Yes, we do! Telehealth is a wonderful tool, but we do find that it lends itself to some situations better than others. In particular, we find that LSVT, Lidcombe program (stuttering) and planning/feedback sessions work extremely well via telehealth. We may also offer remote sessions for other services on a case by case basis.

Our referral prioritisation process takes into account three primary elements;

Order of referral: When was the child or adult registered on our waiting list?

Level of urgency: How urgent is the referral? How significant is the impact of the difficulty on the individual and family’s quality of life and ability to function?

Our clinical capacity: Do we have the skills to provide the appropriate level of care for the adult or child’s needs? Do we have the time in our clinical schedule to provide the appropriate level of intensity in order to achieve the therapy goals? Please keep in mind that different areas of need require varying intensities of intervention, and our while our skillsets overlap, each of our clinicians have areas of speciality. These elements will therefore also inform our capacity to take on new clients.

This means that clients will not always be seen strictly in the order that they are referred. However, please rest assured that we are very aware of how stressful it can be to wait to be seen, and we always endeavour to make this process as speedy and painless as possible.

As discussed above, this will vary based on how the referral is prioritised; however, at present we can advise that the average waiting time is 1-2 weeks depending on your availability.

Yes. Parents must be in attendance for all sessions with their child. Our therapy sessions are designed to not only provide direct face to face time with our clinicians, but also to educate parents on how to continue the work that we do in clinic at home. This is vital to ensure that therapy goals are met through intensity and repetition.

It is hugely important that we understand you or your child’s needs thoroughly before we meet you, so that we can adequately plan for our session and make every minute count. We have you fill in forms ahead of time both to make sure that we have all of the information that we need, and to keep the costs of sessions down. We would much prefer that you take the time to provide information before we see you so that we can spend our time together really delving into how we can best help, rather than filling in paperwork.

We are fully transparent about our pricing.

It is important to us that there are never any nasty surprises when it comes to how much you can expect to pay for our services, and we are always happy to discuss our expectations for each adult or child’s assessment and therapy journey from the outset. While what is required may be subject to change depending on the results of our initial assessment sessions and progress in therapy, we will always communicate openly and work with individuals or parents to find a structure that meets the mutually agreed goals and the individual or family’s capacity.

You can find our full fee schedule on our “Fees” page. Our prices are benchmarked against current NDIS pricing, which we have found is the industry standard rate for private speech pathology services.

We understand that life happens, and sometimes you will need to reschedule or cancel an appointment.

Cancellations made with more than 24 hours' notice before your appointment will not result in any fees.

If you cancel your appointment within 24 hours but more than 4 hours before the scheduled time, there will be a charge of 50% of the original fee.

For cancellations made within 4 hours of the appointment time or in cases of non-attendance, a 100% fee will be charged.

Please be aware that if you do not respond to an appointment reminder, the booking will remain scheduled, and you may be subject to a non-attendance charge.

On a case by case basis, we may also provide Telehealth sessions as an alternative in case you are too unwell to attend in person.

This assessment session will inform the path that our therapy journey will take, and is a vital part of ensuring that you get the most out of your time with us for all subsequent sessions. As detailed in our “Fees” section, the cost of the initial session also factors in the time taken by our clinicians to analyse assessment results and come up with a personalised plan.

Not all clients will require a formal report, which is why we have chosen to make them an optional service. You may wish to request a report to share with your doctor, other allied health provider, daycare, school, or if your sessions are funded by a service that requires a report (e.g. the NDIS). We will tailor your report to fit your needs, and we will never upsell you on a report that you do not need.

This will vary hugely from client to client depending on your needs, and sometimes this question is answered more easily than others! Some programs are more rigid / prescriptive than others, and we can provide you with a solid estimate (e.g. LSVT, Lidcombe Program for stuttering). Other difficulties require more of an adaptive approach in order to gauge how long therapy will be required. We are always happy to keep this discussion open, and work with you to set a pace that works for your individual needs.

Not yet, but watch this space! As our client base grows, we hope to begin group therapy sessions targeting specific areas of need.

Depending on the area of need, agreed upon therapy goals, and capacity of the individual or family, clinicians may design an individualised home program in order to maximise therapy outcomes. However, please note that this may not be suitable for all clients due to a range of factors.

We only offer home programs for existing clients, as we are unable to create a program for an adult or child without a thorough assessment process and understanding of their individual needs.

This will depend on your individual policy and level of cover. However, we can provide you with an invoice to submit to your insurer in order to recover some costs if Speech Pathology is part of your Extras cover.

We work with the following funding programs:

Medicare: chronic disease management program, follow up allied health services for people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, and better start for children with disabilities program.

NDIS: self managed plans only

Private health: per your fund’s policy

We have deep respect for clinicians that work with people who live with disabilities across the lifespan; however, our clinicians do not have specialised training in this area. We would consider it to be unethical for us to see clients who live with complex disabilities, as we do not have the requisite skill sets to provide the standard of care that they deserve.

In order to find a Speech Pathologist who specialises in disability services, we recommend using the “Find a Speech Pathologist” directory on the Speech Pathology Australia website. Clinicians can be filtered by location, age of client, and area of practice.

All sessions are completely confidential in accordance with our privacy policy; please see the “Policies” tab for more details.

At times, Sprout & Bloom clinicians may ask each other to consult on individual clients in order to make sure that we are providing you with the best care possible. However, these consults remain strictly confidential between clinicians and are conducted via secure platforms only.

You are welcome to call or email at us at any time! We are always eager to improve and would love to hear from you.

You can also fill out our general enquiry form on the “Contact” tab.