Hundreds of disadvantaged and disabled Illawarra children are finding their voices thanks to an innovative program run by children's charity KidzWish.
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As part of Speech Pathology Week, KidzWish speech pathologist Susannah Jennings is spreading the word about the KidzSpeak program, which has helped more than 780 children.
The good work will continue thanks to a recent NSW government grant of $200,000, which will enable KidzWish to deliver a further 1500 hours of speech pathology services.
Ms Jennings said the first part of the program provided speech pathology services for children aged up to eight with a disability, either at KidzWish Place, Shell Cove or in their schools or homes. The second part of the program is a mobile service, where KidzWish speech pathologists visit childcare centres and preschools in disadvantaged areas of the Illawarra. So far, 23 centres have registered and 252 children aged five and under were assisted in the last financial year.
"We know children from low socioeconomic areas may be brought up in less of a language-rich environment," Ms Jennings said.
"So by going out to centres in these disadvantaged areas, we are aiming to try and build these children's communication skills before they start school.
"We are also upskilling the early childhood educators in these centres so they can continue to work with children to develop some of the key speech, language and social skills they will need for learning."
Ms Jennings said while communication disorders were more prevalent in Australia than conditions including diabetes or dementia, they remained largely invisible and underfunded.
She said about 13,000 Australians used electronic communication aids to get their message across, while one in five four-year-olds had difficulty understanding or using language.
"At any one time, 1.1 million Australians have difficulty with communication," Ms Jennings said. "The immediate impact for these people is frustration but long-term communication disorders can lead to learning difficulties, poor educational outcomes and reduced employment opportunities."
Ms Jennings said the theme of this year's Speech Pathology Week was "talk with me" and speech pathologists around the country were raising awareness of the work they did.
"As well as working with children to improve their communication skills, speech pathologists work with people who have difficulty communicating because of developmental delays, intellectual disabilities, stroke, brain injuries, hearing loss and more," she said.