Every year Barnardo’s generates a report on the state of waiting lists for a range of children’s services, including Speech Therapy, Physical therapy and mental health services in Ireland. Children are waiting up to a year for initial assessment of Speech and Language and then up to another year for Speech Therapy. This is incredibly frustrating for families and the Speech Therapy community who are doing their level best to meet demand for their services.
The team at Kids Speech Labs has a track record in digital innovation in the healthcare system and are using their combined experience to improve how speech and language development is managed at all stages. While more Speech and Language Therapists is one way to address this we also need to look at modernising procedures and processes. As more and more parts of the healthcare system are being digitised, Speech and Language Therapy, particularly pediatric services, are being left behind.
Kids Speech Labs wants to support those aspect of speech and language development that can be managed at home, through remote monitoring and evidence based personalised interventions. We want to ensure parents can step in at the early stages of speech development and are supported through remote monitoring and interventions designed to fit into family life.
We want to hear from you, so tell us about your experiences, what you would like to see, what you think would help as you navigate your child’s speech and language development journey.