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Kids with Capes

what we do

We are a private paediatric speech pathology clinic working with children from 0-18 years of age and their families and carers to provide a variety of services. 

how we do it

Our team of extensively experienced speech pathologists provide a variety of assessment and therapy services, and our wonderful Allied Health Assistants provide home and community based support for more intensive therapy.

why we do it

We have a strong commitment to a collaborative approach when it comes to speech pathology. As a clinic we prioritise inclusion and diversity, and work from a client-centred, neurodiverse affirming approach to our work, all the way from the initial enquiry through to completion of service.

PHILOSOPHY

MEET THE TEAM

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Maria Kouspos
she/her

BSp Path, MSPAA, CPSP 

Maria has been providing paediatric speech pathology services for 20 years in early intervention, education, hospital and private service settings.

Areas of Interest:

  • ASD & FASD

  • Developmental disorders and early language development

  • Orofacial Myology

  • Multidisciplinary assessment 

  • Parent and teacher support and training

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Joanne Gimas

she/her

BSp Path, MSPA, CPSP

Joanne has been providing paediatric speech pathology services for 20 years in both the education system and private service settings.

Areas of Interest:

  • Speech & oral language development

  • Literacy skills development 

  • Parent & teacher training

  • Multidisciplinary support

  • Sounds-Write phonics program

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Sarah Gravina

she/her

MSpPath, MSPA, CPSP

Working in both education & private clinic settings for over 10 years, Sarah's team approach to paediatric speech pathology is ideal for bringing parents & teachers into the therapy process.

Areas of Interest:

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Belinda McCully
she/her

BSp Path, CPSP 

As a speech pathologist of over 20 years, Belinda has worked in a variety of settings with a broad range of children and adults.

Areas of Interest:

  • Early intervention

  • Feeding difficulties

  • Fluency/stuttering

  • Developmental disorders

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Henry Choi
he/him

MSp Path, CPSP

Henry is a registered speech pathologist who started out with us as an Allied Health Assistant whilst completing his studies. He is keen to provide clients ongoing and consistent communication support

Areas of Interest:

  • Speech sound disorders

  • Articulation

  • FASD

  • ASD Assessment

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Ella Matthiesson

Allied Health Assistant

As a fourth year Speech Pathology student, Ella is a wonderful addition to the Bright Start team assisting our practitioners and working with clients to achieve their goals.

Areas of Interest:

  • Preschool and school age children

  • Collaborative therapy

  • Fun and learning

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Jordyn Nashar

Allied Health Assistant

Jordyn is a third year Speech Pathology student, who assists our practitioners in implementing fun and effective therapy sessions under the supervision of our speech pathologists.

Areas of Interest:

  • Preschool and school age children

  • Collaborative therapy

  • Fun and learning

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Alexis Shiu

Allied Health Assistant

​Alexis is a second-year speech pathology student who has experience working with children with diverse needs. She is keen to make a positive impact by assisting speech pathologists in empowering clients to achieve their goals.

Areas of Interest:

  • Preschool and school age children

  • Neurodiversity-affirming practice

  • Multilingualism

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Brooke Pereira

Allied Health Assistant

Brooke is a third year speech pathology student with experience in paediatric support in both primary and secondary schools.

Areas of Interest:

  • Speech sound disorders

  • Multidisciplinary support

  • Assessment

  • Collaborative therapy

Allied Health Assistant

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Ruby Frost

Allied Health Assistant

As a recent graduate of a Health Sciences degree, Ruby is a wonderful asset as an Allied Health Assistant.

Areas of Interest:

  • Social skills

  • Neurodiverse affirming practice

  • Collaborative therapy

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Begum Donmez Tengiz

Allied Health Assistant

Begum is a qualified psychologist in her home country of Turkey and has an extensive background working with children and their families in both the psychology and childcare fields.

Areas of Interest:

  • Preschool and school age children

  • Collaborative therapy

  • Fun and learning

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Andie Shi

Allied Health Assistant

Andie is a second year Speech Pathology student with an interest in paediatric support.

Areas of Interest:

  • Language disorders
  • Speech sound disorders
  • Neurodiversity
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Iana Mendygalieva

Allied Health Assistant

Iana is a third year speech pathology student with a background in the specialist school environment.

Areas of Interest:

  • Preschool and school age children

  • Neurodiversity-affirming practice

  • Multilingualism

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Lauren Jacobs
she/her

Practice Manager

With over 10 years working in Allied Health administration, Lauren is a wonderful asset to both the business and the families we work with.

Areas of Interest:

  • Team development
  • Diversity and inclusion
  • Systems development
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SERVICES

SERVICES

assessment

Bright Start Speech Pathology offers a variety of assessment services. Our aim is to provide accurate information to the family, practitioners and educational settings in order to support a child to develop their skills, succeed and reach their potential. 

therapy

At Bright Start Speech Pathology we provide a range of child and parent based interventions that focus on increasing communication through the use of the latest evidence based methods.

aha program

Allied Health Assistants (AHA) can be a wonderful element of the therapy journey for your child. Working under the supervision of your child's speech pathologist they provide more frequent support across a range of domains.

groups

A complimentary service to our one-on-one therapy is the group programs we offer each term holidays. Targeted to our current client base each term, these programs offer the opportunity to learn, practice and implement a variety of skills. Click below to see the current programs.

orofacial myofunctional therapy

Bright Start Speech Pathology offers orofacial myology services to assist with mouth breathing, tongue tie, sucking habits, tongue thrusting, braces support, picky eating and more.

CONTACT
Autism Therapy

RESOURCES

Bright Start Speech Pathology has an extensive library of resources available, from tip sheets and helpful websites to external practitioner recommendations.

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GET IN TOUCH

Clinic: 778 Centre Road, Bentleigh East VIC 3165

Phone: 1300 754 079

Fax: +61 3 8582 9746

Email: info@brightstartspeechpathology.com.au

Facebook: Click here

Instagram: Click here

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