Do dummies affect speech development? Exactly how much should we be talking and reading to our babies? Which speech issues will resolve themselves and when should we be concerned?  

Kate and Amelia get a wealth of practical advice from Helen Smith, Senior Speech Pathologist at Children’s Health Queensland.  

Helen has over two decades of experience as a speech pathologist working in both health and educational settings. She has published research on supportive environments for language development and sharing universal messages with families. And she speaks from personal experience as a mother of four! 

All the online speech pathology resources Helen mentioned:  

Words Grow Minds family resources 

Read and Talk to Learn (RATTL) 

Communication milestones – Speech Pathology Australia 

First 5 Forever (QLD) 

Waiting for speech pathology (NSW Health) 

Thanks for listening to the Words Grow Minds Parent Podcast! We love hearing from you, so please subscribe, rate and review this episode. 

For tools and tips to support your child’s development visit wordsgrowminds.org.au and follow us on Facebook and Instagram 

Thanks to PodBooth for producing this episode. 

We acknowledge this land that we record on as the traditional lands for the Kaurna people and that we respect their spiritual relationship with Country. We acknowledge the Kaurna people, as the custodians of the Adelaide region and that their cultural and heritage beliefs are still as important to the living First Nations people today. We extend this respect to the cultural authority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from other areas of Australia and elders past, present and emerging.

Episode ID: 1000706531618

GUID: adminaey.podbean.com/3563b743-2b74-37a7-9db8-fef819e16765

Release Date: 06/05/2025, 20:31:00