Tiny Dots Early Intervention

Tiny Dots Early Intervention Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Tiny Dots Early Intervention, Nonprofit Organization, 58 Church Street, Geelong.

For-purpose organisation fast-tracking early childhood intervention | Screening, assessment, referral & therapy for children aged 0-3 years showing signs of developmental delay.

A first word can feel like the milestone that matters most, but plenty of communication happens well before it.Cooing, u...
02/09/2026

A first word can feel like the milestone that matters most, but plenty of communication happens well before it.

Cooing, usually from around 6 to 8 weeks. Babbling strings of sounds, often by 6 months. Raspberries, squeals, and copying the rhythm of speech, all building blocks for actual words later on. None of it looks like talking in the way most people picture it, but it's the foundation the first word eventually sits on top of.

Worth watching for, and worth celebrating, even before a single word arrives.

Save this for the months before the first word actually shows up. What early communication moment have you noticed in your child so far? Tell us in the comments.

A lot of what a speech pathologist does in an early session looks less like teaching and more like playing alongside a c...
01/09/2026

A lot of what a speech pathologist does in an early session looks less like teaching and more like playing alongside a child on their own terms. If a toddler wants to spend ten minutes lining up cars instead of moving on to the planned activity, a good therapist follows that interest rather than redirecting it.

Think about how that feels from the other side. Imagine you're reading your favourite book, right at the good part, the last chapter, and someone takes it away because they've decided it's time for something else. That's what redirection can feel like for a child fully absorbed in what they're doing.

Communication builds best when a child is genuinely engaged, not when they're being pulled toward what an adult has decided matters more. It's a simple idea, but it takes real skill to do well, letting a child lead without letting a session drift with no purpose.

What's your child's current favourite thing to get lost in? Tell us in the comments, it might end up being exactly what a session builds around.

A speech pathologist rarely asks a toddler to repeat a word back on command. It puts a child on the spot and tends to sh...
27/08/2026

A speech pathologist rarely asks a toddler to repeat a word back on command. It puts a child on the spot and tends to shut communication down rather than build it.

Instead, a therapist narrates what's happening in the moment. A child pushes a toy car, the therapist says go car, fast car. No pressure to respond, no correction if they don't.

Over time, hearing language paired naturally with what they're already doing helps a child pick it up themselves. It's one small technique, used constantly, in almost every session.

Save this as a plain English explanation of modelling language.
What other therapy techniques would you like us to cover? Drop a topic in the comments or DM us.

If you work with young children, you're often the first person to notice something worth a closer look. That's not a sma...
26/08/2026

If you work with young children, you're often the first person to notice something worth a closer look. That's not a small thing, and it's not something you need to have a clinical answer for.

If a pattern catches your attention, whether it's speech, play or how a child moves, you can mention Tiny Dots as an option, no diagnosis or certainty required on your part. Families don't need a referral to reach out to us directly, and you're welcome to get in touch yourself too if you want to know more about what we do, though anything specific to a child needs the family's own involvement.

Get in touch if you want to know more about how to raise something with a family, or what happens once they reach out to us. Share this with your colleagues who also work with young children.

Here's something worth knowing. The maternal and child health check you take your little one to is not just about weight...
25/08/2026

Here's something worth knowing. The maternal and child health check you take your little one to is not just about weight and height. It is also tracking key milestones, like hearing, movement and early communication.

That is much the same broad picture our Community Care Clinic screening looks at. If your nurse has ever asked a question that felt like it came out of nowhere, that is usually because they are checking in on one of those milestones behind the scenes. You do not need a separate reason to ask more about something they have mentioned, or something you have noticed yourself.

If a question stays with you after a check, it's worth following up on, in whatever way feels right for your family.

When people first start looking into speech pathology, OT, psychology or any allied health support for their child, ther...
20/08/2026

When people first start looking into speech pathology, OT, psychology or any allied health support for their child, there's one thing almost nobody warns them about beforehand: the waitlists.

It's rarely a straightforward booking. It's usually a queue, sometimes a long one, though how long can vary a lot depending on the service and where you are. Demand for early childhood therapy has grown faster than the workforce has in a lot of areas, so a wait can often be the norm rather than the exception.

This is one of the reasons Tiny Dots exists. Our Community Care Clinic screening is built to shorten the gap between noticing a concern and actually being seen, so families aren't stuck waiting while a concern sits unaddressed.

DM us for more info, or tell us about your experience in the comments, we'd genuinely like to hear how it's played out for other families.

The range of normal for talking between 12 months and 3 years is bigger than most people expect.Around 12 months, a chil...
19/08/2026

The range of normal for talking between 12 months and 3 years is bigger than most people expect.

Around 12 months, a child might understand simple words like their own name, and a first word or two might be there, or might not be yet, both can still be on track.

Around 18 months, following a simple instruction with a bit of a gesture is common, alongside a small, inconsistent handful of words.

Around 2 years, understanding a short instruction without a gesture starts showing up, and words often begin combining, like more milk.

By around 3 years, understanding stretches to longer sentences, and speech starts sounding like short sentences that people outside the family can mostly follow.

Every child moves through this range in their own time.


https://www.tinydots.net.au/

In the first few years of life, a child's brain forms new connections faster than it ever will again. Every sound they h...
18/08/2026

In the first few years of life, a child's brain forms new connections faster than it ever will again. Every sound they hear, every game they play, every back-and-forth moment with the people around them is helping shape how they'll speak, move and connect with others for years to come.

That's exactly why we look closely at speech, movement and social communication between 0 and 4, because this is when support can do the most good. It's exactly what our Community Care Clinic screening is built for, knowing what to look for, so you don't have to work it out alone.

Starting at 18 months rather than waiting until closer to 3 means more of that window gets used well. Every bit counts.

Worth sharing this post with any parent of a little one.

A huge thank you to the Lions Breakfast Club Geelong for their generous $4,000 donation to Tiny Dots. Donations like thi...
16/08/2026

A huge thank you to the Lions Breakfast Club Geelong for their generous $4,000 donation to Tiny Dots.

Donations like this go directly toward subsidising care for families who couldn't otherwise access it, exactly the kind of community support that keeps our Community Care Clinic running for the families who need it most.

We're so grateful for local organisations backing early intervention in our community.
Follow us to see the difference this kind of support makes

You may have seen this before: a child looks at something interesting, then looks back at the person they're with, as if...
13/08/2026

You may have seen this before: a child looks at something interesting, then looks back at the person they're with, as if checking whether they saw it too.

That's called joint attention, and it's one of the earliest ways children learn that sharing attention with someone else matters. Long before a first word, this is already communication.

It usually starts showing up toward the end of the first year, and becomes clearer through the second.

It's a small thing, but a lovely one to notice, and exactly the kind of everyday moment our Community Care Clinic screening looks at as part of the full picture.

Save this so you can watch for it next time you're playing together.

Address

58 Church Street
Geelong, VIC
3215

Telephone

+61416219475

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