Speech Pathology & Literacy Support

Individual online support for children and young people

I provide literacy tutoring and speech pathology support for children and young people who need some extra help with reading, spelling, writing, language or learning.

I’m both a qualified teacher and Speech Pathologist, which means I can look beyond whether a child is finding something difficult and work out where they are getting stuck. Support is relaxed, individual and tailored to the learner rather than simply providing more practice at something they are already struggling with.

I particularly enjoy working with children who need things explained in a way that works for them, including neurodivergent and dyslexic children and those whose health, learning needs or circumstances mean that school doesn’t always look conventional.

Literacy Tutoring

I provide individual online literacy tutoring for primary and early secondary students, including specialist literacy support for children with dyslexia and other literacy difficulties.

Sessions can focus specifically on reading, spelling or writing, or we can work around what your child is currently learning at school. For younger students this might mean building foundational literacy skills, while for older students it may mean supporting the increasingly complex reading and writing demands of the curriculum.

Depending on the child, this might include:

• explicit reading and decoding instruction

• spelling and phonics

• reading fluency and comprehension

• sentence, paragraph and longer-form writing

• vocabulary and language

• planning and organising written work

• breaking down school assignments

• consolidating skills being taught at school

Where useful, I can also work alongside what a child is doing at school and liaise with teachers to help ensure support is targeted to their current learning needs. More substantial liaison or meetings outside tutoring sessions may incur an additional fee.

For children who need targeted support with reading and spelling, I use explicit, structured literacy teaching rather than relying on exposure or repeated practice. I am trained in Sounds-Write and can use this approach where it is appropriate for the individual learner.

For older students, support may look quite different. We might work on written expression, comprehension, vocabulary, organising ideas or the literacy demands of their current schoolwork, while still addressing underlying skills that are getting in the way.

Home schooling? I also offer learning and planning support specifically for home schooling families. Find out more about home schooling support.

A different approach to tutoring

My background is in both teaching and speech pathology. If a child is struggling to write a paragraph, for example, I see little benefit in simply having them practise more paragraphs.

Instead, I want to understand what is making the task difficult. Is the child having trouble with spelling, constructing sentences, understanding the task, organising their ideas, vocabulary, holding information in mind, getting started — or a combination of things? I can then adapt my teaching and choose activities that target the skills they need to develop.

Sessions are individual, relaxed and neurodiversity-affirming. Children do not need to be neurodivergent or have a diagnosis to work with me.

If, during tutoring, it becomes apparent that a child may benefit from clinical assessment or speech pathology support for their language, communication or literacy needs, I may recommend that speech pathology is a more appropriate service. I would always discuss this with you first, including why I am making the recommendation and what changing services would involve.

Why online?

Online sessions can work particularly well for literacy and learning. Children can work from a familiar environment, without the travel and transition involved in getting to another appointment, and we can easily share texts, documents, activities and schoolwork on screen.

Learning online doesn't mean spending the whole session typing. I usually recommend having a small whiteboard and pens available, and we use handwriting, paper-based activities and physical resources alongside the things we do on screen. Depending on the child and what we're working on, we might move between writing on a whiteboard, reading from the screen, handwriting on paper, talking through ideas and working together in an online document.

Being able to work effectively online is also increasingly a literacy skill in its own right. Children need to learn how to navigate digital texts, work in shared documents, type and edit their writing, and communicate in online environments. Online sessions give us opportunities to develop these skills alongside more traditional reading and writing skills.

For some neurodivergent children, children with anxiety, or those managing fatigue or chronic illness, working from home can also make sessions much more accessible. Children can use the seating, movement, sensory supports and other strategies that already work for them, with less energy spent travelling to and from another appointment.

Speech Pathology

Some difficulties with reading, writing and learning are closely connected with a child's underlying speech, language and communication skills. In these cases, speech pathology may be more appropriate than tutoring alone.

Speech pathology support can look more closely at areas such as understanding and using language, vocabulary, sentence structure, phonological skills, comprehension, written expression and the communication demands a child is managing at school and in everyday life.

Unlike tutoring, speech pathology is a clinical service. Support is developed around an individual child's communication needs and goals and may involve deeper assessment, clinical goal setting, intervention and review. My speech pathology knowledge informs the way I teach in tutoring sessions, but tutoring does not include clinical assessment, speech pathology goal setting or other clinical services.

For some children, literacy may form part of their speech pathology support where reading and writing are affecting functional communication and participation. For others, literacy tutoring will be the more appropriate service.

NDIS participants

I can work with self-managed and plan-managed NDIS participants where support with reading and writing is appropriate to the person's disability-related communication needs and goals.

Where literacy is addressed using NDIS funding, it is developed and delivered as part of an individualised speech pathology service, rather than as literacy tutoring, and is charged at my usual speech pathology rates.

Literacy tutoring is a separate private educational service and is not designed to be claimed through NDIS funding.

About The Woven Way

The Woven Way is led by Alice Greenwood, a speech pathologist, educator and literacy tutor with a particular interest in neurodivergent communication and learning.

My background across speech pathology and education means I can look at both the communication skills underlying a difficulty and the practical demands a young person is facing at school and in everyday life.

Sessions are currently available online.

Pricing

Literacy Tutoring - $100 for a 50 minute session
‍ ‍The session fee includes routine preparation for standard tutoring sessions. Additional work requested outside sessions, such as reports, meetings, substantial individual program development or liaison with schools or other professionals, may incur an additional fee. Any additional fees will be discussed and agreed with you beforehand.

Speech Pathology - Please enquire via alice@thewovenway.com.au for current fees
‍ ‍Clinical speech pathology services, including literacy-focused intervention where clinically appropriate, are provided at speech pathology rates. Additional clinical work outside direct sessions, such as assessment, notes, report writing, liaison, meetings, substantial individualised planning or program development, may be charged separately. Any additional fees will be discussed with you beforehand.