In combination with hearing technology such as hearing aids or cochlear implants, this therapy supports a child’s natural development across listening, language, speech, literacy, cognition, and social skills.
Our therapists work with children and their families to lay the foundation for effective communication, academic achievement, and meaningful social connections. We work closely with our paediatric audiologists to ensure access to optimal hearing technology and to maintain devices, so they are fitted correctly and functioning at their best.
The LSL approach is family-centred and engaging, creating a supportive environment where children are encouraged to listen, understand, and express themselves with confidence.
Therapy is delivered through personalised one-on-one sessions, offered both in-centre and via telehealth. During these sessions, parents are guided in using a variety of age-appropriate strategies to help their children develop listening and spoken language skills. These strategies, such as interactive play, shared book reading, and craft activities, are designed to be easily incorporated into everyday home routines, making learning a natural part of daily life.
Our goal is to help each child reach developmental milestones on par with their typically hearing peers, fostering confidence and full participation in the community around them.
Our Early Intervention program is delivered by a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist and provides tailored support through a range of service options, including:
Regular speech therapy sessions:
Weekly, fortnightly, or monthly in-centre or telepractice (online) lesson options.
Ongoing monitoring and assessment:
Using tools such as the Seven Sound Test, otoscopy, and tympanometry.
Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Visits:
Visits to the child’s daycare, kindergarten, or school.
Group Social Skills programs:
To promote peer mentoring, resilience, and wellbeing.
Support from a multidisciplinary team:
Including audiologists, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists.
Regular parent information webinars:
To support family involvement and understanding.
Intensive camps:
For families living in rural and remote locations.
For children born deaf or hard of hearing, the early years are critical to develop communication and language skills. For families seeking a listening and spoken language outcome for their child, providing timely access to sound, in combination with commencing intensive evidence-based early intervention, is crucial.
A Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) Specialist is a certified professional, typically a speech pathologist, audiologist, or educator, who has completed advanced training to work with children with hearing loss and their families.
The primary focus of an LSL Specialist is to support children with hearing loss to develop listening and speaking skills, rather than communicating with sign language or other visual communication methods.
LSL Specialists use a specific, evidence-based approach known as Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) therapy, which builds spoken language through consistent auditory input, such as hearing aids or cochlear implants.
There are two types of LSLS certifications:
LSLS Certified Auditory-Verbal Educator (LSLS Cert. AVEd), typically for educators.
Hear and Say provides school visits for eligible children with hearing loss enrolled in Queensland state, Catholic, and independent schools. This free service is delivered through the Special Disability School Support (SDSS) program.
As part of our Early Intervention Listening and Spoken Language and Audiology programs, these visits offer tailored information and specialist support for both educators and students, particularly during the transition to school.
