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According to Speech Pathology Australia, 1.1 million Australians have difficulty communicating.

Sunday August 25 marks the start of national Speech Pathology Week and Sydney speech pathologists Bec Lucas and Rebecca King are raising awareness about how children’s speech and language can affect their futures.

‘The statistics are very compelling’, said Bec Lucas, who is part of the children’s health team at Kids First Children’s Services in Brookvale.

‘Studies have shown that 20% of Australian four year olds have difficulty understanding or using language.’

“Children with a language impairment are also six times more likely to have a reading problem than kids who don’t.”

‘These kinds of figures are frightening, but sadly they paint a pretty accurate picture of the challenges kids with communication problems face in northern beaches preschools and schools today.’’

Rebecca King supports children aged 2 to 12 at Kids First and agreed that early intervention is the key to solving children’s communication problems.

“Children’s self-esteem, friendships and learning can take a battering when they can’t communicate as well as their peers at preschool or school’, she said.

“I recommend that parents of pre-schoolers closely monitor their child’s speech and language skills in the years before they go to school.”

“If a child’s difficulties can be overcome when they are three or four, they have a much better chance of being happy and successful at school.”

‘Early intervention can also reduce a child’s risk of joining the 14% of Australian 15 year olds who have only basic literacy skills and for whom later education and work choices become limited.”

The theme of 2013 Speech Pathology Week is ‘Start the Conversation about Communication.’

Speech Pathology Australia, the national body for professional speech pathologists, can help you to find a speech pathologist in your area. http://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/

For more information about paediatric speech pathology at Kids First Children’s Services, call  9938 55419 or visit www.kids-first.com.au

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  • My sons first year at school and we were told he would need some speech therapy. I was devastated, I didn’t even notice he was struggling! After a couple of visits, all was good, didn’t take long to fix at all

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  • My eldest needed speech and they did a great job got him back on track before starting school so that he wasn’t delayed.

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  • wow i always talk to my kids and sing with them and listen when they rave on with gibberish so this is a shocking statistic to see.

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  • Great read we are in the process of trying to see a speech therapist.

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  • I’m fighting so hard to get Speech therapy for my son who has autism – it’s so hard

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  • Good to know, thanks for sharing

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  • Good read thanks for the information

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  • I agree with the writings here and believe if your child isn’t talking properly by 3 then it is time to look deeper into why

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  • I think it also helps speech development to be around other adults with varying language skills too

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  • I have seen a lot of children that are very hard to understand and I think parents talk too much baby talk to them

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  • great article, i really enjoyed reading it

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  • Suspecting your child has a speech problem can be a scary and confusing time, a good speech therapist can often be worth her weight in gold!

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  • thanks for sharing was a good read

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  • My daughter had speech therapy and has really helped her a lot.

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  • thanks for sharing was a great read

    Reply

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