Supporting Communication Beyond Speech in Wyndham
Does your child use gestures, pictures, or a device to communicate — or do you think they might benefit from doing so? Is your child’s speech difficult to understand, limited, or absent? These are common reasons families seek AAC support.
Paul Riley from Southern Cross Speech Pathology provides mobile AAC assessment and therapy for people of all ages across Wyndham, visiting your home, your child’s school, or another convenient location across Werribee, Point Cook, Hoppers Crossing, Tarneit, Truganina, Wyndham Vale, Manor Lakes and Williams Landing.
What Is AAC?
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) refers to any method of communicating that supports or replaces spoken speech. AAC is not a last resort — it is a proven approach that can reduce frustration, build language skills, and give people a reliable voice.
AAC includes a wide range of tools and strategies:
Unaided AAC — communication that doesn’t require any equipment, such as gestures, sign language, and facial expressions.
Aided AAC — communication that uses external tools, such as picture boards, communication books, or speech-generating devices (SGDs), including apps on tablets.
Who Can Benefit from AAC?
AAC can support people of all ages with a wide range of conditions, including autism, cerebral palsy, childhood apraxia of speech, and intellectual disability. AAC is appropriate at any age and any stage — there is no prerequisite level of ability required to begin.
AAC and Multilingual Families
AAC can be designed to reflect a person’s home language or languages. Paul has extensive experience working with culturally and linguistically diverse families across Wyndham and can help ensure that AAC supports communication in the languages that matter most to your family.
What Does AAC Assessment and Therapy Look Like?
An AAC assessment looks at how a person currently communicates, what their needs and goals are, and which tools and strategies are the best fit. Therapy focuses on building confidence and competence with AAC — for the person using it and for the family and support network around them. Paul works collaboratively with families, providing strategies you can use at home between sessions to support progress.
Book an AAC Assessment in Wyndham
Paul currently has immediate availability across Wyndham. Call 0494 102 108 or email info@southerncrossspeech.com.au to book today.