Meet the team – Brittney Herbig
Meet Brittney who is one of our Speech Pathology Team Leaders at Early Links. We sat down with Brittney to have a chat about her role and what she enjoys about it most.
What does your role involve?
A lot of travel! The majority of my clients are in Cessnock and the upper Hunter and on occasion, I even go as far as Merriwa. I love visiting smaller communities and being able to help families who don’t have access to many support options.
All of my sessions are out in the community at client’s homes or in places like day-cares and schools. I generally work with families who have young kids, who are living with autism and assist them with early language.
How long have you been with Early Links?
I’ve been with Early Links for just over a year now. Before that, I worked in private practice.
What do you enjoy most about Speech Pathology and your role?
I love supporting the communities I visit as they often aren’t serviced by other organisations. It’s really rewarding to be able to help families who need support but haven’t been able to access it because it’s not offered in their area or waiting lists are long.
I previously worked in private practice, but I much prefer working in the not-for-profit space. It’s great working in a team of people with different expertise as joint sessions can be really beneficial to our families. This holistic approach wasn’t possible when I worked in private practice but it is standard at Early Links and when multiple staff members with different specialities work together it allows us to target bigger goals.
Is there anything about our Speech Pathology Services that you wish more people knew?
Yes, I recently completed hearing screening training and I’m really keen to spread the word that we now offer this service! We are offering this service to adults and children aged 3.5- 18 years. Our hearing screening can be the first step to ruling out any concerns and providing more information to our families before accessing Audiologists or ENT’s.
Hearing loss is very common in children and can often be an underlying factor into speech sound errors, language delays, attention difficulties or behaviours. I know of some families who have been on waiting lists for as long as 18 months for services like this.
If you are a parent or family member of a child with communication difficulties, they may benefit from the support that Brittney and our Speech Pathology Team can provide.