For all of us, being able to communicate is a fundamental part of our ability to be a part of our communities, workplaces, and families. Regular speech and language therapy gives our young people the opportunity to further develop their speech and language skills, enabling them to go on to achieve far more than might otherwise have been possible for them, and to become much better integrated into our community.

One of the main areas of need for our children is in the area of communication. All children/young people with Downs syndrome will have some level of learning disability and some difficulty with speech and language.

22 years ago, the group were so concerned at the amount of speech therapy offered (once a term at best), that we entered into a Service Level Agreement with the Local Authority, to set up weekly speech and language therapy groups with a specialist therapist for our children and young people. These sessions are run for 39 weeks of the year (term time only).

The difference this has made to them all has been astounding. We insist that a parent/carer attends with the child/young person, and we encourage the childs teaching assistant from school attends too. This ensures that any work done in the group sessions can be carried on at home and school.

Speech therapy needs to become part of their everyday routine and brought into everyday situations. Its about making it fun and normal, not different. The ability to communicate is such a basic need, it enables our children and young people to communicate choice, feelings, needs and allows them to socialise and in turn speak for themselves.

We have seen speech and language therapy transform the lives and prospects of our children and young people. This project is our biggest spend on an annual basis, costing us in the region of £40,000 per year. We do not charge our families for this service as we need to ensure that it is accessible to all our families and that no one is excluded on the grounds of income.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you have any questions, please get in touch with us.