Myrtleford's Damien and Bec Kleine and their three-year-old daughter Ada were recently invited to Parliament House in Canberra to attend Speech Pathology Australia's (SPA) 'Early Intervention. Lifelong Impact' event.

Held on 18 August, ahead of Speech Pathology Week which ended last weekend, the gathering in the country's capital brought together other families like the Kleine's, with speech pathologists and federal politicians to push for better, earlier access to speech pathology for Australian patients.

Ada was born with a rare neuromuscular condition which affects her muscle strength, making everyday activities like moving, eating and swallowing more difficult.

As specialist expertise was not available locally, her speech pathologist, Jessie Champion, drove an hour each way to reach Ada’s home in Myrtleford.

With Jessie's support, Ada now eats orally, spends less time in hospital and chats confidently with her family.

"Having therapy at home was so important," Bec said.

"Jessie could work with Ada in her own environment, using her equipment and our everyday routines, while also teaching us practical strategies we could use every day.

"Early intervention has given Ada the ability to eat safely, communicate confidently and spend more of her childhood at home with her family rather than in hospital."

Bec said Ada loved their trip to Canberra to meet new people and she was really willing to speak to everyone.

"She loved it," Bec said.

"Given she's three years old, you can't really pre-prepare her for [such an experience].

"We told her: "We're going to Canberra and we're going to meet and talk to people"...

"She's in a wheelchair, so she's lower down and people crouched down, saying; "Hi, Ada. How are you? Nice to meet you, Ada. I love your shoes." and so on.

"A lot of three-year-olds might get overwhelmed meeting all these people in a strange place, but she did so well.

"Apparently, when she went to childcare [the other] day, her teachers asked her; "How was Canberra?" and she noticed there was a lot of talking, so she said; "Oh, Mum and Dad talked so much!".

For information about speech pathology visit: https://speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/.