Author: Anjali Nunes | Mar 09, 2016
The term ‘Speech Therapy’ is indeed a misleading one at that! Almost all families who are referred for ‘Speech Therapy’ believe that a speech therapist will help any and all children gain the much sought-after milestone of language and speech. A majority of children with different disabilities do eventually gain some level of verbal communication be it use of single words, phrases or even the ability to have a conversation with others. However, there is also a group of children who will never gain verbal communication or speech and language. This could be for a variety of reasons. It is the speech therapist’s role to enable any child to ‘COMMUNICATE’ – this being the key word. While ‘communication’ for many directly equates to speech and language, communication also involves use of actions, eye contact, sign language etc. Hence for me, as a therapist, my sole focus is the children that I have the honour of working with and helping then find a voice even if that means the use of an Alternative and Augmentative Communication System. So if you are a parent of a child whose verbal communication hasn’t developed or is limited or else you know of a family who has such a child, don’t be inhibited by society and what others may think. Let us focus on who is important and help them find a voice.