how the lips, tongue, jaw and other parts of the mouth move to produce speech sounds. Articulation difficulties can make particular sounds difficult to say clearly.

Articulation therapy is speech therapy designed to help a person produce particular speech sounds more accurately and clearly. A speech pathologist may use modelling, practice, feedback and activities tailored to the person’s needs.

A speech pathology assessment is an evaluation of a person’s communication, speech, language, voice, fluency, literacy, feeding or swallowing skills. Assessment may involve interviews, observation, formal testing and informal activities.

Speech Pathology Tasmania provides professional development, Orton-Gillingham Language Approach training, mentoring and selected online learning opportunities for professionals and organisations across Australia. Delivery options include in-person workshops at organisational venues and online sessions, allowing teams to access relevant training and professional support beyond Tasmania.

Blank’s Levels of Questioning resources support the development of language comprehension and expressive language through questions that progress from concrete information to more complex reasoning. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Icing on the Cake Book Companions incorporate graded questions to help speech pathologists, teachers and families support children’s understanding, prediction, inference and verbal expression.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a speech sound disorder in which a child has difficulty planning and coordinating the movements needed for speech. Speech may be inconsistent or difficult to understand.

Circle of Security Classroom™ professional development supports teachers, teacher assistants and early childhood teams to better understand children’s emotional needs and relationships. Grounded in attachment theory, this eight-week learning experience helps educators foster emotional security, regulation, connection and engagement to support wellbeing, communication and learning.

Circle of Security Parenting™ supports parents and caregivers to understand children’s emotional needs and build secure, responsive relationships. The program explores attachment, connection, emotional regulation and caregiver responses, helping families strengthen relationships and support children’s confidence, resilience and wellbeing.

Clinical mentoring for speech pathologists provides individualised guidance to strengthen clinical reasoning, assessment, intervention planning and decision-making. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s experienced mentors support clinicians to discuss complex cases, explore clinical challenges, career progression, develop practical strategies and build confidence across paediatric and adult practice.

Cognitive communication involves the relationship between thinking skills and communication. Difficulties may affect attention, memory, organisation, problem-solving, conversation or understanding and using language.

Cognitive communication therapy supports communication skills affected by changes in cognition, such as following a brain injury, stroke or neurological condition.

Communication is the exchange or sharing of meaning between people. It can happen through speech, writing, gestures, facial expressions, signs, pictures, symbols, technology and many other methods.

A communication assessment looks at how a person understands and expresses messages. Depending on the person’s needs, it may consider speech, language, social communication, literacy, AAC and other communication skills.

Communication difficulties occur when a person experiences barriers to communicating or when their communication needs are not being met. Speech pathologists can assess these difficulties and provide strategies and therapy.

Communication partner training teaches family members, carers, teachers, support workers or other communication partners strategies that can make communication easier and more successful.

Communication support needs describes the supports a person may require to understand or express messages and participate in communication. Speech Pathology Australia has identified this as a preferred term when referring to people with communication disability or difficulty.

Complex Sentence Mastery Toolkits provide practical activities to support the development and understanding of more complex sentence structures. Designed for language and literacy learning, these resources help practitioners and educators target grammar, sentence comprehension, expressive language and written expression.

Complex sentences combine ideas to explain relationships such as cause, time, conditions and contrast. They help children express more detailed ideas, explain their thinking and understand increasingly complex spoken and written language. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Language Unleashed resources support the development of complex sentence structure through practical activities, visual prompts, sentence models and repeated practice. These resources are useful for speech pathologists, teachers and educators supporting children with oral language difficulties, including Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).

Speech Pathology Tasmania provides language and literacy resources designed to support children’s listening comprehension, story understanding and ability to answer questions. These practical resources help speech pathologists, teachers and teacher assistants develop comprehension through structured questioning, vocabulary activities, verbal reasoning and discussion of children’s books.

Conjunctions are words that connect words, phrases or clauses to show how ideas relate. Words such as because, but, so, when, or and if help children explain reasons, describe events and create longer more meaningful sentences. Language Unleashed conjunction resources provide structured activities and visual supports to help children understand and use conjunctions in spoken language. They are designed for speech pathologists, teachers and educators working on grammar, sentence construction and expressive language development.

Developmental Language Disorder is a condition where a child has ongoing difficulty learning and using language that are not explained by another known biomedical condition. Difficulties may involve understanding language, using words and sentences, telling stories or following instructions.

Developmental Language Disorder is a condition where a child has ongoing difficulties learning and using language that are not explained by another known biomedical condition. Difficulties may involve understanding language, using words and sentences, telling stories or following instructions.

Speech Pathology Tasmania provides educational resources and professional learning relating to language development and communication difficulties, including developmental language disorder (DLD). Resources help speech pathologists, teachers, teacher assistants and families better understand children’s language needs and support vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, following instructions and classroom participation.

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) affects a person’s ability to learn and use language and can influence vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure and understanding. Some children with DLD need additional, structured opportunities to learn grammatical forms and produce more complex sentences. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Language Unleashed resources target skills such as conjunction use, irregular verbs and irregular plurals through visual supports, sentence models and repeated practice. They can be used by speech pathologists and educators as part of an individualised approach to language support.

Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder caused by weakness or difficulty controlling the muscles used for speech. It can affect speech clarity, loudness, rate and voice quality.

Dysfluency refers to interruptions or disruptions in the flow of speech. Stuttering is one type of dysfluency.

Professional learning and educational resources can help teachers, speech pathologists and learning support staff understand difficulties with written language, spelling and written expression. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s literacy-focused training and resources support the development of spelling, sentence structure, grammar and written language skills. Contact SPT to discuss training options relevant to your organisation.

Speech Pathology Tasmania’s speech pathologists assess reading, spelling and the underlying language and literacy skills associated with dyslexia. A comprehensive dyslexia assessment may examine phonological awareness, letter–sound knowledge, word decoding, reading accuracy and fluency, spelling and written language skills.

Our appropriately qualified speech pathologists can diagnose dyslexia when it falls within their professional scope of practice, and the assessment findings support the diagnosis. Assessment findings help identify an individual’s literacy strengths and difficulties and guide recommendations for targeted intervention and educational support.

Speech Pathology Tasmania provides assessment and intervention to support children experiencing reading, spelling and literacy difficulties. Our speech pathologists can help identify the skills requiring support and develop targeted approaches to strengthen phonological awareness, decoding, spelling and reading development.

Dyslexia professional development for speech pathologists explores the relationship between spoken language, phonological processing, word recognition, orthographic mapping, reading and spelling. Training supports speech pathologists to strengthen their understanding of literacy difficulties and apply informed assessment and intervention approaches within their clinical practice.

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that primarily affects reading and spelling. Learners with dyslexia may experience difficulties recognising words, connecting letters with sounds, decoding unfamiliar words and spelling accurately. With appropriate, targeted instruction, they can develop stronger literacy skills.

Speech Pathology Tasmania provides reading and spelling support through trained Orton-Gillingham educators who use structured, multisensory literacy teaching. Individualised intervention targets the skills each learner needs to develop, including phonological awareness, decoding, word recognition and spelling. Our approach aims to help learners strengthen their literacy skills and build confidence in reading and writing.

Dyslexia training helps teachers understand the challenges students may experience with reading, spelling, decoding and written language. Speech Pathology Tasmania offers professional learning in dyslexia and structured literacy, including the Orton-Gillingham Language Approach, to support educators in identifying literacy needs and applying explicit, systematic teaching strategies.

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that primarily affects reading and spelling. It can make it difficult to recognise words accurately, connect letters with speech sounds, decode unfamiliar words and spell consistently. Dyslexia is not a reflection of intelligence, and children with dyslexia can develop strong literacy skills with appropriate, targeted support.

Dysphagia is the clinical term for difficulty with eating, drinking or swallowing. Dysphagia can affect the safety and efficiency of swallowing and may require assessment and management by a speech pathologist.

Speech Pathology Tasmania provides professional learning for early childhood educators and early learning teams focused on language-rich interactions, communication, early literacy and children’s developmental needs. Training supports educators to create language-rich environments, encourage vocabulary growth, strengthen relationships and embed communication and literacy opportunities into everyday routines and play.

Early intervention speech pathology provides assessment and support for babies and young children who have communication, speech, language, feeding or swallowing concerns. Early support can help families understand a child’s communication needs and develop useful strategies.

Early intervention speech pathology provides assessment and support for babies and young children who have communication, speech, language, feeding or swallowing concerns. Early support can help families understand a child’s communication needs and develop useful strategies.

Professional development training in English orthography examines the sound, spelling, structure and meaning of English words. This learning supports educators and speech pathologists to understand how phonemes, graphemes, syllables and morphemes work together, strengthening approaches to reading, spelling, vocabulary and structured literacy instruction.

Professional development in English orthography explores how the spelling system represents sounds, meaningful word parts and word origins. Participants develop a deeper understanding of the structure of English words and learn practical strategies to support decoding, spelling accuracy, vocabulary and written language through structured literacy instruction.

Expressive language is the ability to communicate thoughts, ideas, needs and information using language. It can include vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, storytelling and conversation.

An expressive language disorder involves difficulty expressing thoughts and ideas using spoken, written, signed or other forms of language.

Expressive language is the ability to communicate thoughts, needs and ideas using words, sentences and connected language. It involves selecting vocabulary, combining words, using correct grammar and creating sentences that convey meaning. Language Unleashed resources offer structured opportunities for children to practise vocabulary, conjunctions, verb forms and complex sentences. These activities can support speech pathologists, teachers and educators working to develop children’s spoken language, sentence formulation and communication skills.

Speech Pathology Tasmania provides external professional mentoring, supervision and clinical support for speech pathologists across Australia. Individual sessions offer opportunities for case discussion, clinical reasoning, reflective practice, literacy and dyslexia support, communication, specialist practice, career development and leadership. Sessions are tailored to each clinician’s professional goals and can be delivered face-to-face or online.

Speech Pathology Tasmania provides external professional mentoring for speech pathologists across Australia, offering one-on-one support tailored to individual clinical interests, professional goals and caseload needs. Mentoring can focus on complex cases, clinical reasoning, assessment, intervention, literacy, dyslexia, communication, specialist practice, career development and leadership. Sessions are available face-to-face or online.

External supervision provides speech pathologists with dedicated time to reflect on clinical practice, discuss challenging cases and consider professional and ethical responsibilities with an experienced clinician outside their immediate workplace. Speech Pathology Tasmania offers external supervision across Australia to support reflective practice, clinical decision-making, professional growth and ongoing development.

Feeding therapy supports children or adults who experience difficulties with eating, drinking or mealtimes. Depending on the person’s needs, therapy may address feeding skills, communication around food, mealtime participation or swallowing.

FEES is an instrumental swallowing assessment that uses a small flexible camera to examine the throat while a person eats and drinks. It may be recommended when more detailed information about swallowing is required.

Figure of Speech is Speech Pathology Tasmania’s collection of practical language and literacy resources for professionals, educators and families. The range includes downloadable toolkits, book companions and supplementary learning materials designed to support oral language, sentence development, comprehension, reading, spelling and written expression.

Fluency refers to the flow and smoothness of speech. Speech pathologists assess fluency when a person experiences stuttering or other interruptions to speech.

Following instructions and listening comprehension resources help children understand spoken information, process language and respond to directions. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s language resources support the development of vocabulary, sentence comprehension and understanding of increasingly complex spoken instructions, helping children participate more confidently at home and in educational settings.

Speech Pathology Tasmania offers a collection of free, downloadable handouts for parents, carers and educators looking for practical ways to support children’s communication, language, reading, spelling and learning. Written by speech pathologists, these helpful resources explain common communication and literacy challenges in clear, accessible language and provide strategies that can be used at home or in the classroom.

Topics include language disorders, phonological processing, phonics, vocabulary development, word-level reading and spelling, memory strategies, comprehension, pragmatics, stuttering and speech sound development. Whether you’re looking to better understand your child’s learning needs or find practical ideas to support their progress, our free parent and teacher handouts are a useful place to start.

Gestalt language processing is a term used to describe a way some children may acquire and develop language, including learning larger chunks or phrases before breaking them into smaller language units. Speech pathologists may consider a child’s individual language development when selecting appropriate therapy approaches.

Goal setting in speech pathology involves working with the person and, where appropriate, their family or support team to identify meaningful communication, feeding or swallowing goals.

Grammar intervention helps children understand and use the rules of language, including verb forms, plurals, conjunctions and sentence structure. Explicit teaching, modelling and repeated opportunities to practise can help children develop more accurate and flexible language skills. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Language Unleashed resources provide structured activities, visual supports and sentence models to assist with grammar intervention in speech pathology sessions and educational settings. They are particularly relevant for professionals supporting children with persistent language difficulties, including DLD.

Grammatical morphology refers to how words change to communicate grammatical information, including tense, number and other aspects of meaning. Examples include forming plurals, changing verbs to indicate past tense and learning irregular word forms such as child/children and go/went. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Language Unleashed resources include practical activities targeting irregular verbs and irregular plurals to help children practise word forms, strengthen grammatical accuracy and develop expressive language. These resources support speech pathologists and educators working on grammar, morphology and language development.

Hanen More Than Words® is a parent-focused program designed to help parents of autistic children and children with social communication differences support communication development through everyday interactions and responsive communication strategies. Contact Speech Pathology Tasmania for information about current program availability.

Icing on the Cake Book Companions are practical resources that accompany selected children’s books to support oral language development. Activities target vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar, following instructions, comprehension and more complex language skills. The companions provide parents, educators and speech pathologists with structured ways to extend language learning through shared reading and everyday activities.

Inclusive communication involves reducing barriers so that people can understand information, express themselves and participate in communication. This can involve adapting the environment, communication style, information format or available supports.

Professional development in inclusive education and communication helps educators and support staff better understand diverse learning needs and barriers to participation. Speech Pathology Tasmania offers tailored workshops that strengthen communication strategies, language and literacy support, and inclusive approaches to helping students engage in classroom learning.

Inferencing and verbal reasoning resources help children develop the ability to interpret information, make predictions, draw conclusions and explain their thinking. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s book companions include structured questioning and interactive activities that support language comprehension, problem-solving and higher-level thinking.

Intelligibility refers to how easily a person’s speech can be understood by another person. Speech intelligibility can be affected by speech sounds, rate, voice, motor speech difficulties and other factors.

Irregular plurals are nouns that change in ways that do not follow the usual rule of adding -s or -es. Examples include child/children, foot/feet and mouse/mice. Learning these word forms supports grammatical development, vocabulary and accurate sentence construction. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Language Unleashed resources and irregular plural flashcards provide practical visual activities to help children recognise, practise and use irregular plural nouns. They can support speech pathologists, teachers and educators working on morphology and expressive language skills.

Irregular plurals are nouns that change in ways that do not follow the usual rule of adding -s or -es. Examples include child/children, foot/feet and mouse/mice. Learning these word forms supports grammatical development, vocabulary and accurate sentence construction. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Language Unleashed resources and irregular plural flashcards provide practical visual activities to help children recognise, practise and use irregular plural nouns. They can support speech pathologists, teachers and educators working on morphology and expressive language skills.

Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the usual rules for changing tense. For example, go becomes went, run becomes ran and buy becomes bought. Children need opportunities to learn, remember and use these forms accurately in everyday sentences. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Language Unleashed resources include structured activities, visual prompts and irregular verb flashcards to support vocabulary learning, grammatical accuracy and sentence development. They are suitable for speech pathology sessions and targeted language learning with children who need additional support.

Justice Communications Australia provides professional learning focused on communication in justice-related settings. Training supports professionals working across correctional services, community services and related environments to better understand communication needs, language difficulties and barriers to effective communication. The aim is to strengthen communication practices and support more effective interactions with people involved in the justice system.

Justice Communications Australia (JCA) provides consultancy, training, education and mentoring focused on communication, literacy and the needs of people involved in the justice system. Rosalie Martin draws on her knowledge of criminology, communication and trauma-informed practice. JCA works with organisations and professionals to better understand complex communication needs, address barriers to participation and strengthen communication practices when working with vulnerable people and people experiencing disadvantage. Consultancy can support justice, corrections and community service settings seeking more effective, inclusive and communication-informed approaches.

Justice Communications Australia (JCA) provides communication-focused consultancy, training, mentoring and support relating to justice, corrections and community services. Its work addresses communication and literacy barriers affecting people involved in the justice system, as well as migrants and refugees learning English. JCA also supports professionals and organisations seeking to improve communication, participation, advocacy and inclusion.

Language is the system people use to understand and communicate meaning. It can involve spoken, written, signed and symbol-based communication.

A language assessment examines how a person understands and uses language. It may assess vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, comprehension, following instructions, storytelling and conversation.

Language delay is a general term used when a child’s language development is behind what would typically be expected for their age. A speech pathologist can assess a child’s individual communication profile and determine whether further support is appropriate.

Speech Pathology Tasmania shares educational information and practical resources on the connections between oral language, reading, spelling, writing and learning. These resources help parents and education professionals understand how language skills contribute to literacy development and how targeted support can assist children experiencing language or learning difficulties.

Speech Pathology Tasmania offers practical language intervention resources developed by speech pathologists for use with children in educational and clinical settings. Resources support vocabulary, grammar, sentence development, comprehension, phonological awareness and verbal reasoning, helping practitioners plan targeted language activities and support individual learning goals.

Language therapy supports a person’s ability to understand and use language. Therapy may target vocabulary, sentence construction, comprehension, storytelling, conversation, following instructions or other language skills.

Language therapy resources provide structured activities to support children’s understanding and use of spoken language. These may target vocabulary, grammar, conjunctions, sentence structure, complex sentences and other language skills. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Language Unleashed resources include practical tools, visual supports and targeted activities that speech pathologists, teachers and educators can use to support language intervention and classroom learning. They are suitable for professionals working with children who experience language difficulties, including challenges with expressive language, grammar and sentence construction.

Language Unleashed is a collection of practical language resources designed to support the development of syntax, grammar and discourse. These resources help speech pathologists, educators and other professionals target sentence structure, grammatical understanding, vocabulary and connected language to support oral language, comprehension and written expression.

Language-rich interactions professional development supports early childhood educators to create environments that encourage communication, vocabulary, comprehension and social connection. Training focuses on practical strategies that can be incorporated into everyday routines, play and learning to support children’s language development, engagement and wellbeing.

Tailored professional development workshops help schools and organisations strengthen their understanding of language, literacy and dyslexia. Sessions can be adapted to staff experience, workplace priorities and learning goals, with practical strategies that support reading, spelling, writing and language development. Workshops are available in person or online across Australia.

Linda McKillop is an experienced speech and language pathologist, clinical supervisor and nationally recognised Master Trainer in the Orton-Gillingham Language Approach. Through Speech Pathology Tasmania, Linda delivers Orton-Gillingham Basic Training, advanced morphology ,professional learning and personalised mentoring and supervision in language, literacy and dyslexia. She supports teachers, teacher assistants, speech pathologists, allied health professionals and families to strengthen structured literacy instruction, reading, spelling, writing and support for learners experiencing dyslexia and other literacy difficulties.

Literacy includes the skills needed to read and write. Speech pathologists may support aspects of literacy such as phonological awareness, language comprehension, spelling, reading and written language.

Literacy and language assessment resources help professionals identify children’s strengths and areas requiring further support. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s book companions include assessment tools that support monitoring of language comprehension and phonological awareness, helping practitioners and educators identify learning needs, establish goals and track progress.

Literacy mentoring provides teachers, teacher assistants and learning support staff with practical guidance in reading, spelling, structured literacy, phonological awareness and language development. Speech Pathology Tasmania offers tailored professional support to help education professionals discuss student learning needs, strengthen instructional approaches and build confidence supporting students who experience literacy difficulties.

A mealtime assessment looks at how a person eats and drinks and may consider swallowing, feeding skills, positioning, food and fluid textures, equipment and the overall mealtime environment.

Speech Pathology Tasmania offers personalised mentoring in language, literacy and dyslexia for speech pathologists and other professionals supporting literacy development. Sessions can explore structured literacy, the Orton-Gillingham Language Approach, reading and spelling difficulties, assessment, intervention planning and practical strategies to support learners with dyslexia and other literacy challenges.

Morphology is the study of how words are formed and how word parts change meaning or grammatical function. It includes skills such as understanding plural nouns, verb tense and other meaningful word endings. For example, children learn how cat becomes cats and how verb forms change to communicate when an action happened. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s language resources support selected morphological skills through activities targeting irregular plurals and irregular verbs, helping children strengthen vocabulary, grammar and expressive language.

Motor speech refers to the planning, coordination and movement involved in producing speech. Conditions such as dysarthria and apraxia of speech can affect motor speech.

Multimodal communication means using more than one way to communicate. For example, a person might combine speech, gestures, facial expressions, writing, pictures and AAC.

Narrative language resources support children to understand stories, sequence events, retell information and organise their ideas into meaningful spoken or written narratives. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s book companions provide story-based activities that encourage sequencing, vocabulary development, comprehension and expressive language.

Online professional development offers flexible access to learning opportunities for individuals and teams. Speech Pathology Tasmania provides online learning options that help professionals build knowledge, develop practical skills and access relevant training to support their workplace, educational or clinical practice.

Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Oral Language and Literature Toolkits support vocabulary, comprehension, oral language and literacy development through structured activities linked to literature. Resources such as the Sky Country and Sea Country toolkits provide practical learning opportunities for speech pathologists, teachers and other professionals supporting children’s language development.

Oral Language Development Toolkits provide practical resources for supporting vocabulary, grammar, sentence development, comprehension and broader language skills. They can be used by speech pathologists, educators and families to create purposeful language-learning opportunities and strengthen the foundations for reading, writing and classroom participation.

Oral language development involves learning to understand and use spoken words, sentences and connected ideas. Strong oral language skills support communication, classroom participation, learning and literacy development. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Language Unleashed resources provide practical activities to develop vocabulary, grammar, conjunctions and complex sentence construction. They are designed to assist speech pathologists, teachers and educators in supporting children’s spoken language skills through purposeful, structured practice.

Oral motor skills involve the movement and coordination of the lips, tongue, jaw and other structures used for activities such as speech, eating and drinking. Assessment is based on the individual’s presenting difficulties and clinical needs.

Orton-Gillingham Basic Training is an intensive five-day professional learning course that develops practical skills in structured literacy instruction. Participants learn how to teach the relationships between sounds, letters, syllables, word structure and meaning to strengthen reading, spelling and writing. Training is suitable for educators, allied health professionals and others supporting literacy development.

Speech Pathology Tasmania offers five-day Orton-Gillingham Basic Training for teachers, teacher assistants, literacy specialists, speech pathologists and other professionals supporting reading and spelling development. This practical professional development introduces the Orton-Gillingham Language Approach to structured literacy, including phonological awareness, phonics, syllables, morphology and language structure. Participants develop skills to support reading, spelling and writing, including for students with dyslexia and other literacy difficulties.

The Orton-Gillingham Language Approach is a structured, explicit and systematic approach to teaching language and literacy. Speech Pathology Tasmania delivers professional training for educators, speech pathologists, allied health professionals and parents, focusing on reading, spelling, writing, phonological awareness, phonics, morphology and language structure. Training supports learners with dyslexia and other literacy difficulties, as well as students who benefit from explicit, evidence-informed literacy instruction.

Orton-Gillingham mentoring provides ongoing professional support for teachers and educators applying structured literacy principles in their teaching. Speech Pathology Tasmania offers personalised mentoring in language, literacy and dyslexia to help educators discuss student learning needs, strengthen instructional strategies, plan targeted support and build confidence applying the Orton-Gillingham Language Approach in educational settings.

Speech Pathology Tasmania delivers Orton-Gillingham Language Approach training for teachers, literacy specialists, learning support educators and allied health professionals across Australia. This structured literacy professional development develops practical skills in explicit, systematic language and literacy instruction, supporting reading, spelling, writing and students with dyslexia and other literacy difficulties.

Orton-Gillingham (OG) is an explicit, systematic and multisensory approach to teaching reading, spelling and written language. It helps learners understand the relationships between sounds, letters, syllables, word parts and meaning through carefully sequenced instruction and regular practice.

Speech Pathology Tasmania’s trained Orton-Gillingham educators use this approach to provide individualised literacy tutoring based on each learner’s current skills and learning needs. OG tutoring can support children and adults who need additional help developing accurate reading, spelling, decoding and word recognition skills.

A paediatric speech pathologist works with babies, children and adolescents who have communication, speech, language, fluency, literacy, feeding or swallowing needs.

Phonological awareness is the ability to notice and work with the sound structure of spoken language. It includes skills such as identifying rhymes, syllables and individual sounds in words and is important for learning to read and spell.

Phonological awareness resources support children to recognise and manipulate the sounds in spoken language, including rhyme, syllables, alliteration, blending and segmentation. Speech Pathology Tasmania provides practical activities through its literacy resources and book companions to support foundational reading, spelling and early literacy development.

A phonological disorder is a speech sound difficulty involving the way a person organises and uses speech sounds. It can make speech difficult to understand.

Phonological therapy is speech therapy that targets difficulties with the organisation and use of speech sounds. A speech pathologist selects an approach based on the person’s age, speech profile and goals.

Pragmatics refers to the social use of communication. It includes skills such as taking turns, staying on topic, adjusting communication for different situations and understanding social aspects of communication.

Speech Pathology Tasmania offers private Orton-Gillingham Language Approach training for schools and organisations seeking tailored professional learning for their staff. Bringing training to your school allows teams to develop shared knowledge and practical skills in structured literacy, reading, spelling and dyslexia support, with delivery options designed around organisational needs.

A private speech pathologist provides speech pathology services outside the public health system, often through a private clinic, home visits, school visits or telehealth.

Speech Pathology Tasmania delivers tailored professional development training for schools, early childhood services, speech pathology teams, allied health professionals, community organisations, businesses and correctional services. Training covers literacy, dyslexia, language development, communication, inclusive practice, attachment-informed approaches and specialist professional learning, with flexible in-person and online delivery options across Australia.

Speech Pathology Tasmania provides professional learning in structured literacy, dyslexia, phonics, reading development and spelling instruction. Practical workshops help educators and allied health professionals understand literacy difficulties and apply explicit, systematic teaching strategies to support students with diverse learning needs.

Speech Pathology Tasmania and Justice Communications Australia support professional learning relevant to communication in justice and corrections settings. Training and consultancy can help professionals recognise communication barriers, understand language and literacy needs, and consider how communication affects participation, relationships and interactions with people involved in the justice system.

This professional learning workshop explores the 44 commonly taught speech sounds of English and their relationship to phonetics, phonology, phonemic awareness, reading and spelling. Participants develop practical knowledge of speech sounds and sound–letter relationships to support explicit phonics instruction and foundational literacy development.

Speech Pathology Tasmania offers individual professional mentoring and supervision for teachers, classroom teachers, literacy specialists and learning support educators. Sessions provide practical guidance in literacy instruction, dyslexia, developmental language disorder (DLD), dysgraphia, autism, communication and diverse learning needs. Educators can discuss student learning needs, explore teaching strategies, reflect on practice and develop targeted support plans. Mentoring is available face-to-face or online across Australia.

Professional mentoring for teachers, teacher assistants and education professionals provides individualised guidance in literacy instruction, dyslexia, reading and spelling, language development, communication, inclusive practice and diverse learning needs. Sessions help education professionals reflect on their practice, strengthen teaching strategies and build confidence supporting students in classroom and learning environments.

Speech Pathology Tasmania provides professional mentoring and supervision for teacher assistants (TAs), education support staff and learning support teams. Individual sessions build practical skills and confidence in supporting students with literacy, reading, spelling, phonological awareness, language, communication, dyslexia, autism and diverse developmental and learning needs. Mentoring helps teacher assistants develop targeted strategies, support individual students and small groups, and collaborate effectively with teachers and speech pathologists. Sessions are available face-to-face or online across Australia.

Quality literacy instruction uses explicit, systematic and evidence-informed approaches to teaching reading, spelling and writing. Speech Pathology Tasmania supports educators and allied health professionals through professional learning in structured literacy, phonological awareness, phonics, morphology and language development to strengthen literacy teaching and support learners with diverse needs.

Reading comprehension is the understanding of the meaning of what is being read. Comprehension relies on vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, background knowledge and the ability to understand connected language. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s language and literacy resources support educators and speech pathologists to develop these skills through targeted activities that strengthen oral language, reading comprehension and written expression.

Reflective practice is an important part of ongoing professional learning for speech pathologists and other professionals. Speech Pathology Tasmania offers external professional mentoring and supervision to support clinical reasoning, case discussion, professional development, problem-solving and reflection on practice. Sessions are tailored to individual goals and available face-to-face or online across Australia.

Speech Pathology Tasmania offers practical language and literacy resources, book companions, toolkits and educational materials for educators, speech pathologists, parents and carers. These resources support vocabulary, grammar, sentence development, following instructions, reading, spelling and communication through structured activities and everyday learning opportunities.

Responsive communication supports children’s language development through meaningful interactions, shared attention and opportunities to communicate. Speech Pathology Tasmania provides educational resources and professional learning that help adults understand language development and support communication, comprehension and participation across home, early learning and school environments.

Rosalie Martin is the Founder and Director of Speech Pathology Tasmania, a speech and language pathologist, criminologist, clinical supervisor and mentor. Her professional work spans communication, language and literacy, social justice, trauma-informed practice and professional development. Rosalie facilitates Circle of Security Classroom™ professional learning and language-rich interactions training for early childhood professionals and contributes to communication and literacy initiatives through Justice Communications Australia. Her work supports professionals and organisations seeking to strengthen communication, relationships, inclusion and understanding of complex communication needs.

Semantic language skills involve understanding and using word meanings. Difficulties may affect vocabulary, categorisation, describing, explaining or understanding relationships between words.

Sentence formulation is the ability to organise words into meaningful, grammatically correct sentences to express thoughts, ideas and information. Children may need support to develop sentence structure, use appropriate verb forms, connect ideas and produce increasingly complex sentences. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Language Unleashed resources provide structured activities, visual prompts and sentence models to support sentence formulation, expressive language and grammar development. These resources are suitable for speech pathologists, teachers and educators working with children who need support with spoken language and communication skills.

Sentence structure and grammar resources support children to understand and produce increasingly complex sentences. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Language Unleashed resources and book companions provide practical activities targeting syntax, grammatical structures, conjunctions and expressive language to support communication, reading comprehension and written expression.

Social communication is how people use communication when interacting with others. It includes conversation, understanding social cues, taking turns, adapting language to different situations and interpreting non-verbal communication.

Social communication disorder involves difficulties using communication appropriately and effectively in social situations.

Speech is the production of sounds used to communicate spoken words. Clear speech requires coordinated movement of the lips, tongue, jaw, palate and other structures.

A speech assessment examines how a person produces speech sounds and how clearly they can be understood. Depending on the person’s needs, assessment may consider articulation, phonology, motor speech, voice and fluency.

Speech delay is a general term often used when a child’s speech development is slower than expected for their age. A speech pathologist can assess speech sound development and determine whether intervention may be helpful.

A speech generating device (SGD) is an electronic communication device that produces spoken messages selected by the user. It is one type of AAC.

A speech pathologist is an allied health professional who assesses and supports people with communication and swallowing difficulties. Speech pathologists work with children and adults across settings including private practice, schools, hospitals, aged care and community services.

Speech pathology is the profession concerned with assessing and supporting communication and swallowing. It can include speech therapy, language therapy, fluency therapy, voice therapy, AAC support, feeding and swallowing management and literacy support.

Clinical supervision and professional development help speech pathologists reflect on their practice, strengthen clinical decision-making and continue developing their professional skills. Speech Pathology Tasmania offers external mentoring and supervision Australia-wide. Sessions are tailored to individual clinicians, including support with assessment, intervention, complex presentations, clinical documentation and ongoing learning across a range of speech pathology practice areas.

A speech sound disorder occurs when a person has difficulty producing or using speech sounds. It may involve articulation, phonological patterns or other speech sound difficulties.

Speech therapy is a commonly used term for treatment provided by a speech pathologist. It may address speech sounds, language, fluency, voice, social communication, literacy, communication or swallowing.

Structured language intervention involves planned teaching, modelling and practice to develop specific language skills. Depending on a child’s needs, intervention may target vocabulary, grammar, conjunctions, irregular verbs, irregular plurals and complex sentence construction. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Language Unleashed resources provide targeted activities and visual supports to help children practise and develop these skills. They can be used by speech pathologists, teachers and educators to support children with language learning difficulties, including Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), as part of an individualised approach to language development.

Structured literacy professional development explores explicit and systematic approaches to teaching reading, spelling and writing. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s training supports educators, speech pathologists and allied health professionals to develop practical strategies for phonological awareness, phonics, decoding, spelling, morphology and literacy intervention.

Structured literacy training helps teachers develop a deeper understanding of how reading and spelling skills are taught through explicit, systematic and cumulative instruction. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Orton-Gillingham Language Approach training explores phonological awareness, phonics, syllables, morphology, word structure and meaning, equipping educators with practical strategies to support literacy development and struggling readers.

Stuttering involves interruptions to the flow of speech. These may include repetitions, prolongations or blocks. Stuttering can vary between people and may change depending on the situation.

Stuttering therapy provides support for people who stutter. Therapy may focus on communication confidence, participation, managing the impact of stuttering and developing strategies according to the person’s individual goals.

A swallowing assessment evaluates how safely and effectively a person eats and drinks. Depending on the situation, a speech pathologist may assess swallowing clinically and recommend further instrumental assessment.

Swallowing therapy is treatment and management for people experiencing swallowing difficulties. It may include exercises, strategies, positioning, food or fluid modifications and recommendations for safer and more effective eating and drinking.

Syntax refers to the rules governing how words are arranged to form meaningful phrases and sentences. Developing syntax helps children produce clear, grammatically accurate sentences and communicate increasingly complex ideas. Language Unleashed resources support sentence construction through structured practice with conjunctions, verbs and complex sentence forms. These practical resources can be used by speech pathologists and educators to support expressive language, grammar and communication skills in children with language learning difficulties.

Telehealth speech pathology provides speech pathology assessment, therapy or consultation remotely using video or other communication technology. Whether telehealth is appropriate depends on the person’s needs and the type of assessment or therapy required.

Total communication is an approach that uses multiple communication methods to support understanding and expression. Depending on the person, this may include speech, signs, gestures, pictures, writing and AAC.

Trauma-informed communication professional learning explores how relationships, emotional safety and communication needs can influence participation and engagement. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s relevant professional learning supports educators and organisations to consider responsive communication, emotional needs and inclusive practices in their work with children and vulnerable people.

A videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) is an instrumental assessment that uses X-ray video to examine swallowing. It can provide detailed information about what happens during different stages of a swallow.

Vocabulary development resources help children understand, learn and use new words across spoken language, reading and writing. Speech Pathology Tasmania’s language and literacy resources include targeted vocabulary activities, word-learning strategies and story-based learning opportunities to strengthen expressive language, comprehension and classroom participation.

Voice is the sound produced by the vocal folds and shaped by the structures of the throat, mouth and nose. Voice difficulties can affect pitch, loudness, quality or the ability to use the voice comfortably.

Voice therapy is speech pathology treatment for people experiencing voice difficulties. Therapy may address vocal habits, voice production, vocal health and techniques for using the voice more effectively.

Word-finding difficulties can affect a child’s ability to retrieve and use familiar words during conversation, classroom activities and written tasks. Speech Pathology Tasmania provides educational information and language resources to help adults understand vocabulary development and support children’s word knowledge, expressive language and communication.

Tailored workshops help organisations strengthen workplace communication, collaboration and team development. The PD workshops can address communication strategies, professional relationships, team dynamics and shared approaches to workplace challenges. Training can be delivered face-to-face or online and adapted to organisational and staff needs.

Written language involves communicating through reading and writing. Speech pathologists may support written language skills including spelling, sentence construction, comprehension and written expression.