In her 10th year as a resident and seventh as a speech pathologist in Yass Valley, Nicole Lobsey continues to reduce the stigma associated with speech-development needs among children.
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Managing her own practice to serve the valley, Ms Lobsey said the stigma was still prominent.
“I think we’re all guilty of that – of judging a child who’s having a tantrum. I see every behaviour as communication.
“There are no naughty kids or stubborn ones,” Ms Lobsey said.
She said it was up to adults to determine the reasons for those communication behaviours rather than merely pointing out the perceived problems.
“Based on my work, if children are not doing well, then there’s a reason why.
“And as adults, it’s our responsibilities to step in and help out rather expect the child to fix the behaviours themselves,” she said.
“It’s the ‘why’ of an issue.”
Ms Lobsey graduated from the University of Newcastle with qualification in speech pathology.
She worked in retail and administration before setting up Yass Valley Speech Pathology.
The decision to start her own practice was “because there wasn’t a speech centre here – I did those jobs first then started it to help a couple of friends’ kids,” Ms Lobsey said.
“Then it gradually grew.”
In 2017, she was certified in the teaching of reading and spelling using the linguistic-phonics programme ‘Sounds-Write’.
As well, she completed a 28-hour foundation course in orofacial myology in 2016.
Love in helping children
While her studies mean she can help both adults and children, she focuses on helping the latter with general speech and language disorders.
“I love being able to change how everyone sees children. It’s about making everyone else understand the way children think,” she said.
“It’s also about teaching children to be proud about how their brain works and not think that it’s anything bad but helping them find what they’re really good at.”
I love being able to change how everyone sees children. It’s about making everyone else understand the way children think.
- Nicole Lobsey, Yass Valley speech pathologist
Her work focuses on literacy development, stuttering and fluency.
Challenges and highlights
Asked about the challenges, she said it was working on her own.
“I like the flexibility but it can get isolating. I’ve just got to make sure I have connections with other speech pathologists around the region,” she said.
Highlights of her career were mainly the little things, she said.
“When a child says their first word, tries a new food for the first time, or picks up a book to read,” she said.
The next steps ahead
Looking to the future, she hopes to grow her practice into a hub with local occupational therapist Susan Pollack, as well as continuing to reduce the stigma.
“To have an allied health hub covering the different and various health issues among children,” she said.
“That’s a long-term plan. Probably when our kids finish school.”
Ms Lobsey is a member of Speech Pathology Australia.
- More about Yass Valley Speech Pathology on Facebook: goo.gl/y3Y2Ws.