Paediatric Speech Pathologist — Neuro-Affirming Practice

Bloom Play Studio | Essendon or Moonee Ponds, Melbourne

Full time | Permanent

Every child has a voice. Help us make sure it’s heard.

Bloom Play Studio is a warm, play-based therapy practice in Essendon supporting children and young people (0–21) and the families around them. Our team of play therapists, counsellors, occupational therapists and psychologists work side by side — and we’re looking for a paediatric speech pathologist to bring communication into the heart of it.

We follow the child’s lead, work through play, and see neurodivergence as a difference to be understood and supported, not a deficit to be fixed. If your practice already looks like that, you’ll feel at home here.

What you’ll be doing

- Delivering play-based, child-led speech pathology across speech, language, social communication, feeding and literacy
- Supporting AAC users and honouring every form of communication — spoken, signed, gestural, device-based or otherwise
- Partnering with parents and carers as the primary communication partners in their child’s life
- Completing assessments, NDIS reports and goal-focused therapy plans families can actually use
- Working closely with our OTs, play therapists and psychologists on shared goals for shared clients
- Liaising with kinders, schools and early learning centres so strategies travel into everyday settings
- Helping shape how speech pathology grows at Bloom — resources, group programs and the way we talk about communication with families

Neuro-affirming practice is non-negotiable

- Communication is about connection and autonomy, not “sounding typical”
- Echolalia, scripting, stimming and gestalt language processing understood and worked with, not trained out
- No compliance-based, masking-focused or eye-contact-drilling approaches
- AAC offered early and generously,



never withheld as a “last resort”
- Strengths-based language in sessions, reports and every conversation with families
- Openness to learning directly from neurodivergent and non-speaking voices

About you

- Bachelor or Master of Speech Pathology and current Speech Pathology Australia (CPSP) membership
- Around 3–5 years’ paediatric experience (strong earlier-career clinicians with the right values are welcome)
- Confident across early language, speech sound disorders, social communication and AAC; feeding experience a plus
- Experience writing NDIS functional assessments and progress reports (or keen to develop this with support)
- Warm, playful and grounded — as comfortable on the floor with a three-year-old as in a hard conversation with a parent
- Current Working with Children Check, NDIS Worker Screening Check (or willing to obtain), and Australian driver’s licence
- Bonus, not essential: Hanen (It Takes Two to Talk / More Than Words), Natural Language Acquisition / gestalt language training, SOS Feeding, Key Word Sign, Sounds-Write or similar

What we offer

- Salary in line with the Health Professionals and Support Services Award, above-award for the right person, plus super
- Manageable caseload with protected time for reports, planning and thinking
- Regular clinical supervision, peer reflective practice and an annual professional development allowance
- A calm, beautifully set-up studio space in Essendon
- Flexible days and hours; genuine part-time options
- A small, values-led team where your ideas will actually change how things are done
- A real say in how the speech pathology service grows

We welcome applications from neurodivergent practitioners, First Nations people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and people of all genders and identities. If you need any adjustments to the application or interview process, just let us know.

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📌 Paediatric Speech pathologist (Melbourne)
🏢 Bloom Play Studio
📍 Melbourne