Speech-language Therapist

Speech-language therapists are employed by the Ministry of Education, Special Education (GSE), other fundholders of government money such as special schools, some schools with special education units, and early intervention Accredited Service Providers (ASPs).

Making a difference with speech-language therapy

Ministry of Education, Special Education (GSE) speech-language therapist Pip had no idea what speech-language therapy was when she first started thinking about her career choices more than 10 years ago.

Yet, today, after several years' study and work experience, Pip is a qualified speech-language therapist employed by GSE in Wellington.

"Mine's an awesome job. It's great to have found something both rewarding and challenging - I'd always wanted to provide a service and to make a difference in people's lives. And, that's what I strive to do each day," she says.

In summary, Pip's job is to assess and treat the severe communication needs of school children aged between five and 21.

She does this by helping children develop their speech (the sounds they make and how they produce them) and by helping them express and understand spoken language (the content of what they say and the way they say it).

"Many of us take it for granted, but communication is an essential part of our ability to learn and relate to the world around us," says Pip.

And, in part, that's why Pip finds her job so fulfilling.

"For me, it's a privilege to be part of a child's life for a period of time - to work with their families, their teachers and the range of people who care for and support that child."

"It's tremendously rewarding to see what can be achieved when we all pool our expertise and resources."

For example, Matt (not his real name), a five-year-old who Pip works with, used to find it very difficult to speak. He struggled to be understood more than 70 percent of the time.

After about a year of working together, Matt's speech and language is improving. For example, his awareness of the way he produces sound has improved, his vocab has developed, and he has learned new ways to make sure he's understood by others.

And Pip, Matt's mum and Matt's wider support team continue to learn a lot about the complexity and nature of Matt's communication needs and how to best to help him learn and develop.

Pip attributes Matt's steady progress to his personal determination and to his classroom teacher and mum's willingness to be involved in his therapy. As a team, they regularly meet to discuss the different ways they will support Matt in the classroom and at home.

They note their ever-changing roles and responsibilities in a document called an individual education plan. And, as they work together to monitor and evaluate Matt's progress, the plan is updated and new meetings are convened to discuss what to do next.

In addition, Pip sometimes meets Matt's mum at home to demonstrate Matt's daily at-home therapy sessions.

At the moment, Matt and his mum practise one new speech sound a week. They practise in the car, at the park and in the bath. And often learning exercises are made into fun games for Matt to enjoy.

Matt's teacher, on the other hand, uses the exercises as part of her everyday teaching involving the whole class - making Matt feel less of an outsider and ensuring all his peers have the chance to develop their speech-language skills too.

Pip says this is an ideal way of working.

"To me, it's important to share my knowledge with the people who feature regularly in a child's life. It's important they combine my knowledge with their own expertise because that's what makes the difference in the end - all of us working together with a common goal."

Pip's training and qualifications

Pip trained in the United Kingdom before moving to New Zealand in 2001. She has an honours degree in human communication and a licence to practise as a speech-language therapist. She is a member of the New Zealand Speech-Language Therapists' Association.

Working with Pip - the process

Pip usually starts working with a child or young person after they are referred to GSE by their teacher, parent, or health or early intervention specialist.

All referrals are discussed with a child's parents.

Once referred, children and young people are observed and assessed by Pip in a one-on-one, classroom and (very occasionally) home context. (Sometimes children who are referred need to wait for an assessment to be done. The length of this waiting time varies around the country.)

Pip looks for severe communication needs. That's because a child or young person who is going to school must have severe speech-language needs to be eligible for her support.

Pip works closely with a child or young person's wider support team during each step of the process. A child's support team can be made up of their mum, dad, teachers, caregivers, wider whānau or other specialists.

Following Pip's observations and assessment, she writes a report that either recommends the Ministry's speech-language service or suggests another service better able to meet the child's needs such as the resource teacher: learning and behaviour (RTLB) service.

For children eligible to receive her support, Pip prepares a communication programme which she provides to the child's support team for feedback and ideas.

Eventually, the programme is finalised and becomes part of the child's individual education plan (an individual education plan is sometimes made up of several programmes each tailored to meet a child's different learning needs).

Next, the communication programme's actions, strategies and exercises are carried out by a child and their support team. Everyone works together to monitor, review and adapt the programme for as long as the child needs and as long as the child is eligible for Pip's service.

Working with speech-language therapists - a point to note

Speech-language therapists work in both early childhood education and with school-age children. In early childhood GSE speech-language therapists work with children who have moderate and severe communication needs. Once a child goes to school they only work with those children who have severe communication needs.

Therapists adapt the way they work to suit the needs of individual children and young people, the needs of families, whānau, educators and specialists, and to suit the context in which children and young people live and learn. They may also adapt the way they work as new research evidence emerges and as their knowledge and experience grows.