Early Intervention is Key

The ability for our children to communicate, to connect with loved ones and neighbours, can be greatly affected by minor linguistic roadblocks like lisps, or more serious developmental disabilities like autism. Regardless of the diagnosis, the impact on communication can be devastating for those with speech and language difficulties, and their families. Some are fortunate enough to benefit from private health plans that may offset the cost of speech language pathology (SLP), but most spend months, if not years of waiting for scarce publicly-funded services.

Though there is little data on SLP service delays in Canada, some have reported waiting nearly two years for treatment. When a family finally reaches the top of the list, they are granted little choice in who treats their child and when. If, for whatever reason, the allotted appointment isn’t convenient, families are returned to the bottom of the wait list and the child’s health suffers.

By contrast, families of children with autism in Alberta receive $20,000 per year to help pay for various costly treatments. This would be incentive enough for some Toronto families to consider relocation, as the only option for most Ontarians is to somehow manage to cover the extensive costs or take the risky wait-and-see approach.

Between the University of Toronto, Western University, and the University of Ottawa, there are upwards of 100 speech-language pathologists graduating every year in this province. The Ontario Special Needs Strategy has invested millions in accessibility of services yet public sector SLP hiring remains limited and wait times continue to increase. Children, of course, are greatly disadvantaged as early intervention before kindergarten is key.

Diagnosing and treating developmental disabilities as soon as possible can dramatically benefit these children. Aside from assessment and treatment, SLPs educate caregivers and provide families with support and strategies to manage their child’s speech or language difficulties to boost academic success. Children who have been diagnosed with autism early, between 18-30 months of age, and have received two years of behaviour intervention with concurrent SLP services have been shown to make significant gains in expressive language, receptive language and social communication.

When services are provided, it is offered as short-term therapy consisting of a minimal number of sessions. To put things in perspective, it takes 12 sessions to treat one speech sound (i.e., ‘L’). Most children seeking therapy, however, have multiple speech and language goals, or may require long-term support for developmental disorders.

Ontario’s Special Needs Strategy has invested millions in the cause, and into the Preschool Speech and Language program. SLP program sizes are on the rise across the province. This, on the surface, should be good news.

Even with investment, coordination and an abundance of eager graduates in place, there are still too many barriers preventing children from receiving prompt intensive treatment. Perhaps a structural change is necessary.

Restrictions imposed on private SLPs by the public system leave these increasingly indispensable professionals unable to provide adequate classroom support to students and teachers. Children are being forced to wait for services and with every passing day, their chances of reaching their full potential are diminished.

The lack of an efficient system of evaluation of and treatment for developmental disorders is approaching a crisis point and perhaps some inter-provincial cooperation could bear fruit for Ontario children. Alberta’s government seems less preoccupied with creating cumbersome structures and more inclined to empower parents to make the best choices possible for their children.

This is a fundamental difference in approach, and – ideology aside – Alberta’s is objectively more beneficial for parents. Ontario would be wise to consider a more efficient model that would provide parents with peace of mind and their children with the greatest opportunities possible to thrive.

Tamara Paull M.Sc, Speech-Language Pathologist, Reg. CASLPO