Speech and Language Therapy in Cambodia
Currently there are no Speech and Language Therapists (SLT) working in Cambodia. Medical provision generally is poor, having been undermined by conflicts within the country in the 1970s and 1980s, and what does exist is beyond the financial means of most of the population.
In 2007, three graduates from the SLT course at City University visited Cambodia for three months to give therapy to children in need and advise carers on their speech, communication and feeding difficulties. We aim to repeat this project over the next three years and are seeking funding to support it.
On this site you can read the blog entries posted by members of the project and keep up to date with the hard work and progress they are making in Cambodia.
Current blogs from the Speech and Language Therapy Project:
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Further Information about the Project:
The Children's Surgical Centre (http://www.csc.org) at Kien Khleang in Phnom Penh provides free surgery for children with cleft lip and palate. The centre has a grant from the Smile Train which funds operations, an administrator and the development and running of a database. It is unable to fund SLT provision for children, which can be vital in rehabilitation.
The Rabbit School (http://www.rabbitschool.org) is Cambodia's first special needs school, enabling access to education for children with disabilities. Alongside work in this school, the project will also aim to develop safe feeding practices for children with severe disabilities in a nearby orphanage.
The project will also aim to establish links with the National Paediatric Hospital (http://www.nphcambodia.org). Work here will centre on children with cleft lip and palate conditions, but we may also work with children who have physical and/or neurological problems that affect their speech and language development.
Funding:
Sourcing funding for the project would:
- enable the development of a resource bank and training materials
- contribute towards the expenses of qualified therapists
- pay for visits from experienced clinicians during the first weeks of the project
- allow the employment of translators
The project has been developed by:
- Prof. Tim Pring, Dept of Language and Communication Science, City University.
- Dr. Debbie Sell, Dept of Speech and Language Therapy, Great Ormond St Hospital