Annemicke Kotze

I have been registered with the Health Professional Council of South Africa (HPCSA) since completing my studies in December 2020, whereafter I completed my community service year at Prof Z. K. Matthews hospital in Barkly West, in the rural Northern Cape.

Working and training in settings with high caseloads and limited resources has given me the opportunity to become more innovative, creative, and adaptable to ensure the best possible care for my patients. I believe that my ability to combine my empathetic, sensitive nature, my drive to make evidence-based decisions regarding patient intervention, and my high level of professionalism when interacting with patients, family members, and colleagues, is what sets me apart as a therapist from my peers.

Speech-Language Therapist for the Department of Health, Prof Z.K. Matthews Hospital, Barkly-West, Northern Cape. My caseload consisted of approximately 40% in‑, and 60% out‑patients with my responsibilities mainly surrounding:

In‑patients: The assessing, preventing, diagnosing, and treating of infant, pediatric, and/or adult feeding and swallowing disorders as well as communication impairments in the acute stage.

Out‑Patients: The addressing and providing of rehabilitating therapy for patients;

• with disorders and/or impairments related to speech sound production, voice, fluency, language comprehension, and expression, early literacy skills, pre‑linguistic and ‑verbal communication, paralinguistic communication as well as cognition.
• with hearing loss
• with behavioral problems
• in need of augmentative and alternative communication systems and/ or prosthetic or adaptive devices
• with swallowing and/or feeding disorders

My responsibilities also included:

• Family training, and ‑counseling
• The writing of assessments, referrals, and progress reports as well as developing and writing individualized home programs. 
• Collaborating with members of the multidisciplinary team when planning and implementing the intervention. 
• Developing a high‑risk infant referral clinic for patients born in the area
• Advocating for healthy lifestyle practices to prevent communication and swallowing disorders 
• Educating the public, the patients as well as patients' caregivers about communication and swallowing disorders.

Bachelor of Speech- Language and Hearing Therapy University of Stellenbosch 2017 - 2020

Honors in Speech-Language Therapy (thesis) University of Stellenbosch 2019 - 2020

Psychology III University of Stellenbosch 2016 - 2019

South African Certified Lactation Consultant (SACLC) University of Witwatersrand 2021 - 2022