Welcome to Designed 2 Shine Speech Pathology’s first blog! We are now almost through the first month of 2013. I am back into the swing of things and ready to help you with any needs relating to speech, language and communication. I spent some time travelling over the Christmas holidays, including a couple of weeks working with a hospital and community health centre in North India. What an amazing experience! I really enjoyed meeting the local people and working somewhere where they have never had a speech pathologist. In some ways it was sad. Some children were teenagers and where only now seeing a speech pathologist for the first time. They could have benefited from speech therapy years ago. But the difficulties some children face are the same worldwide – whether it be issues relating to isolated speech and language difficulties, stuttering, selective mutism, cleft palate, autism, or cerebral palsy. It reminded me how privileged we are to live in a country where health services are readily available (most of the time anyway) – and not only that, but there is an awareness of their value. Here there is an understanding of the importance of early intervention, and children with complex needs consequently reap the benefits throughout their entire life. Early intervention enables them to have improved function and ability, and therefore an enhanced quality of life. In some countries, disabilities are considered a ‘curse’ and can limit the amount of help and attention children with complex needs receive.
On a different note, people in North India get to experience some of the most spectacular views every day – they are surrounded by beautiful, lush mountains; stunning bright, blue birds; and eagles soaring over the mountains. They get to see firsthand the Himalaya’s covered in snow, which is truly amazing! I believe wherever we are in this world, there is always something we can learn from cultures different to our own.
I will be using this space to share with you relevant or interesting information about different topics relating to communication. If you have any areas of interest that you would like to know about, feel free to let me know. I’ll do my best to cover it in a future blog!