Zach is 9-year-old boy from a small country town in NSW. He lives with his parents Alison and Chris along with his younger sister. He is in Year 3 at primary school and has a diagnosis of Developmental Language Disorder.

Over the years Zach’s difficulties communicating caused him to be teased by his classmates and led to him withdrawing in the classroom.

He rarely contributed in lessons without being asked, and would get incredibly anxious when he asked to read aloud.

Zach’s mum and dad knew that he needed regular speech pathology sessions to help him overcome some of his difficulties.

But with the nearest clinician over a 3-hour drive away, the regular contact he needs is simply out of reach.

Zach joined our Telecare for Kids Program in July 2020 through his school and has since completed six terms of speech therapy. Zach was also referred to the Paediatric Developmental

Program and has completed two visits via telehealth in June and September 2021.

He completed multidisciplinary assessments investigating his language, learning and motor skills, as well as completing a medical review.

During the last two terms at school, Zach worked with his speech pathologist on persuasive texts and creating speeches to help him develop his language skills.

Zach was supported in his journey by the school staff at his primary school. His Teacher’s Assistants joined each of his speech sessions via Telecare and noted the improvement in Zach’s ability to join in with lessons and his overall confidence.

Zach’s enjoyment of writing speeches grew throughout the term and flowed into his daily life.

His mother reported he came home from school after completing his term of speech therapy and asked, “How can I make the world a better place?”

He decided to write his own speech (below) and present it to his class. He even requested a meeting with his school Principal and featured in his school newsletter!

Zach’s Speech:

Hi, My name is Zach and I want to make the world a better place.

Here are some of the ways we can do this.

We can be:

Kind to each other

Grateful for what we have

Respectful to our parents, teachers and each other

Be honest if you do something wrong, and learn from your mistakes

Show love like God wants us to

Be happy and make someone smile everyday

Let’s all make the world a better place together!

Over and Out!

Every child deserves the same access to vital developmental and mental healthcare. Your support means country kids can access the services they need to help them learn, grow and thrive, regardless of where they live

*To ensure privacy and confidentiality for our client families, our stories are representative in nature and real names and images are not used.