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49
SPEECH THERAPY
During 1971, there has been a marked improvement in the speech therapy service provided in
Brent. Apart from a short period at Neasden Clinic, the establishment of the equivalent of 5 full-time therapists
has been complete throughout the twelve months. In addition, one of these posts has been upgraded to a
senior position, providing co-ordination and supervision of the service in general and the opportunity to
organise a special treatment programme during the school holidays.
School Health Clinics
Approximately 135 children have received speech therapy in school health clinics during 1971. In
addition some 250 children have been kept under observation and their progress in overcoming their speech
difficulties has been reviewed periodically. There remain a further 80 children awaiting assessment and treatment.
Further details of these figures can be found in Table I.
Speech therapy has continued in the eight clinics where it has been provided in previous years. In
addition two sessions have been introduced at the new Chalkhill Health Centre. The four sessions previously
held at Stonebridge Clinic have been transferred to the new Craven Park Health Centre. At both of these
new health centres a room is specifically set aside for speech therapy.
However there have been extreme difficulties in continuing the service provided in the Kingsbury
area, following the transfer from Stag Lane Library Clinic to the main clinic at 245 Stag Lane. In this busy
clinic there is little opportunity of finding a quiet room where school children with speech defects can be
treated without interruption. It is envisaged that the speech therapy service may have to be temporarily
suspended at this clinic until satisfactory accommodation can be provided.
Special Schools
The problems of inadequate accommodation and insufficient sessions still remain in the special schools,
with the exception of Grove Park. At present approximately 120 children within five special schools receive
regular treatment. A further 50 children are in need of treatment or additional treatment sessions. Details
of these figures are given in Table II.
The new extension built at the Manor School has slightly eased the problem of accommodation for
the speech therapist. But as the number of children within the school has increased, particularly in the
diagnostic classes, provision for a full-time therapist is already necessary.
Attempts have been made to establish a speech therapy service at Balnacraig Special Care Unit.
Initially it was planned that this should be undertaken by the therapist working at Neasden Clinic. But
when the unit was rehoused at Ashley Gardens other arrangements had to be made. At present the therapist
from College Road Clinic visits the unit regularly to discuss the problems of these children, with regard to
their speech and language difficulties, with the staff. It is hoped that a more permanent arrangement can be
made in the near future since at least 10 children in this unit are considered to be suitable for treatment.
Day Nurseries
During 1971, the day nurseries in the Borough have been contacted by the speech therapists in
their areas. This new extension of the service is considered necessary since many of these children may, for
social reasons, have delayed language development. In addition, handicapped pre-school children are often
placed in these day nurseries and the close liaison between therapist and nursery will benefit both the staff
and the children concerned.
'The summer group': a programme of intensive treatment
A further innovation this year has been the programme of intensive treatment which took place at
Stonebridge Clinic during the month of August. Many mothers find difficulty bringing young children to the
clinic sufficiently frequently, on a weekly basis, for their treatment to be successful. This was found particularly
among pre-school children with severe language retardation.
Six children, between the ages of 3½ years and 4½ years and living in the Stonebridge area, were
therefore selected to attend the clinic each morning between 10 a.m. and 12 noon. The children were collected
and returned home by council transport. Two therapists jointlv organised and ran the group, each in turn acting
as a coach guide to provide a link with the parent at home. The mother of each child had already attended
the clinic when the child was individually assessed, prior to the first group session and the aims of the
treatment programme were explained to her. In every case she was very pleased that these arrangements were
being made.
The aims of treatment were as follows:
1. to encourage the children to mix with others of similar age.
2. to stimulate verbal communication within the group.
3. to develop and improve basic language structures.
4. to establish and increase spoken vocabulary.
Treatment was presented very informally bv means of games, stories, songs and various activities in
which the children were encouraged to take part. Nursery furniture and equipment was borrowed from other
clinics within the Borough for use during the sessions. A portable cassette tape-recorder was used to great
advantage.
On re-assessment, all the children were found to have improved in varying degrees, both in their
social adjustment to the group and their use of verbal communication. One little boy who was particularly
withdrawn and who, at first, would not leave his mother's side, gained a great deal of self-confidence and
became quite talkative as tape recordings made during the final sessions have illustrated. As a result of the
close daily contact with the children, some other problems relating to delayed development in other areas
have shown up and. in these cases, the children have been referred for further specialised assessment.