Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy for Oakleigh Families
Kids Connect Therapy is east of Oakleigh at Unit 4, 12 Compark Circuit, Mulgrave — an easy run along Ferntree Gully Road or the Princes Highway.
Join our waitlist Call (03) 9807 1114
When reading isn't clicking
A large share of the Oakleigh families we work with come to us not in the early years, but in Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 — when reading starts to matter and it becomes clear that something isn't landing.
Reading difficulty is not a matter of effort, and it is very rarely a matter of intelligence. It usually comes down to specific underlying skills: hearing and manipulating the sounds in words, connecting sounds to letters reliably, holding a sentence in mind while decoding it, and building a mental picture of what has been read.
Our speech pathologists are trained in the Lindamood-Bell programs:
- LiPS™ — for children who struggle to hear and sequence sounds within words, which is the foundation of decoding
- Seeing Stars® — for children who can decode but read slowly and effortfully, and whose spelling doesn't stick
- Visualizing and Verbalizing® — for children who read fluently but can't tell you what they just read
We assess to work out which of these is the actual problem, rather than doing more of the reading practice that hasn't worked so far.
Speech pathology at Kids Connect →
Handwriting, and the physical side of school
Reading is half the story. Our occupational therapists work on the physical and organisational skills that a classroom quietly demands — pencil grip and handwriting endurance, scissor skills, sitting and attending, organising a desk and a bag, coping with the noise of a room with twenty-five other children in it.
Children who are working hard just to stay regulated in a classroom have very little capacity left for learning. Often the fastest route to better school outcomes is not more academic support.
Occupational therapy at Kids Connect →
Working with grandparents and extended family
Oakleigh has a lot of families where grandparents do school pick-up, or where three generations are actively involved in raising a child. That's a genuine asset — the more consistent adults doing the same things, the faster progress comes.
Grandparents, aunts, uncles and carers are welcome in sessions. If the person doing after-school care is the one who'll be practising the home program, they should be in the room. Interpreters are welcome at no cost to you, which matters where the primary carer is more comfortable in Greek, Italian, Mandarin or another language.
What else we help with
Autism and neurodevelopmental differences · speech and language delay · speech sounds · sensory processing and regulation · social communication and friendships · school readiness.
Autism therapy → · Everything we help with → · Group programs →
Getting here from Oakleigh
East along Ferntree Gully Road or the Princes Highway, then into the Compark Circuit precinct off Springvale Road. Free on-site parking.
Unit 4, 12 Compark Circuit, Mulgrave VIC 3170 · 8:30am–5:00pm Mon–Sat · Directions →
Questions from Oakleigh families
The school says my child will catch up. Should I wait?
Some children do. But reading difficulties that persist past mid-Year 1 usually need specific intervention, and the gap tends to widen rather than close. An assessment will tell you which situation you're in.
Is this dyslexia?
We don't diagnose dyslexia, but we assess the underlying skills that dyslexia affects, and the intervention is the same either way. We can support a formal assessment if you want one.
Can my child's grandparent bring them?
Absolutely, and we'd encourage it if they're the one doing the home practice.
Also serving
Mulgrave · Clayton · Notting Hill · Glen Waverley
