The children are the future. Plain and simple. I read an article in the Toronto Star about how Ontario cut the funds for speech pathologists. This worries me greatly because my five year old brother has a severe case of speech delay. He worked with a private speech pathologist for less than a year before the school board informed my mother that a free speech pathologist could be provided at school. My brother was placed on a waiting list and is still waiting.
My little brother is going to grade one next year and has yet to meet the senior kindergarten requirements. This realization has dawned on my younger brother as he watches his peers complete various tasks without aid from their teacher. This new discovery, that he has fallen behind his classmates, has put unnecessary stress on this little boy who shouldn’t be worrying about anything but the friends he will be playing with the next day.
The variety of children being diagnosed with a type of speech delay everyday is being silenced. Not every family can afford a private speech pathologist, since a two to four hour session could cost from three hundred to five hundred dollars.
I don’t believe leaving a child with this disadvantage is right. First of all children who have problems communicating their thoughts tend to have little ‘episodes’. I feel this is understandable since we all get frustrated with people who don’t comprehend the idea we are trying to present. These ‘episodes’ could be interpreted wrong creating a problem that is nonexistent. Secondly, children who are recognized with a disadvantage in a classroom tend to be picked on or treated differently. My brother is smart but the constant pressure of being less than his peers could create a conflict. If others think he’s unintelligent then he might not wish to apply himself because his peers or elders don’t expect much. Thirdly, people who feel degraded can become very angry citizens and can easily become involved in dangerous mischief. Does the world really need more trouble and destruction?
The world is in the hands of the next generation. The children with speech delays could be the next great minds that will create a better world. But we will never know if we keep their thoughts under lock. My brother wants to help his community when he his older. One day he said to me, “T, I wanna stop the bad guys.” My brother wants to help eliminate the bad in the world but if he is constantly being put second then he may not be so willing to help. I feel that the government cutting the funds for speech pathologists is degrading to the children in need for their services. It’s feel like the government is saying they don’t care. What gives the government the right to take the freedom of speech from these children?