Speech Therapy: Stop the Silence

Preparation:

The course organisers will send to the participants a list of materials related to the course topic that they can read in order to prepare for the course . The organisers will assist the participants if they need information related to the accommodation, plane tickets or other necessary details.

Course description

The course gives insight about the speech therapy as a part of special education. Speech therapy is type of therapy aimed at children having a problem with certain speech or language skills. Speech therapy is the treatment for most children with speech or language disorders. However, there are many types of speech disorders, and it is important to initially make a right diagnosis. This course will give basic instructions how to deal with the most common disorders: articulation, fluency and voice disorders; receptive, expressive and cognitive – communication disorders; dysphagia/oral feeding disorders. The trainer will present theoretical part of the speech therapy, but the emphasis will be on the practical exercises with children with speech disorders. 

 Methodology:

• Language intervention activities;
• Articulation therapy;
• Ice – breaking and warm – up sessions;
• Energisers;
• Oral – motor/feeding and swallowing therapy;
• Group discussions;
• Debates;
• Case – study;Questionnaires

Objectives

• Learning about the speech therapy as an integral part of special education;
  
• Providing advice and guidance on how to work with speech – challenged child;
  
• Understanding the importance of providing speech therapies for children;
  
• Learning about the basic terminology of speech therapy, and how to differentiate the types of speech disorders
  
• Improving communication skills
  
• Developing skills to work with children with special needs
  
• Learning about the importance of parental involvement
  
• Provide teachers with strategies how to help students to overcome a speech or language disorder
  
• Getting teachers familiar with latest trends in speech therapy

• Familiarizing with the strategies of speech therapy
• Practical approaches on how to help children with special needs in areas of speech and language
• Networking with teachers from various European countries about the challenges of speech therapy
• Bring positive and long-lasting effects on the trainees involved and synergy activities
• Encouragement of sharing best practices, ideas and materials between colleagues within the EU
• Improvement of teaching and learning of languages and promotion the EU's broad linguistic diversity and intercultural awareness
• Development of tools and techniques for helping children with problems in speech area
• Building a network of teachers for future cooperation and increase capacity to cooperate on international level
• See and analyse examples of good practice in speech therapy
• Improvement of language and communication skills
• Increased capacity to cooperate on international level
• Enhanced intercultural awareness
• Internationalisation at the level of education
• Broader understanding of practices, policies and systems in special education

Follow-up

Trainees will be given soft and hard copies of all lesson materials, which they can present to their colleagues in their own organizations to generate interest in project writing. In addition, a mailing list of participants will be created in order to exchange ideas/experiences. At the end of the course the participants will fill in a questionnaire in order to get a detailed feedback for the effectiveness of the training event.

Programme of training activities day-by-day:

Day 1 – MONDAY 

• Welcome and registration;
• Introduction to speech therapy course
• Speech therapy as a part of special education
• Key terminology related to speech therapy

Day 2 – TUESDAY 

• Types of communication disorders
• Cognitive – communication disorders
• Voice disorders and swallowing disorders
• Diagnosis and treatment

Day 3 – WENDESDAY 

• Articulation and fluency
• Word – finding and other semantic issues
• Social communication difficulties
• The importance of involvement ; integrating children with speech difficulties in the society is the best form of inclusion

Day 4 – THURSDAY 

• Structural language impairment – practical exercises
• Syntax and morphology – the most common challenges
• Literacy impairments (reading and writing)

Day 5 – FRIDAY 

• Voice difficulties – overcoming the most common difficulties
• Cognitive impairments that interfere with communication
• Receptive and expressive language disorders; the difference
• Childhood apraxia of speech

Days 6/7 – SATURDAY and SUNDAY Workshops and Cultural/Sightseeing Activities

Day 8 – Monday 

• Examples of good practices from European schools
• Case study of speech disorder; discussion
• The role of SLPs (Speech-language pathologist)

Day 9 – Tuesday 

• The importance of parental involvement
• How to find a good therapist for your child
• At-home stimulation activities

Day 10 – Wednesday

• Feedback, course evaluation and dissemination focus
• Awarding certificates of attendance