The issue of speech and language therapy within the NHS has again reached the national stage this week. BBC News reported on the case of a Nottinghamshire family, whose son ñ Dylan – has autism: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/nottingham/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9386000/9386102.stm.The article discusses how Dylan’s speech and language input was ended as he reached the age of six, and how the local health authoritys financial cuts have forced the speech and language cut-off.
The MP for Dylan’s region ñ Vernon Coaker raised the subject of Dylan’s plight during Prime Minister’s Questions. The prime minister responded: “You have to make the fight.” When asked what he should say to Dylan’s mother Rachel, Mr Cameron replied: “I’m sure the honourable gentleman will work as hard as he possibly can to help that family to get the therapies that they need.î
He continued by saying, “We are producing a paper on special educational needs which will try and reform the ways these things are done and make it less confrontational, and that, “I know as a parent how incredibly tough it is sometimes to get what your family needs.”
Dylanís mother, Rachel, has spoken publicly about her concerns that without speech and language input, her son’s ability to communicate will be severely compromised. Dylan was receiving input from a speech and language therapist who visited his school, who had been setting targets for teaching staff to help support his communication. The local health authority states that teaching assistants at Dylan’s school have been trained in communication techniques. Rachel does not feel that teaching assistants can provide the same service, as they are not qualified and have their own workloads and role responsibilities to manage.
Mr Coaker states that “This is the human cost of the cuts that have been made and are being made. It simply is not acceptable that the most vulnerable pay the price. This is a young child whose needs were being met by the speech therapist and it is being taken away. It is cruel, it is wrong and it should be changed.”
Sarah Bennington February 2011
Written on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services. ITS is a private Speech and Language Therapy service based in Leicestershire and the East Midlands. It specialises in providing highly-skilled Speech and Language Therapists, but also associates with other therapeutic professionals, including Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists and Arts Therapists.
