Friday 04/03/08 The I Can Parent Workshop

Despite the hospital consultant’s reassurance that M was just developmentally delayed, I was still very concerned about his speech and language. I am not an expert but, I felt that M had a big problem, based on the information I had gleaned concerning Speech delay versus speech disorder. The Dad and my family were convinced that M was simply acquiring speech at a slower pace, but school shared my concerns, in terms of the speech and communication deficit. I felt as if I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, but I knew that it was time to take direct action.

I was really impressed with the I Can website ‘Talking Point’ (details right hand side under useful links) I noticed that they were running a free parent workshop for parents of children with speech and communication disabilities. The Dad and I travelled to London to find out more about I Can and the Meath School. I was bowled over by the sheer number of parents who were in the same position as we were. For the first time we were actually able to speak and swop notes and ideas, with people who could understand exactly the difficulties we had faced.

The workshop covered general topics such the special education system, government policy concerning communication and language disability. There were also individual sessions on more specific issues. We chose sessions on effective communication and the impact of speech and language on behaviour and social communication. The tips we were given were fantastic. We now keep sentences short (max 8 words) and make sure we give instructions in the right order, such as ‘lunch, then shoes on, then park’. Parenting styles and letting you child lead also featured strongly.We learned that children with these difficulties have extremely low self esteem and immediately revised our reward system.

One of the things the Dad and still I didn’t agree on was whether M had a speech delay or a speech disorder. We were really impressed that the charity offered an assessment service, at their Meath School in Surrey. Children are observed over a two day period in a classroom setting. The team includes an educational psychologist, occupational therapist, care staff, a play therapist and a learning support assistant. My experience of our hospital diagnoses was that of a question and answer session with the parents, rather than a detailed observation of the child. I couldn’t shake off the worry that I may have understated M’s problems. At the Meath School, the child is looked at holistically, and in a situ rather than the slightly alien environment of a hospital. I came away determined to raise the funds and to have a ‘joined up’ approach from this inspirational team.