The Guardian recently conducted a cross-panel of views from key people involved in policy change around disability. This included representatives from government, charity, health and academia. You can read the article in full here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/public-leaders-network/2011/aug/19/support-services-disabled-children
The article focuses on support services for children who are deaf or have a hearing impairment, but many of the participants discuss support services for children with a range of disabilities, including those in need or receipt of speech and language therapy.
Sarah Teather, Children’s Minister, Department for Education, said that the new green paper, set out in March, aims to make the biggest changes in 30 years to ensure that children’s needs are identified earlier and families receive the support they require. Ms Teather states that one of the green paper’s biggest aims is to ensure education, health and social services work jointly, as often it is unclear which service is responsible for delivering the statement of support. This can mean that children often do not receive the full amount of support that they are entitled to, or that they face very long delays in accessing their support.
Ms Teather states that changes would be made to current ’statements’, and would be replaced by an ‘education, health and care plan’ that explicitly states which service is responsible for providing support. This is to reflect the family’s wishes from birth to 25 years. She also notes that the green paper will aim to help develop teacher’s skills so that they have the specialist knowledge required to support children with disabilities.
Ann Baxter, Chair of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services’ (ADCS) Health, Care and Additional Needs Committee, said that services must be delivered flexibly – that although some families will welcome personal budgets, others will be daunted by the decision making. She notes that ADCS will also be working with the new clinical commissioning consortia, as well as schools and early years settings to ensure that “all partners recognise and contribute to the services required by children with particular disabilities and additional needs”.
Professor Adrian Davis, director of the NHS newborn hearing screening programme, said that newborn hearing screening “affords the best opportunity for a positive start in life for the development of language and communication”, and that early identification is paramount, followed by support from relevant professionals.
If you feel that your child may benefit from speech and language therapy or support with their communication in general, Integrated Treatment Services can be of help. Contact us here: https://integratedtreatmentservices.co.uk/contact-us/enquiry/
Sarah Bennington, August 2011
Written on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services. Integrated Treatment Services 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.
