At Star Speech Pathology, your assessment and/or therapy journey will start with an appointment that we call an initial consultation.

An initial consultation, is an information-gathering session in which we aim to better understand your goals and relevant background information.

If you are a parent/guardian seeking supports for a child then we will ask information related to their goals and developmental history.

What will you ask me?

If you are seeking supports for yourself, we might ask you…

• Questions related to your everyday life e.g., your living situation, what your week usually looks like, if you speak any languages other than English.
• Questions related to your specific concern e.g., details of your experience, your priorities for therapy, whether there has been any change over time.
• Questions related to relevant medical history e.g., relevant diagnoses, relevant medications.
• Questions related to your other supports e.g., other therapies you are engaged with, other formal and informal supports.

If you are seeking support for a child, we might also ask you…

• Questions related to the child’s developmental history e.g., when they started walking and talking.
• Questions related to their birth and early childhood.

Why do you need to ask all these questions?

In order to make clinical decisions about assessment and therapy, it is important that we understand the big picture of your life/your child’s life. Decisions about what assessments and/or therapies we recommend may depend on things like:

• Who else is available to support you/your child.
• You/your child’s medical and developmental history.
• Your priorities.

What if I don’t want to talk about something?

What you discuss in your initial consultation is completely in your control. Whilst this information can be very helpful for us, we want you to be comfortable above all else. You do not need to answer any questions you are uncomfortable answering and do not need to share anything with us that you do not wish to share. You will still receive high quality supports and our best clinical decision-making.

What happens with the information that I share?

The information that you share is securely stored in our clinic system. As per our privacy policy, we do not share any of your information with anyone unless you ask us to.