Melissa Lombard CPSP, Principal Speech Pathologist

Melissa Lombard is a Senior Speech and Language Pathologist with vast post graduate and clinical experience. Melissa specialises in adult communication and swallowing issues, including:

  • Understanding & talking
  • Voice
  • Stuttering
  • Accent
  • Problems at mealtimes in relation to particular food or fluid consistencies
  • Coughing or choking on food, fluids or saliva

Prior to establishing her own practices in Subiaco and Shenton Park in Perth, Melissa worked in private and public sectors across Australia (SA, NSW and WA) and the UK. Originally from Adelaide, SA, she gained a Bachelor of Applied Science (Speech Pathology) from Flinders’ University of SA. She first worked for the Education Department of SA (Eastern and Western country regions), having won a Cadetship with them whilst studying. She became regional senior across both areas before taking a promotion with the SA Health Commission where she established a new community health service in the Murray Mallee Region and developed her first private practice.

Her love for travel led her to the UK, where she obtained a Speech Pathology UK degree equivalency from the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (London). She used this, together with her ‘Teacher of English as a Foreign Language’ qualifications to teach mixed nationalities of adults and children English grammar, pronunciation and accent reduction at Pilgrim’s Language School; Canterbury University, Kent College and Abbey International Language College in Great Malvern.

Moving to the Channel Islands, Melissa worked as senior therapist for the “States of Guernsey Board of Health” before accepting a position as senior therapist for “States of Jersey Health and Social Services”. Melissa worked in hospitals, day centres, out-patient clinics, acute care settings and rehabilitation and long term care facilities with people who had suffered strokes, neurological disorders, brain injury and oral cancers. She also worked with children in schools, health centres and hospital clinics.

Melissa’s strength in multi-disciplinary project work led her to obtain a Bachelor of Science (Hons) Health Services Management from Derby University, UK. She became lead therapist in progressive, degenerative neurological disorders and adult dysfluency; co-authored a multi-disciplinary cross-organisational dysphagia policy and communication aids policy; co-ordinated multi-disciplinary communication aid assessments with UK companies and led multi-disciplinary teams to win two Healthcare Quality Awards and gain second place in the Golden Helix award for Total Quality in European Healthcare. She received an RCLST grant to specialise in stuttering management in London.

Returning to Australia, Melissa worked with “Royal Far West” health services in NSW providing therapy to country children with developmental, behavioural and mental health disorders in the Manly Clinic and remotely via tele-therapy to remote communities. At the same time she continued to develop her private practice with clients ranging from pre-school children to adults. Moving to Western Australia, Melissa continued to build her practice with adults and children whilst taking on a role with Curtin University as a clinical educator, supervising final year speech pathology students. This complimented her previous experience of university level speech therapy student supervision in the UK and in adult training and education of health professionals, carers and teachers.

Melissa has current national and international advanced level training and experience in management, speech, communication and swallowing difficulties. She has post-graduate specialist level qualifications in:

  • Dysphagia (swallowing) management – advanced certificates in adult neurology; head and neck cancer and learning difficulties from Manchester Metropolitan University
  • Stuttering management from City Literature College (London) and University College London
  • Hypnosis applied to Speech and Language Therapy (Specialist Level 1) from the Hypnosis Unit UK/ University College London, specialising in stress and anxiety management as it pertains to swallowing, stuttering and communication management.

Melissa is a registered and certified member of Speech Pathology Australia (SPA), Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), UK and Health and Care Professions’ Council, UK. She is a member of the British Stammering Association, British Aphasiology Society, Counselling and Therapeutic Skills Special Interest Group, London, the Dysphagia Interest Group, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Western Australia and the Private Speech Pathology Association of Western Australia (PSPAWA).