Elmien is a passionate pediatric speech therapist from South Africa with more than 25 years of experience in diagnosing and treating young children. She has worked extensively in schools, hospitals, and private practice, collaborating with diverse team members. Her patients include children on the Autism Spectrum, those with Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, attention deficit disorder, and learning disabilities. She also has a special interest in medically complex cases, such as cardiomyopathy and immune-compromised children.

Elmien first graduated from the University of Pretoria in 1998 as a speech therapist and audiologist with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Pathology. More recently, in 2021, she completed her M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology, focusing on late language emergence in toddlers.

Her deep compassion for children is rooted in both her professional experience and her personal journey as a mother to a neurodivergent daughter. This experience has given her a profound understanding of the challenges caregivers face. Elmien strongly believes that by supporting one child and parent at a time, we can create a meaningful impact on society.

Clinical certification/Training

• Neurodevelopmental Therapy (NDT): Basic and Advanced courses
• PROMPT Introduction and Bridging to technique
• Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) approach to feeding
• SPARK Communication (Hanen approach)
• DIR Floortime
• Lego based therapy
• Talk tools: Oral placement for speech clarity
• Tiny Handz Signing
• Stark Griffin Dyslexia

Publications

• Factors in toddlers with late language emergence in a middle-class South African sample. Communications Disorders Quarterly 44(1), 2021