Press Release
MP Speaks Out For Speech Therapy Services For Children
During a Debate in the House of Commons about speech therapy services for children, Tom Clarke MP spoke out strongly in favour of more support for speech and language therapists to help children at school.
Tom Clarke said: ‘There is a general misunderstanding about communication and as a result children are often misdiagnosed as having a conduct or behaviour disorder when in fact they have an undiagnosed speech, language or communication difficulty. It is important for the Minister to pledge his support to ensuring that communication competency is embedded as a key performance indicator for school children.’
The MP continued: ‘I am aware that the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists working across the UK was established to improve the life chances of all people with speech, language and communication needs. The need for their service within society is increasing as the significance of this hidden disability is being understood and communication recognised as a key life skill and a basic human right. In America, communication disability is now recognised as the number one public health problem of the 21st century and therefore we need to address this issue as a matter of urgency’.
The MP added: ‘The ability to communicate is vital to all of us in order to get our needs met, form relationships, make choices, to learn new skills and access education. It is the most common disability seen in childhood, affecting up to 10% of children and is the underlying feature of many conditions such as Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Learning Difficulties and Asperger Syndrome. Indeed a report chaired by Commons Speaker John Bercow highlighted that in areas of deprivation, up to 55% of children start school without the speech and language skills needed to learn to read and write’.
Mr Clarke concluded: ‘Without adequate support, between 50% and 90% of children with persistent communication difficulties will experience subsequent reading challenges. Undiagnosed children entering secondary school will experience increasing difficulties as the curriculum becomes more abstract and reliant on complex reading and comprehension skills. Evidence shows that children are likely to develop associated behavioural problems. Research indicates that these children are being misdiagnosed as having conduct or behavioural difficulties, when in fact they have persistent communication difficulties’.