MOE Learning Support staff are telling parents their children are "too old" for speech-language therapy, despite this not being an evidence- or policy-based approach.
OMG 😱😥 Firstly, I think you are correct that staff are trying to manage their $$ resources & are deliberately misleading parents - I have some sympathy for them, but well-established historical precedent is that the only way to affect change (in this case have a hope of getting more funding) is to be transparent as to what the problem is. If parents were told "our funding has been cut & so we are concentrating on younger children where we hope we can make the most difference, but if we had the funds we would absolutely work with your older child", then parents would have the truth & be able to write articles, write to MP's, band together in support groups etc. As it is ⁉️
👍Thanks for elevating this - I don't need a child needing this resource to know it should be available to childen of ALL ages, because it is beneficial for them individually but also ALL OF US when they go out into the world being able to be their best 🫂
Thanks Cindy. I agree - the lack of honesty and transparency is a real issue. Liek you say, it prevents parents and orgs from doing that much needed advocacy work to increase funding and support. Instead over 20 years the available resourcing has gradually shrunk and been whittled away, and parents told their child can't be helped - which prevents even seeking private assistance!
My youngest received some MOE SLT support when she was 7yo, but discharged because her speech was within what they considered acceptable. This really surprised the specialist who assessed her with autism and mild intellectual disability, both of which are evident in her speech.. but there we are. And as usual, I can't use her IF to pay for the support MOE and MOH won't provide.
Quite timely for me after I've been told this year by a paediatrician and the learning support teacher at school that my 10 year old in AKL is too old for SLT. I accepted uncritically what they told me.
It's hard to pin down when his speech issues started, but we certainly became aware of them during the lockdowns, when it was extremely difficult to get attention anyway. I imagine there will be a LOT of kids in that same situation, not at school much for the first couple of years and then told they're too old to get support.
OMG 😱😥 Firstly, I think you are correct that staff are trying to manage their $$ resources & are deliberately misleading parents - I have some sympathy for them, but well-established historical precedent is that the only way to affect change (in this case have a hope of getting more funding) is to be transparent as to what the problem is. If parents were told "our funding has been cut & so we are concentrating on younger children where we hope we can make the most difference, but if we had the funds we would absolutely work with your older child", then parents would have the truth & be able to write articles, write to MP's, band together in support groups etc. As it is ⁉️
👍Thanks for elevating this - I don't need a child needing this resource to know it should be available to childen of ALL ages, because it is beneficial for them individually but also ALL OF US when they go out into the world being able to be their best 🫂
Thanks Cindy. I agree - the lack of honesty and transparency is a real issue. Liek you say, it prevents parents and orgs from doing that much needed advocacy work to increase funding and support. Instead over 20 years the available resourcing has gradually shrunk and been whittled away, and parents told their child can't be helped - which prevents even seeking private assistance!
My youngest received some MOE SLT support when she was 7yo, but discharged because her speech was within what they considered acceptable. This really surprised the specialist who assessed her with autism and mild intellectual disability, both of which are evident in her speech.. but there we are. And as usual, I can't use her IF to pay for the support MOE and MOH won't provide.
(The assessment was private btw.. because again, the timeframe and criteria for MOH support were impenetrable)
Quite timely for me after I've been told this year by a paediatrician and the learning support teacher at school that my 10 year old in AKL is too old for SLT. I accepted uncritically what they told me.
It's hard to pin down when his speech issues started, but we certainly became aware of them during the lockdowns, when it was extremely difficult to get attention anyway. I imagine there will be a LOT of kids in that same situation, not at school much for the first couple of years and then told they're too old to get support.