Armidale workshops to target childhood speech difficulties
16 February 2009
Teachers and child care workers are being encouraged to take part in a series of Pre-School Communication Workshops being held in Armidale this month.
The workshops start on Wednesday, 18 February and will be lead by paediatric speech pathologists from Armidale Community Health Centre.
The aim of the workshops is to provide pre-school and day care staff with information about how to identify children with speech or language difficulties, and how to create programs to suit their needs.
The Pre-School Communication Workshops will be held on four consecutive Wednesdays from 5pm to 6.30pm: February 18, February 25, March 4 and March 11.
Each workshop session will cover a different topic. These will include: typical speech and language development; identification of speech and language difficulties; management of speech difficulties; and management of language difficulties.
Armidale Community Health Centre Speech Pathologist, Jessica Clarke, said previous workshops had proven to be a highly effective way of training teachers to conduct correct speech and language screenings.
“By providing targeted education and advice about how to identify speech and language difficulties, it enables teachers and child care workers to make appropriate referrals to health care support services,” Ms Clarke said.
“Speech disorders can occur for many reasons - accordingly, there are a wide range of strategies used to help establish or re-establish functional communication that will promote a person’s independence. The workshops outline some of the strategies which are designed specifically for children.”
Places in the workshops are limited to 20 people, and participants must be able to attend all four sessions. Total cost for the workshops is $40, with payments to be made by Wednesday 18 February.
For more details contact Jessica Clarke at Armidale Community Health Centre on (02) 6776 9600.
(HNE-1734)
Contact: Carisa Green
Phone: (02) 6767 7135 or 0428 106 183