malvern speech pathology
About
Claire Follent, Founder, Director, and Principal Speech Pathologist
BA Speech Pathology, La Trobe University
Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist
Getting a Bachelor of Speech Pathology in 2003 from LaTrobe University was the easy part. Working for nearly 20 years in the public and private sectors with children and adults with a range of acquired and developmental disabilities, including severely challenging behaviour- that was the testing part. No amount of study could prepare me for what I was to learn from the roles I have had including being a senior clinician on a specialist behaviour support team, a case manager and speech pathologist for people with acquired brain injuries in the community, a speech pathologist working in a specialist school for children who were deaf and had developmental disabilities. These experiences are what Malvern Speech Pathology are built on.
Since opening my private practice in Malvern East 2014 it has been a pleasure working closely with the Maternal and Child Health nurses in the Stonnington Council, and providing education sessions to a number of kindergartens, childcare centres and schools in the area. I moved to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland in 2018 and opened up a second clinic in Bli Bli, now known as Suncoast Speech & Movement, as I observed a significant need for experienced speech pathology service provision on the coast. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak I regularly commuted between both clinics. I hope this will resume by the end of 2020- meetings and supervision via telehealth have quickly become the status quo!
I pride myself on training and supporting a truly fantastic team of therapists. We work closely as a team to ensure no matter which clinician you see, you get the multitude of everyone's years of experience guiding your child's therapy. I am a certified Hanen Speech Pathologist, attend regular education programs and seminars, and am a certified practicing speech pathologist with Speech Pathology Australia.
When you contact me you get my full attention and all my effort. I look forward to having the opportunity to work with you.
Steve Follent, Director, Physiotherapist - BA Physiotherapy, University of Queensland
Steve has been a physiotherapist for over 20 years. Steve started working in private practice in 2001 and since then has gained a broad range of experience in community and hospital sectors. Steve proudly says that working with children is the most important area of physiotherapy! He is passionate about working with children and helping them to meet their potential, whether it is to sit, crawl and walk, or excel in specific fine or gross motor activities. Steve can also prescribe mobility aids and equipment. He currently works out of the Bli Bli clinic on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Clients, Jett and Noah have incidentally presented him with the award for the "most fun therapist". Claire is very offended to have lost this prostegious award :)
Isabella Arthur, Senior Speech Pathologist - BA Speech Pathology, La Trobe University, CPSP
Since graduating from LaTrobe University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Speech Pathology, Isabella has worked in a wide range of public and community roles both in Melbourne and across the UK. These varied roles have greatly enhanced her skills, but it is undoubtedly her role as a mum that has given her the greatest perspective of working with children and their families.
Isabella is passionate about early childhood intervention and providing education to different members of the community including parents, teachers, nurses and other allied health professionals.
Isabella has a special interest in brain injury, voice and stuttering, as well as working with families to provide holistic care. Like Claire she is a Hanen certified speech pathologist, and she has recently updated her training in the Lidcombe Program for stuttering.
Claire works in both the Sunshine Coast & Melbourne clinics.
Samantha Carlson - BA (Applied Science), MSpPath, La Trobe University, CPSP
Samantha is a qualified Speech Pathologist with a passion for working in early childhood intervention. She is thrilled to be part of the team at MSP after joining in 2019 and since that time she has worked with children presenting with a range of speech, language, social and literacy challenges. Samantha has also recently been awarded the role of senior speech pathologist in the Malvern clinic because of her expertise and dedication to paediatric practice.
Lauren Bisignano - BA Speech Pathology, Australian Catholic University, CPSP
Lauren is thrilled to be working at MSP and supporting clients and their families with a range of communication difficulties. Prior to joining MSP in January 2020, she spent years nurturing her passion for the disability sector while at a special school in south-east Melbourne. She is passionate about working in the disability field and as such has been exposed to a range of low and high tech communication aids whilst working with children presenting with a range of challenges due to developmental disabilities such as Autism and cerebral palsy.
The team at MSP have expanded Lauren's knowledge of and capacity to provide support in other areas of speech pathology, including fluency (stuttering), speech disorders and the Hanen approaches to language support in early intervention.
Sarah Plaxton - BA Speech Pathology, University of Sydney, CPSP
Sarah is a passionate and experienced speech pathologist, joining the Suncoast team in the Bli Bli clinic in 2021. Sarah has worked as a speech pathologist for over 22 years and brings a wealth of paediatric experience from working in both community, private practice and hospital environments.