Helping more children, helping them sooner, helping them better
We are leading a coordinated, nationwide effort to create speech-language therapy services as readily available, affordable, and accessible for families of young children with Communication Disorders, so they can start school with intelligible speech, basic language skills, and literacy readiness - to give them the best chance at a successful life, just like other children.
We started the 'Communication Currency for Kids' initiative to enable meaningful action in this space. The 'Communication Currency for Kids' initiative is funded on a pay-it-forward basis with 100% of contributions from financial partners as well as 100% of fees we receive for initial appointments and presently affords the subsidy and free screening programmes below.
We started the 'Communication Currency for Kids' initiative to enable meaningful action in this space. The 'Communication Currency for Kids' initiative is funded on a pay-it-forward basis with 100% of contributions from financial partners as well as 100% of fees we receive for initial appointments and presently affords the subsidy and free screening programmes below.
Subsidies for eligible children and families
We recognise that cost can be a barrier to accessing an appropriate level of service for many families and are therefore offering the following two subsidies:
Front End Subsidy = $40 initial appointment
The front end subsidy is automatically applied when eligible families book now. It is a high-trust subsidy intended for families who do not have access to any outside funding to cover the cost of speech-language therapy at the time of their initial appointment AND whose children fit into one of the groups of vulnerable children as identified by the NZ Children's Commissioner:
Backstop Subsidy = sliding scale fees based on material standard of living
The Backstop Subsidy is also intended for families / whanau / kaaiga who do not have access to any outside funding to help pay for the cost of speech-language therapy. This can be a short-term subsidy while families test their eligibility for other potentially available funding. It can also be a longer term subsidy to help pay for the cost of ongoing speech-language therapy, if for some reason that other funding ultimately does not become available. We will actively discuss your situation and the formal process for applying for a long term subsidy with you, and we will provide a Backstop Subsidy Application Form for you to complete.
To ensure subsidy decisions are as objective and consistent as possible, all families who apply for the backstop subsidy will be asked to provide basic details regarding their household size, household income, and material wellbeing in order to establish their standard of living in relation to the material hardship measure and the thresholds that Statistics NZ uses to measure child poverty.
Front End Subsidy = $40 initial appointment
The front end subsidy is automatically applied when eligible families book now. It is a high-trust subsidy intended for families who do not have access to any outside funding to cover the cost of speech-language therapy at the time of their initial appointment AND whose children fit into one of the groups of vulnerable children as identified by the NZ Children's Commissioner:
- Very young children (under 5)
- Maori tamariki and Pasifika fanau
- Children in sole-parent families
- Children living in (severe and persistent) poverty
Backstop Subsidy = sliding scale fees based on material standard of living
The Backstop Subsidy is also intended for families / whanau / kaaiga who do not have access to any outside funding to help pay for the cost of speech-language therapy. This can be a short-term subsidy while families test their eligibility for other potentially available funding. It can also be a longer term subsidy to help pay for the cost of ongoing speech-language therapy, if for some reason that other funding ultimately does not become available. We will actively discuss your situation and the formal process for applying for a long term subsidy with you, and we will provide a Backstop Subsidy Application Form for you to complete.
To ensure subsidy decisions are as objective and consistent as possible, all families who apply for the backstop subsidy will be asked to provide basic details regarding their household size, household income, and material wellbeing in order to establish their standard of living in relation to the material hardship measure and the thresholds that Statistics NZ uses to measure child poverty.
Free 4-year-old communication screening
We believe there is a duty of care to actively seek and find children with at-risk speech and language development, because a child's oral language at school entry is the greatest predictor of their success at school and in adulthood, and because early identification and early intervention lead to better outcomes for children with Communication Disorders.
We advocate that the best way to identify children at risk of Communication Disorders is through systematic, comprehensive communication screening using a standardised test specifically desgined to do a good job of identifying these children.
So, we are getting ready to launch a free, before school communication screening programme for children in the Palmerston North City Council area - watch this space!
We advocate that the best way to identify children at risk of Communication Disorders is through systematic, comprehensive communication screening using a standardised test specifically desgined to do a good job of identifying these children.
So, we are getting ready to launch a free, before school communication screening programme for children in the Palmerston North City Council area - watch this space!
Acknowledging our Te Tiriti O Waitangi obligations and shortcomings
We acknowledge that the speech-language therapy profession has a long way to go to enable equity for Maori tamariki and whanau, for example: Currently there are insufficient Maori Speech-Language Therapists, there has been inadequate research into Maori speech and language development, and there is a lack of evidence-based, culturally appropriate Maori speech and language screening and assessment tools.
Our next step in this space will be to reach out and begin actively relationship building and consulting with local iwi and whanau and with local Maori health and education services; to seek to understand what they would like speech-language therapy services for themselves and their tamariki to look like and to work toward the possibility of designing something together.
We can't wait for the collective effort to enable equitable access and equitable outcomes for ALL children / tamariki with Communication Disorders, and for there to be financial backing to fund critical Te Reo Maori research and offer scholarships for Maori speech-language therapy students to create that there are Maori assessment methods, Maori speech and language norms, and Maori Kaiwhakatikatika Reo Korero to work with Maori tamariki and their whanau!
Our next step in this space will be to reach out and begin actively relationship building and consulting with local iwi and whanau and with local Maori health and education services; to seek to understand what they would like speech-language therapy services for themselves and their tamariki to look like and to work toward the possibility of designing something together.
We can't wait for the collective effort to enable equitable access and equitable outcomes for ALL children / tamariki with Communication Disorders, and for there to be financial backing to fund critical Te Reo Maori research and offer scholarships for Maori speech-language therapy students to create that there are Maori assessment methods, Maori speech and language norms, and Maori Kaiwhakatikatika Reo Korero to work with Maori tamariki and their whanau!
