The Necessity for Speech Therapy among Children

During the last five years 48 children, suffering from speech defects, were discovered at Infant Welfare Centres and at medical inspections, and were sent for treatment to the Speech Therapist attached to the Psychiatric Department at the Royal Victoria and West Hants Hospital, Bournemouth. This procedure now finds its confirmation in the Statutory Rules and Orders, 1945, No. 1076, dealing with handicapped pupils and the School Health Service. In the Education Act, 1944, under the heading " Special Methods of Education " it is stipulated that " the methods of special educational treatment to be provided forhandicapped pupils attending ordinary schools shall include, in addition to special attention by the teacher for a pupil suffering from speech defect, other than an aphasic pupil, special training and treatment by a duly Qualified speech therapist In this article it is proposed to consider only three types of speech abnormality, namely, Alalia, Dyslalia, and Stammer. The term Alalia is used to describe the state of a child over 2\ years of age who makes no attempt to speak, beyond one or two words, but who shows no other evidence of mental defect, and no signs of deafness. The reason for excluding from consideration the Dysphonias and the neuiological speech defects ls that, among the cases under review, there were only seven dysphonias?all post cleft palates?and three childern suffering from speech defects of neurological origin. The effect of a speech defect on the child's adjustment to school life is as follows: