Lutheran Care’s allied health service has recently been bolstered by the integration of Swift Speech: Stuttering and Voice, the primary practice for stuttering in Adelaide and leading practice for cluttering treatment in Australia.
With a proficient and experienced team of four speech pathologists whose primary focus is on stuttering and cluttering, our new practitioners also handle caseloads in voice and speech sounds disorders, making them a valuable addition to our growing Elcies team.
Lutheran Care’s Chief Executive Officer Rohan Feegrade said the strategic recruitment from a likeminded and values-driven service provider is further enhancing and complementing our already highly skilled practitioners at Elcies, while also expanding services offerings to better respond to the changing needs of our clients and the community.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Michelle Swift and her specialist speech therapy team to Lutheran Care, as we continue to grow our range of allied health services and assemble a highly experienced and sought after multidisciplinary team,” Mr Feegrade said.
“Dr Swift’s well-established practice and reputable reputation aligns perfectly with our commitment to excellence and client focused care. We are excited to have them on board.”
Swift Speech was founded by Dr Michelle Swift in 2017 as a one-woman show, but as the business grew, so did the team and their reputation.
“Initially the business was called Swift Speech & Stuttering, which was a play on words because one of the common characteristics of cluttering is a fast speech rate and Swift is my surname,” Dr Swift said.
“When COVID hit, stuttering therapy already had a lot of research evidence for successful telehealth provision, so we were already offering telehealth and didn’t have to pivot too much with the COVID clinic closures.
“Then in 2022, we changed the name to Swift Speech: Stuttering & Voice, after we brought in expertise in the area of voice.”
Dr Swift said the most rewarding thing about working with stuttering and cluttering clients was seeing them grow in confidence and develop a changed attitude towards communicating, so that they can successfully participate in things that they have shied away from in the past.
She added the decision to join Lutheran Care originated from the opportunity to join a larger organisation that had strong foundations and a keen eye for collaboration, as well as the benefit of joining and accessing a multi-disciplinary team.
“Stuttering and cluttering can really benefit from psychology input and we would have challenges convincing clients about that, so having psychologists as part of the team was a big drawcard,” Dr Swift said.
“Also the opportunity to be able to expand our services to the northern suburbs and being part of an NDIS-registered organisation means we can see more people who need stuttering and cluttering services than we were able to before.
“I was personally also keen to go back to focusing on the clinical lead work that I do well and giving the business side of things back to someone else.”
Stuttering and Cluttering speech therapy will continue to operate out of existing facilities at Glen Osmond and Brighton and offer telehealth services nationwide.
The inclusion of specialist speech therapists to Elcies expands service offering to include:
- Positive Behaviour Support, a therapy-based service funded through the NDIS.
- Speech Pathology
- Psychology
For more information about stuttering and cluttering speech pathology services, visit https://www.lutherancare.org.au/elcies/
To find out more about Elcies, your local allied health and disability service provider in South Australia, visit elcies.org.au or follow us on social media @elciesSA.