Why does Speech Pathology Matter?

Around 2% of all Australian children have a severe or profound limitation in regard to communication - almost 25,000 children.

A large group of children also show problems with one or more areas of communication:

• Speech
• Language
• Pragmatic Language
• Voice
• Fluency

Children with a communication disorder:

• are six times more likely to have difficulty with reading
• are likely to have reduced skills in other areas such as memory, vocabulary and comprehension.
• may also have compromised social communication skills
• show a greater tendency towards disengagement from school

August 7th-13th is Speech Pathology Week.

Speech Pathologists are specialists trained to assess, advise, treat and advocate for people with a communication impairment. 

 

References: Submission to the Inquiry into the prevalence of different types of speech, language, and communication disorders and speech pathology services in Australia.

Communication impairment in Australia - Speech Pathology Australia fact sheet.