View report page

110
Speech Therapy
There have been no farther developments in the speech
therapy service during 1972. One full time therapist resigned
in February and her replacement took up her appointment in September.
It was unfortunately necessary to discontinue the speech therapy
programme at the Mult Training Centre during this time but this
has now been resumed, the therapist working as a member of the
team concerned with the overall provision for trainees at the
Centre.
Medical officers and health visitors have co-operated in
the work of identifying children who develop speech late, and early
referral to speech therapists for diagnosis, therapy and parent
guidance is of very great value. From these young children are
selected the severely speech handicapped children who are referred
to the advisory panel consisting of a senior medical officer,
consultant psychiatrist, educational psychologist, psychiatric
social worker, head teacher and senior education assistant, to
consider admission to the Speech Therapy Unit at Buckland Infants
School. This unit has now been in operation for over a year and
the children have responded well to daily therapy and are also
reported to be making educational progress.
Therapy is provided for groups of pre-school age children
in those clinics which have room available and parents are finding
this a useful service and it allays some of their own anxiety.
With an increase in the numbers of school children referred for
therapy,waiting lists began to build up at some clinics and wherever
possible those have been reduced by grouping children for therapy.
An application has been made for an increase in the establishment
of speech therapists to allow therapy to be provided at the newly
opened partially hearing unit and to allow for an increased provision
of sessions at St.Philip's School where there are 14 children
requiring intensive therapy and 36 children with minor speech defects.
It would also be possible to provide farther therapy at Bedelsford
School which has an increased number of young children with very
delayed speech and language development, and at Dysart School where
frequent therapy is advisable to ensure that progress is maintained.