As a mother of a 6.5 year old child who is struggling with literacy at school,
I have found accessing services, support, resources, and assessment for my
child incredibly difficult. My child has been accessing the Primary Health
speech services in the Central Wheatbelt since he was aged 2.5 years old.
During that time there has been periods of 6 months or more where he was unable
to access the service due to a lack of therapists. I have been told that he may
lose access to the service as his speech issues are not as severe as others and
there is a high demand. There is a lack of private services that we can access
due to our location. There is a private service that travels from Perth once a
fortnight. This is still 72 kms from where we live and one 45-minute session
costs over $200 due to the service’s travel charges.
My son’s school has raised with me the possibility of my child having a
specific learning disorder. To have my son accessed means I will have to travel
to Perth, a 2 day stay, costs of the assessment $1500, and a 13-month waitlist
before he is assessed. There is no way to have him assessed in the government
system, so we need to do this privately.
I am highly concerned by this, as being a teacher myself, I am aware of the
effect early intervention has for children like my son. I feel he is being let
down and placed at a disadvantage due to the lack of services afforded to him.