Growing Confidence in Communication and Play 

Three-year-old Glen loves playing basketball, playing outdoors, swimming and music. Although he was a happy child, Glen’s family worried about how he struggled to express his wants and needs. Two years ago, before connecting with Everyday Independence, Glen had minimal language skills, spending his days babbling.

His family wanted him to become a confident communicator, able to share what he wants and put sentences together. They also hoped he could improve his play skills and physical abilities.

When Glen’s parents reached out for early childhood supports (early childhood intervention services), Everyday Independence connected them with Bianca, an early childhood key worker.

After her initial visit, Bianca immediately understood what Glen and his family wanted to achieve.

Glen had an external speech pathologist, so Bianca arranged an Everyday Independence habit coach to help him practise the new skills he learned between these therapy sessions.

Bianca worked on shifting the family’s view of communication and helped them understand what was preventing Glen from communicating with confidence. Bianca also helped his family create a supportive environment where he could use his everyday routine to practise his speech.

Bianca also introduced techniques for language development, encouraged functional play, and immersed Glen in hands-on play activities like play dough, building blocks and stories. Glen’s habit coach helped him build new habits at home, using modelling play, turn taking and meaningful play to improve his interactions with family members.

Glen Gets Talking and Moving

When Bianca started working with Glen, he couldn’t walk and could only stand and sit with support. But with his team’s support and targeted therapy approaches, he can now move around home and other places like the local shopping centre and the park. He can run, walk and climb with other kids of his own age!

Glen, who had limited exposure to play, now loves playing with Mum and Dad. He learns self-care through role playing and caring for his doll ‘baby Jack Jack’. He loves racing trucks and cars across the kitchen floor.

Two of Glen’s favourite sayings are “Oh no, what happened?” and “Where are you?”. His love for singing has grown, and he enjoys reciting the alphabet, and can recognise all 26 letters. Glen can also count to 20 without support!

Hearing the concerns raised by Glen’s grandfather about his speech and worrying that Glen might never be able to communicate his wants and needs and be able to talk, was heartbreaking. I am so proud of Glen, his family and our team.

Bianca, Early Childhood Key Worker

Bianca will continue to support Glen and his family to find solutions to overcome the barriers that hold him back from continuing to improve his communication skills.

Are you Ready to Achieve a Positive Life Change?  

Speak to our Access team on  1300 179 131 or complete an online form, and we’ll be in touch to speak to you about how a physio-led therapy team can help you achieve the positive life changes you want.

*We’ve used a different name to protect the identity of the individual in this story.