Paediatric Specialist Clinic

Early Start Speech Pathology offers a friendly and child focused service to families in the Newcastle and Maitland areas. The service also offers Pre-School and school based services in the Maitland and Taree/Forster areas.The service focus is early identification and intervention: specialising in assessment and therapy for toddlers, pre-schoolers, and school aged children up to 8 years. A Pre-school and school screening service is also offered.

The managing Speech Pathologist, Rachel Taylor-Notley, graduated from Newcastle University in 2000 and has worked with children ever since. Rachel has experience working with a broad range of childhood speech and language disorders including stuttering, dyspraxia, voice disorders, Autism, and learning difficulties. Rachel has worked in Community Health, Early Intervention, School and Preschool settings. Rachel has also had some training in DIR/ Floortime therapy for Autism: see www.floortime.org for more information on this approach.

Rachel is a practising member of Speech Pathology Australia and is a registered Medicare and Private Health Fund Provider. Medicare and private health fund rebates are available for elligible clients (see fee schedule below). Children with chronic or complex conditions (eg. hearing difficulties,learning difficulties, developmental delay, Autism) can be referred by their GP on a care plan "The Enhanced Primary Care Program" (EPC). This program gives the child a Medicare rebate for up to 5 visits. The new Autism initiative means that referral by a Paediatrician or Psychiatrist will allow children in the Autism Spectrum to access a Medicare rebate for up to 4 assessment and 20 therapy visits to a Speech Pathologist (see Medicare Website).

Forster Clinic: 97-99 Macintosh St Forster NSW 2428 (Kairos Wellness Centre)

Newcastle Clinic: 155 Nelson St Wallsend NSW 2287

All referrals/ enquiries to Rachel: 0439368299