Speech therapy need seen

Press, 25 February 1977, Page 6

Speech therapy need seen

New Zealand failed to re-; I cognise the importance of! I speech therapy for its adult population, a Canadian authority on speech therapy said I in Christchurch' yesterday. Professor E. Boberg, who isi ■ the head of the department of I ■speech pathology at the Uni-; 'versity of Alberta, said speech therapists in New i Zealand were placed in an impossible situation, because ; the training they received 1 was well below the standard required by most countries overseas, and there was an] inadequate number of speech therapists to meet the normal ■ demand of an adult population. It seemed to be unreasonable to expect a training course which devoted only ' two years to speech therapy■ [to meet the demands of the] [adult population, Professor' | Boberg said. Most overseas training! i courses were pf between four; to five years professional training in speech therapy, he said. “Your ■ >ple here are en-j thusiastic td try very hard to keep u , ith overseas developmen hut the lengthi i of their t ng jeopardises. their ch m to work morel (with adults.” i

I Professor Boberg said that! 'New Zealand hospitals' seemed somewhat reluctant; 'to employ speech therapists! (trained in this country, but if ; 'the training courses were ex-; tended to meet overseas, 'trends the hospitals would! lemplov more local people. ; "This would solve many. ' problems, not least among ■ which is that more speech, therapists would be available I to work with adults in hos-; pitals and clinics,” he said. Speech therapy could help many adults to lead a more normal life, and every large general hospital should have at least two speech therapists lo work with people under treatment for speech impairment caused by strokes, multiple sclerosis, and several other neurological diseases, , Professor Boberg said. ] The treatment of adults; with stuttering problems was * one area where there was an urgent need for more speech therapists, he said. i An estimated 21,000 people in New Zealand stuttered, but [it would be impossible to j treat all of these properly, because only eight speech' j therapists worked exclusively ,with adults. I Professor Boberg said that' I stuttering could have a pro-'

! found effect on a person’s |t 'life, and the speech problems [were only the tip of the ice- I | berg as far as the stutterer’s ■ j personal life was concerned.;! Often these people shaped;’ [their lives and aspirations, [around only those people 11 ■ with whom they felt at ease, i; They were often socially, vo-'i Jcationally, and academically j isolated. ! ' ■ ; “We live in a world where.' the majority of interactions: 1 1

rely on the ability to talk.] Anything that can be done to help people who have im-l paired speaking ability is therefore a major step for-| ward. “New Zealand certainly provides well for its schoolage children regarding speech therapy, but it will never] reach international standards until the same can be said of what it does for adults,” Professor Boberg said.