About Us

Danielle Rutledge is the founder and lead clinician of Professional Speech Pathology. She is a highly experienced speech pathologist with a passion for helping clients improve their quality of life through restoring and enhancing  voice, diagnosing and treating swallowing difficulties or treating the issues arising from upper respiratory dysfunction.  Approaching two decades of experience in the field, Danielle has worked in various settings both nationally and internationally (in the USA and the Middle East), including:

• Tertiary and metropolitan hospitals 
• Rehabilitation and outpatient clinics 
• Private practice
• Clinical education and mentoring of undergraduate, masters level university students as well as clinical fellow students with the American Speech and Hearing Association.

• Certified practicing member of Speech Pathology Australia  (CPSP)
• Certificate of clinical competence (CCC- SLP) with the American Speech and Hearing Association.
• Voice and upper airway special interest group (ASHA)
• Australian Voice Association (AVA)
• Laryngology Society of Australasia
• Mater allied health employee award for technology and innovation  2021

• Masters of Speech Pathology 
• Bachelor of psychology and business
• Lee Silverman voice therapy (LSVT) 
• Paradoxical vocal cord movement, assessment and management advanced training course (USA)
• Manual Therapy in voice and swallowing 
• Videofluoroscopic swallow study 
• MBSimp certification
• FEES assessment and evaluation
• PhoRTE voice therapy certification
• Dysarthria assessment and management  
• Healthcare redesign MOOC University Tasmania
• Clinical education CBOS

Julia Matthews is a highly experienced speech pathologist with over 30 years experience in the treatment of adult speech language and swallowing disorders.  Julia has worked in a variety of settings including:

• Tertiary and metropolitan hospitals
• Rehabilitation and outpatient settings
• Community and ambulatory care
• Aged care settings
• Private practice 
• Clinical Education and mentorship of speech pathology graduates
• University based training programs

Julia has a special interest in treating patients who present with chronic cough and vocal cord dysfunction, acquired speech, language and swallowing disorders, communication difficulties related to epilepsy and communication partner training for people with aphasia and their families.

• Certified Practicing member of Speech Pathology Australia (CPSP)
• Laryngology Society of Australia 
• Motor Neurone disease association
• Established outpatient language service for patient awaiting epilepsy surgery

Training/Qualifications 

• Bachelor of Speech Therapy
• Videofluoroscopic swallow study
• MBSimp certification
• Tracheostomy trained 
• Language Assessment during awake craniotomy
• PhoRTE voice therapy certification
• Clinical Education CBOS