Frequently Asked Questions

To make an appointment, contact Greater Heights Therapy Services on (07) 4638 8596. Our receptionist will take your details, give you any information about our services, and help arrange appointment times.

No, anyone can access our services. 

You will need a referral from your GP if you are planning on claiming a Medicare rebate. You may be eligible for a Chronic Disease Management Plan (CDM) or a Team Care Plan through the Better Access Initiative. These plans allow you to access a prescribed number of allied health sessions per calendar year through Medicare. These care plans can be provided by your GP. Please note that this clinic is unable to bulk bill, hence there will be a gap fee that you will be required to pay.

We are able to process private health fund claims for assessment and therapy at Greater Heights Therapy Services. If you wish to use your private health cover please contact your provider to find out more about your level of coverage.

We are able to provide NDIS funded services to plan managed and self-managed clients. 

If you are plan managed, we will bill your plan manager directly and receive payments from them. 

Our self-managed clients pay for the appointment each time their child attends a session and are issued with a receipt. You will then enter the information into the NDIS portal yourself to receive your refund.

Most of our therapy appointments are offered on a weekly or fortnightly basis, although monthly appointments are also available. The number of appointments required will vary depending on the nature and severity of your child’s needs and the quality of home practice done between therapy appointments. 

It is important to remember that therapy is not a ‘quick fix’ and may take many months or even years to achieve your targeted goals. This is particularly true for children who must continue to develop once they have achieved the skills appropriate for their current age.

We are located on the first floor of the Willows Health and Lifestyle Centre, in the Willows Professional Suites. The street address is 55-57 Kitchener Street, South Toowoomba, QLD, 4350.

Yes, there is free parking available onsite.

We offer a clinic-based service where you will come to see us at the Greater Heights clinic for your regular appointments. We also offer a telehealth service if you are unable to make it to the clinic for any reason. We do offer one-off, off-site visits to help you achieve your goals, such as attending key stakeholder meetings or to liaise with your other therapists/school/kindy supports. 

Our cancellation fees are not a penalty or a deterrent but simply necessary to ensure we can operate fully and continue to provide services. Where possible the clinician will use the missed session time to support your child with other services such as contacting preschool/school, liaising with other therapists, or developing and/or sending therapy resources/home practic

Each therapist will provide services either before or after school – they cannot schedule both on the same day as this would require a working day in excess of 10 hours. Consequently, after school times are available but limited in quantity. There are times when therapy may need to be accessed during the day.

Please bring any previous reports from other health professionals these might include other allied health professionals, a specialist, a paediatrician, or hearing/vision assessments. Recent school reports may also be relevant. If you have a referral letter, please bring it with you and give it to reception upon arrival.

Initial sessions will usually take up to one hour. The structure of the session will be different depending on the reason for referral and the age of your child. 

An initial session will include your therapist getting to know you and your child and asking questions to get a detailed case history. During the initial appointment or second appointment your therapist will complete some assessment either informally (through observations, games, and activities) or formally (with a standardised assessment on a worksheet or an iPad). After this we will talk with you about the outcomes and will devise individualised, functional therapy goals with you.

Communication and life skills need to occur all day, every day – not just in the 30-60 minutes that you spend with our therapists, hence, we do need you to be present and involved in what goes on. Siblings and other family members are very welcome to attend sessions and, when appropriate, will be included in activities to encourage the generalisation of newly acquired skills. You can negotiate with your therapist to spend some time in our waiting room if needed, but we do ask that you do not leave the premises as we cannot take care of all of your child’s needs while they are with us.

It is quite common that caregivers can understand most of their child’s speech. After all you’re the person who has spent the most time with your child since birth. Listening to someone with speech errors is a bit like listening to someone who has a strong foreign accent – you have to pay very careful attention at first, but then your ears start to do an automatic translation for you, and you barely notice the accent. Hence, it is important to pay attention if other people are having difficulty understanding your child’s speech as their ears haven’t had the training that you have benefited from. 

There is a wide range of speech and language skills that is within the expected range for a young child. Fact sheets from the Speech Pathology Australia website http://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/ can give you more information about speech and language development. 

If you have any concerns, it is advised that you seek the opinion of a speech pathologist. There are often things you can be doing at home to support your child’s speech and language development and your speech pathologist can provide you with more information.