Role Of Parents In Speech Therapy

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31672, 7 May 1968, Page 23

Role Of Parents In Speech Therapy

Parents, especially mothers, were vitally involved in speech therapy for children, Mr A. Van der Linden, an Auckland speech therapist, said in a paper presented to the biennial conference and refresher course of the New Zealand Speech Therapists’ Association in Christchurch yesterday.

Mr Van der Linden discussed parent counselling and home help as opposed to clinical treatment of pre-school children with functional speech disorders. The help of the speech therapists in increasing the effect of the mother’s approach to the speech defect through helping her to gain more understanding of the problem and giving her an active part in its alleviation, would be of immense benefit to both mother and child, he said.

“The general purpose behind any action programme should be primarily the speech and communication needs of the child, but also his emotional, social and intellectual well-being." The current practices and principles being followed in the United Kingdom in providing for the needs of the handicapped child, were outlined in a paper presented by Mr D. B. Holdgate, adviser in speech therapy in Christchurch. Mr Holdgate, who made a study visit to the United Kingdom in 1966 as the travelling bursar for the New Zealand Crippled Children Society, also gave a brief summary of the post-graduate speech therapy diploma

course he attended at Reading University. The three • year teacher training course and its relationship with speech therapy was discussed by Dr J. Seabrook, senior lecturer in Special Education at the Christchurch Teachers’ College, and director for speech therapy in New Zealand.