WORKING WITH PRAGS PILLAY: Owner and Principal Speech Pathologist
Pragashni (Prags) Pillay, or ‘P’, as she known as by parents and children under her care, is the Owner and Principal Speech Pathologist at ESP.
Prags is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist and a registered member with Speech Pathology Australia.
She has 23 years of experience as a Speech Pathologist and has a rich and varied wealth of experience in early intervention, mainstream and specialist educational settings, as well as within private practice.
Prags is highly experienced with children ranging from infants through to teenagers with Autism Spectrum Disorders; Asperger’s Syndrome; Dyspraxia; Down Syndrome, Developmental Delay; Speech, Language, Learning, and Social difficulties.
Her vision is to ensure that clients of all ages, from toddlers learning their first words through to adults trying to reach their career goals in an English speaking global economy, can reach their maximum potential.
Prags qualified as a Speech Pathologist and Audiologist in 1992.
She holds a
- Bachelor’s Degree in Speech and Hearing Therapy
- Master’s Degree in Education of the Hearing Impaired
Prags is a Hanen Certified Therapist & she trained in the PROMPT technique.
In 2012, Prags attended training in the United States and received certification in the Compton PESL (Pronouncing English as a Second Language) Accent Modification Method.
As a new graduate, Prags set up and ran both a Speech Pathology & an Audiology department at a large public hospital in South Africa, working with children and adults from diverse cultural and language backgrounds. She initiated a hearing screening program for newborns, and provided professional development training on communication development, delay & disorders; as well as hearing loss to doctors and nurses.
She then moved to the United Kingdom in 1995, where she worked as Speech Pathologist specializing in children from infants through to teenagers. In the UK, Prags worked briefly as an Audiologist before deciding that her love of children and watching them grow and learn meant she was better suited as a Speech Pathologist. She has not looked back since. Prags worked for the National Health Service in London, providing Speech Pathology services to children between the ages of 2 to 18 years. The service was provided within families’ homes, kindergarten, & school settings.
Since her move to Australia in 2001, Prags has specialized in Early Intervention, working with children from birth to 5 years of age.
She is skilled in working collaboratively with Psychologists, Teachers, Social Workers, Paediatricians, Audiologists, Childcare & Kindergarten Staff.
Prags is experienced in working with parents of infants, toddlers, kindergarten and school aged children.
Prags has planned and run numerous, Hanen: It Takes Two to Talk, workshops for parents.
She began her private practice in 2005.
Prag’s wealth of experience and passion for her work, together with her natural rapport, open and interactive approach and engaging nature, both with children and adults, ensures that therapy is a positive and successful experience for all.
Prags also enjoys working with adults, professionals and students, from non-English speaking backgrounds who wish to improve the accuracy of their pronunciation of English sounds and for whom a strong foreign accent may:
- result in number of communication issues, particularly within the work place
- limit success in job interviews and hinder career advancement
- hold them back from reaching their full potential