Why a Speech therapist Is the Best Choice for Supporting Your Child’s Literacy

Many parents may not be aware, but a Speech Pathologist is one of the most qualified professionals to support children who are struggling with literacy skills. Whether it’s reading, spelling, writing, or reading comprehension, Speech Pathologists are trained in assessing and supporting the foundational skills required to become confident and capable readers and writers.

If your child is having difficulty learning to read, spelling accurately, or understanding what they’ve read, working with a Speech Pathologist with expertise in literacy intervention could be the key to helping them thrive.

What Is Literacy, and Why Do Some Children Struggle?

Literacy (reading and spelling) involves a wide range of skills, including:

• Phonological awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words),
• Blending for reading (sounding out written words),
• Segmenting for spelling
• Reading comprehension (understanding what’s been read)
• Written expression (getting ideas down on paper)

For many children, one or more of these areas can be a challenge, especially if there are underlying difficulties with language development, memory, or attention. Some children may even meet the criteria for a diagnosis of Dyslexia, a specific learning difficulty that affects reading and spelling.

Why Choose a Speech therapist for Literacy Support?

Speech Pathologists are university-qualified professionals who understand how children learn to speak, listen, read and write. They don’t just support speech delays; they are experts in language and literacy development and how the two are deeply connected.

A Speech Pathologist trained in literacy intervention will be able to:

Assess your child’s strengths and challenges across reading, spelling, and writing.
Diagnose literacy-related difficulties, including Dyslexia.
Deliver evidence-based intervention, tailored to your child’s individual needs.
Speech pathology intervention is grounded in how the brain processes language. That means the therapy your child receives is holistic, targeting the root of the problem and not just the symptoms.

Skills Speech therapists Target in Literacy Intervention

A Speech Pathologist can work with your child on a wide range of essential literacy skills, including:

Blending: the skill used for reading: putting sounds together to form words (e.g. /c/ /a/ /t/ → "cat").

Segmenting: the skill used for spelling: breaking down words into individual sounds to write them (e.g. "ship" → /sh/ /i/ /p/).

Letter-sound correspondences: understanding which letters make what sounds, including:

• Basic consonants (e.g. ‘p’, ‘t’, ‘c’)
• Short vowels (e.g. ‘a’ as in apple, ‘e’ as in egg)
• Consonant digraphs (e.g. ‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘th’)
• Vowel digraphs (e.g. ‘oo’, ‘ai’, ‘oy’)

Morphological awareness: teaching children to recognise parts of words like prefixes and suffixes (e.g. ‘un-’, ‘-ing’, ‘-ed’) that can help with spelling and comprehension.

Reading comprehension: developing strategies such as:

• Inferencing (reading between the lines)
• Summarising
• Predicting
• Questioning and clarifying information in texts

Text type knowledge: helping children understand the structure and language features of different text types used across the school curriculum, including:

• Narratives (stories)
• Expository texts (information reports)
• Persuasive texts (arguments and opinion writing)

Literacy and Language Go Hand in Hand

What sets Speech Pathologists apart from many other literacy providers is their expertise in language development. If your child is struggling with vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, or understanding spoken directions, these difficulties can also impact their literacy.

A Speech Pathologist can support:

• Vocabulary development: helping children understand and use age-appropriate words
• Grammar: building correct sentence structure
• Inferencing and reasoning: skills needed for understanding both spoken and written language
• Narrative skills: telling and retelling stories in sequence with clear ideas

By working with a Speech Pathologist, your child can receive support for both oral and written language skills, ensuring that no part of their learning is left behind.

What About Speech Sounds and Literacy?

If your child has trouble saying certain sounds, it may also be affecting how they process those sounds when learning to read or spell. For example, a child who says “tat” instead of “cat” might struggle to hear or write the correct initial sound.

Speech Pathologists are trained to address:

• Speech sound disorders
• Phonological processing issues
• Auditory discrimination (hearing differences between similar sounds)

Treating these difficulties alongside literacy ensures that therapy is efficient, integrated, and functional.

Early Support = Better Outcomes

If you’re concerned about your child’s reading, spelling, or writing skills, early intervention is key. The sooner literacy challenges are identified and supported, the more likely your child is to develop confidence and success in their learning journey.

Speech Pathologists can work with children from preschool age through to high school, using systematic, evidence-based approaches to build lasting skills and independence.

Final Thoughts

Helping your child with reading and writing difficulties can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone. A Speech Pathologist offers a comprehensive, compassionate, and evidence-based approach that considers all the underlying factors that may be contributing to your child’s struggles.

If you’re wondering whether your child might benefit from literacy support, don’t wait. Reach out to a qualified Speech Pathologist to organise an assessment and get the help your child needs to succeed.

Why a Speech Pathologist Is the Go-To Professional for Literacy Support

Many parents may not be aware, but a Speech Pathologist is the best option if your child is struggling with their literacy skills (reading and reading comprehension, spelling and writing) and needs additional support. Speech Pathologists are trained and qualified to assess literacy skills, as well as diagnose Dyslexia, as well as provide evidence-based intervention to support your child with all aspects of their literacy.