Helping children & young people to speak...and find their voice. Annual Report 2016 2 2016 Annual Report The Association for Childhood Language and Related Disorders Contents About Us ..............................................................................................3 Language Disorder in Australia ....................................................................5 Ethan’s Story .....................................................................................................6 CEO & Chairman’s Report ..................................................................8 Chairman’s Report ...........................................................................................8 CEO’s Report .................................................................................................. 10 Education, Therapy and Support ....................................................13 The Glenleighden School ............................................................................ 15 Megan’s Story ................................................................................................. 19 Let’s Talk Developmental Hub ................................................................... 20 Speech & Language Development Australia .......................................... 23 School Support Services.............................................................................. 26 Research ............................................................................................30 Fundraising, Marketing and Advocacy ...........................................40 Get Involved ................................................................................................... 48 Thank You ....................................................................................................... 50 Governance .......................................................................................52 CHI.L.D. Board Members............................................................................. 52 Audited Financial Report ............................................................................. 54 The Association for Childhood Language and Related Disorders 2016 Annual Report 3 About Us The CHI.L.D. Association is the nation’s peak body supporting and advocating for the needs of children and young people with speech, language and related disorders. For over 40 years our not-for-profit organisation has developed a unique, multidisciplinary approach to helping the 1 in 14 children with Language Disorder find their voice. When people have a voice their thoughts, feelings and aspirations are recognised by others. They possess the capacity to make an impact, both on their own personal situation as well as the broader community, through their actions and words. Our Vision To be the leader in enabling better outcomes for children and young people with disability for whom language is their primary disorder. Our Mission We provide holistic, innovative and effective therapy, education and support services. Our Values • We are child focussed, providing a safe and supportive environment. • We are a compassionate, accountable, respectful and resilient team. • We pursue excellence and act with integrity. 4 2016 Annual Report The Association for Childhood Language and Related Disorders Our School Support Our Impact Service worked with 84 schools to screen 379 Our research team students and provide collaborated on intervention to 106 four Our Clinics provided children research projects looking life changing therapy into the effectiveness of various to over therapeutic interventions 500 children and young people ‘Helping 80 children and students were supported to reach their goals while young people undertaking study at The to speak We extended Glenleighden School and find our their voice’ reach by introducing a new clinic in Townsville With the support of the community we raised over More than $100,000 This result was achieved due to 100 the success of our Run 4 Kids with educators and professionals Language Disorder team, Lunch completed our e-modules for Language campaign, grant including ‘Identification of applications and fundraising Language Disorder’ and appeals ‘Language Disorder and Implications for Learning’ The Association for Childhood Language and Related Disorders 2016 Annual Report 5 Language Disorder in Australia Children and young people with language disorder are as able and healthy as other children. With one 1 in 14 primary exception: they have great difficulty thinking Australian children about, understanding and using language. have a hidden disability called Language Disorder. They are often as intelligent as any other child of their age but they Compare that with 1 in 100 still have difficulties with speech and language. A child with language children with Autism disorder will not develop speech and language skills in the typical way and more often than not, there is no obvious reason for this difficulty. This means a child with language disorder can be creative and eager to learn, but struggle to understand the language used in the classroom. They may have lots of ideas but find it hard to put That’s around sentences together to communicate what they are thinking. Language disorder looks different in everyone, and can be difficult to 1.5m people in understand because the exact cause is unknown. We do know the Australia alone speech and language part of the brain develops differently to others and language disorder can run in families. Our commitment is to find out all we can through research to unlock the complexities of language disorder so we can do more to help children affected. More than 50% of youth offenders are believed to have an undiagnosed Language Disorder Two children in every classroom have Language Disorder 6 2016 Annual Report The Association for Childhood Language and Related Disorders Ethan’s Story Ethan has a severe language disorder that has turned his childhood into an endless battle to communicate. Because he struggles to communicate he can’t make friends, express his needs, or tell anyone his side of the story. He’s been bullied, excluded and misunderstood for all of his life. Ethan was two when his mum, Chloe, realised his language wasn’t developing at the same rate as other children his age. With professionals reassuring her it was “just a delay”, Chloe had no idea how devastating the impact would be on Ethan’s life. But then he started preschool, “Imagine having to fight and the nightmare began. 24 hours a day, seven Frustrated and afraid, Ethan became withdrawn and hostile. Unable to days a week, 365 days a cope with his desperate, ‘aggressive’ behaviour or interpret his frantic year for the rest of your attempts to communicate, people simply judged him as a bad child. life, just to be heard.” Chloe shared how her heart broke for her desperate little boy, who thought it was all his fault. CHLOE, “Whether you are right or wrong, there’s a judge, MUM TO 5-YEAR-OLD ETHAN a jury and there’s a trial. But Ethan has never been able to tell his side. He’s had the witness tell all the story and he’s never been able to defend himself. Five years of just being told he’s the naughty boy.” No one should have to suffer in silence, ignored and disregarded, thinking their voice will never be heard. Chloe had to give up her job – and her income – to take care of Ethan. She fought hard to get help for her son, but found none. Despite the severity of his condition, he didn’t qualify for funding for classroom support or the intensive therapy he so urgently needed. Often language disorder is disregarded as something a child will ‘grow out of’, or misdiagnosed as a symptom of other conditions such as autism. The real tragedy here is that language disorders can be treated. With a combination of therapies and psychological support, much can be done to give children like Ethan back their voice. But with no funding or support, many parents simply can’t afford to access expensive services such as speech therapy. And without this The Association for Childhood Language and Related Disorders 2016 Annual Report 7 specialised help, children like Ethan are condemned to a lifetime of struggle and isolation, with little hope of being able to find work or support themselves. Since March 2016, Ethan has been taking part in our unique student program – a free intensive speech therapy service we are able to offer to a small number of families for whom help would otherwise be out of reach. Chloe often shares how much it has changed their lives. “I feel like I’ve found the Holy Grail. It makes such a difference. When Ethan sits down with the speech therapist he’s in a safe, loving environment. He’s understood, and that’s such a huge thing for kids who don’t have language. And he takes away so much from those sessions. It’s improvement after improvement after improvement.” 8 2016 Annual Report The Association for Childhood Language and Related Disorders Chairman’s Report The CHI.L.D. Association experienced a year of both consolidation and growth across our business units in 2016. The organisation made significant inroads in the review and establishment of policies and procedures. These changes will provide strong governance and give staff and stakeholders comfort in the robustness of strategic direction. This continues to be work in progress but the building blocks are there to benefit from ongoing continuous improvement opportunities. The economic climate provides challenges for the association with the new enrolments