When we proudly share that Talking Fish stands for child-safe and child-friendly practices, we aren’t just talking about the future. We are also looking back. To truly understand why we champion neurodiversity-affirming care today, we must do something uncomfortable but necessary: we must gently look at the history of speech pathology and acknowledge that, sometimes, therapy has caused harm.
For a long time, the clinical world operated under a framework of “normalisation.” The ultimate goal of speech therapy was to make children who communicated differently look and sound exactly like their neurotypical, hearing peers. If a child didn’t meet standard benchmarks, the solution was often a rigid, compliance-based approach designed to force them into a predetermined box.
This history heavily impacted many distinct groups. For First Nations communities globally, language intervention historically ignored rich, valid linguistic dialects and cultural storytelling traditions, viewing them through a deficit lens rather than one of strength and heritage. In the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities, generations of children were actively discouraged or barred from using natural sign languages; instead, they were forced through gruelling auditory-oral training to speak with their voices, prioritising an adult’s comfort over the child’s right to fluid, natural expression.
For neurodivergent children, the trauma often came in the form of compliance-driven behaviour programs. Therapy goals centred around suppressing natural coping mechanisms, enforcing strict eye contact, and withholding favourite items until a child complied with a specific instruction. While well-intentioned clinicians believed they were helping these children “fit into the world,” the underlying message to the child was devastatingly clear: Who you are naturally is wrong, and you must mask it to be accepted.
Thankfully, the tide is turning. Society is evolving to accept that all human beings are inherently valuable exactly as they are. Slowly but surely, rigid, forced practices are falling away as speech pathology undergoes a profound shift toward human rights, empathy, and neurodiversity-affirming science. Modern research continuously confirms what advocates have said for decades: forcing compliance harms long-term mental health, while emotional safety and connection are what actually allow a child to thrive.
At Talking Fish, acknowledging this past isn’t about guilt—it’s about accountability and choosing a better path forward. We reject therapies rooted in rigidity and force. When a child walks through our doors, we don’t see a set of deficits to be fixed or an adult-defined milestone to chase at all costs. We see a whole, brilliant individual who deserves to be met with kindness, unconditional empathy, and absolute respect for their unique way of experiencing the world. Therapy should never hurt; it should heal, connect, and empower.
