Supporting people with disability to achieve their NDIS goals

To mark Speech Pathology week (21 – 27 August), we chatted to Madeleine who is a Team Leader, Speech Pathologist at Yooralla to hear how she collaborates with and supports people with disability to achieve their NDIS goals.

• How long have you worked as a Speech Pathologist at Yooralla?  

I’ve been a speech pathologist at Yooralla for nearly 3 years, time has absolutely flown by!

• What’s the most rewarding part of your job? 

I find my job very rewarding and the people I work with – clients and colleagues alike – are without doubt the main reason I love working for Yooralla. I recently supported a young, non-speaking child and her family to find a communication system that could give her a voice for the first time in her life. In my role as her speech pathologist, I supported the family to consider all their communication options, organised a communication device trial and wrote a supporting application which is now being processed by the NDIS. It’s a true honour to support children to find their voice and the tools to express their interests, opinions, thoughts, wants and needs.

• What is the best part of working as a team at Yooralla? 

I’m incredibly grateful to work alongside a large team of brilliant Allied Health professionals who are all generous in sharing their time and knowledge. Not only do we share our clinical knowledge and expertise, but we celebrate the successes, and support each other through the challenges.

• How can Speech Pathologists help people with disability achieve their NDIS goals? 

The speechies at Yooralla are a passionate bunch, committed to advocating with and for people with disabilities to improve their inclusion and participation in everyday life. We do this by building strong, collaborative and respectful working relationships with our clients and their support networks. I’m regularly supporting my clients to achieve their communication, language, swallowing, and social inclusion NDIS goals.

• Name three tips for someone who wants to work as a Speech Pathologist or sign up to the Return to Practice program?  

Any of the speech pathologists at Yooralla would be very happy to chat to anyone considering or looking to re-enter the profession. If you’re a passionate, hard-working person who wants to works in a large, supportive team then I think you’d be a perfect fit!

Yooralla has full time and part time Speech Pathology roles currently available across Victoria. For details visit https://jobs.yooralla.com.au/en/listing/

Are you an experienced Speech Pathologist looking to re-enter the profession after taking a career break? Yooralla is providing the unique opportunity for Speech Pathologists to be supported to return to the profession by offering employment (3 days minimum) while providing supported clinical practice and supervision. Find out more here.