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Speech Pathology Week 2019

Linda Foskey
Linda Foskey, HealthWISE Certified Practising Speech Pathologist

Our Certified Practising Speech Pathologists have the qualifications and skills to provide expert advice to help people find the best way to communicate to meet their needs.

We work with family members, carers, teachers and other people important in the lives of our clients to help support and implement their speech therapy program.
Communication difficulties may be due to developmental delays, stroke, brain injuries, learning disability, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, dementia and hearing loss, as well as other problems that can affect speech, language or swallowing food and drink safely.

HealthWISE welcomes our newest speech pathologist,Linda Foskey. Linda services Inverell, Narrabri and Moree. 

A natural communicator and educator, speech pathologist Linda Foskey has been living out her passion for helping others in the north west for over 30 years.

It’s a love she shares with local organisation HealthWISE, who are thrilled to welcome Linda to their team as she continues to bring her valuable services to Inverell, Moree and Narrabri. HealthWISE is dedicated to creating healthier communities.

Living in Inverell for the past 11 years with her partner and bookstore owner Garry Newley, Linda has a deep love for the region, and is dedicated to providing specialist services to rural areas.

She cherishes the challenge of helping someone with communication difficulties share their wants and needs with others. A logical mind and aptitude for patterns allows Linda to identify each client’s struggle and find the best methods to help them achieve their communication goals.

“I love it when I see those light bulb moments of ‘oh, they actually did know that word and they did know what it meant’, and actually being able to communicate what they want or need or feel at that particular moment in time,” she said.

“It’s not necessarily ‘we’re going to make that child speak the same as everybody else’, it’s to help them to make the best of what they do have, in terms of their communications skills.”

Linda said people often presume that if someone can’t speak, they don’t have anything worth communicating – but nothing could be further from the truth.

“We make presumptions that somebody who can’t say particular sounds mustn’t be smart. It’s often the opposite way.” She said changing your natural speech patterns requires a lot of intellectual stamina. 

Despite her breadth of experience, Linda is enjoying the opportunity to learn even more from her new colleagues, and is thrilled to be able to return to her early intervention roots.

“I was getting to the point in my private practice where I was feeling isolated, and every time I spent time with the HealthWISE guys, I realised how cohesive a team it is and how they really invite people to be innovative, to be collegial,” Linda said.

“I just knew I needed to do something different.”

Linda believes the future of speech pathology is bright, and is excited about the many opportunities technology provides for augmented communication, such as speech to text apps on smartphones.

Linda’s arrival at HealthWISE is well-timed, with national Speech Pathology Week running from August 25-31. Speech Pathology Australia argues that communication is a basic human right, and that communication disability is largely invisible to the general population.

Around 1.2 million Australians live with communication disabilities. Speech pathologists work to help everyone communicate with confidence, as this has been proven to maximise educational, health and social outcomes.

If your child is experiencing communication difficulties contact the HealthWISE Narrabri office on 02 6792 5514 to book an appointment with Linda or see your GP for a referral.

HealthWISE is not a registered NDIS provider.

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