MP joins BCHC families to shine light on hidden language disorder
Birmingham Yardley MP Jess Phillips joined children, families and BCHC speech and language therapists at Ninestiles Academy in Acocks Green to help raise awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).
Part of activities to mark international DLD Day, her involvement follows a meeting in June between the Speech, Language and Communication Alliance Young People's Committee and MPs at Parliament when young people shared their experiences with MPs, including Jess Phillips, and called for greater awareness and understanding of DLD nationally.
Jess Phillips said: “To be honest, I didn't know anything about DLD until that meeting and I must say those children were very impressive and spoke wonderfully about their experiences - so that showed me how getting the right support can be very impactful.
“It's reassuring to know I'm not alone in not knowing much about DLD - it's not widely recognised or understood and I've made a personal commitment to finding out more; so, I was very pleased to be invited to meet children with DLD at Ninestiles Academy.
“Again, it's been informative and inspiring to hear about their experiences and learn more about the ways speech and language therapists, schools and families work together to support them.”
The school age DLD clinical pathway in Birmingham supports children and families through the balanced system model, bringing together family support, identification, intervention, workforce development and creating supportive environments. This includes working with education partners to identify children's needs and help them access the right level of support.
Paula Price, service lead for children's speech and language therapy at BCHC, said: “We are passionate about raising the profile of DLD. Because it is a hidden disability, it can often be missed, so identifying children's speech, language and communication needs early is really important in helping them access the support they need.”
Ninestiles Academy SEND co-ordinator Angus Weir said: “It's really important that we work with all our DLD learners to be the best version of themselves and to flourish.
“It's important to raise awareness about a condition as under-recognised as this so we're very honoured to host this event to mark DLD Awareness Day.”
The team also marked DLD Day at Great Barr Library, where speech and language therapists shared information, practical strategies and resources with the local community, including DLD factsheets available in a range of languages.