Unit 14 – Describe the Role of Two Other Professionals

E8 describe the role of two other professionals who support the needs of children with special needs and their families The other two professionals who support the needs of children with special needs and their families are Speech therapist: Speech therapists are other professionals who work closely with parents, carers and other professionals such as teachers, nurses, occupational therapists and doctor’s in order to improve the speech and language problem of the children. Evaluation by a certified speech-language pathologist can help determine if your child is having difficulties. Speech-language therapy is the treatment for most kids with speech and/or language disorders. ” (Speech Language Therapy, 2012) The major roles of a speech therapist are to identify children’s developmental speech and communication problems. They access in treating problems that are caused due to cleft palate or disorders and implementing and revising treatment programmes.

They also support children by working one to one with them, calculating the children’s progress and most importantly maintaining confidentiality. Lastly, speech therapists support the families of children with special needs by making them aware of the problem, giving them information, referring them to specialists and informing them regarding their children’s progress. Physiotherapist: Physiotherapists are other professionals who help treat people of all ages with physical problems caused by illness accident or ageing, for example: low muscle tone, posture etc.

Physiotherapists support children with special needs by evaluating the problems of the child’s problem, improving their breathing to avoid any malfunction, helps slow down the bad effects that are caused by disease and teach the children various exercises for their bodies. “Physiotherapists are probably the best known of the therapists who work with children with special needs. They use exercises to help their patients gain and keep the best possible use of their bodies. (A Special Child in The Family, 2012) Physiotherapists also support the families by providing information about their children and also teaching them various exercises that they could do at home with their children. They also support by giving them information about how to handle their children, for example: how to lift things without straining your back. http://www. specialchild. co. uk/therapists. htm http://kidshealth. org/parent/system/ill/speech_therapy. html