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Speech Therapy Clinics
It will be readily appreciated that defective speech, even of a minor degree, by
virtue of its interference with communication presents considerable difficulty in the
education of a child.
As in the case of all handicaps, the aim is to discover this before school life
begins. This is usually achieved since, if a toddler's speech is not developing
normally, he is generally brought by his mother to an Infant Welfare Clinic. It may be,
however, that a child does reach school age with defective speech, in which case he
will probably be referred by his teacher or be discovered at the initial medical
examination. The child is then seen by one of the Council's medical officers who has
particular experience in this field. A full investigation will be carried out to ensure
that the correct diagnosis is that of defective speech, and is not complicated by
such features as deafness or low intelligence, both of which can first come to light
as a "speech defect". The child will then be referred to one of the Council's speech
therapists, sessions being held at most clinics.
Should a child's speech defect be of such a severe nature as to interfere with
his education, he may be admitted to Brentside Speech Class which is at Brentside
Infants' School. This is a special class within an ordinary school and caters for up
to 10 pupils at ages ranging from approximately four to seven years. Two speech
therapists attend the class for a total of four sessions per week. The children are
treated individually and tape recordings are made regularly as a record of progress.
Also a written speech analysis is made once a term. The class teacher and speech
therapists work closely together, and speech work is incorporated into every aspect
of learning. This class has been very successful in helping children to enter or
return to normal school with greatly improved speech.
Diagnosis
The following types of defect were encountered during the year:-
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