More students getting help

The total amount of funding for children aged zero to six with special needs has nearly doubled over the past three years, as have the amount of children who are receiving special needs services in the Grande Yellowhead Regional School Division (GYRD).

This information was released in a superintendent’s report that was made public during the March 17, 2010 general meeting of the Grande Yellowhead Regional Division School Board.

Special needs students in early child services (daycare, play-school, etc.) can include children who have difficulty learning how to speak or use motor skills, interact with other children and numerous other types of developmental issues.

In 2007-2008, the amount of program unit funding for early childhood services was $496,388 while in 2009-2010, the amount has increased to $854,372. As well, the number of students who got special needs services was 25 in 2007-2008. In 2009-2010, it rose to 46.

Jody Beck, Supervisor for Learning Services: Student Programs in the GYRD, said that the numbers do not mean that there is an increase in the amount of troubled children in the area. The numbers of kids in the GYRD who require special needs has remained the same in sum over the past several years, she said.

Instead, the numbers show that the province is paying more attention to reaching out to kids at any earlier age and giving them treatment, Beck said.
She said trying to teach a 13-year-old child to speak properly is much more difficult than a four-year-old, as the 13-year-old’s habits will be more ingrained and harder to resolve.

“The Province has certainly come around to the understanding that early intervention is key,” Beck said.

For instance, Beck said that for several years, convincing an early age speech language pathologist to work in the Edson area was incredibly difficult. One would come from Edmonton occasionally, but there was no full-time worker located near Edson, which made diagnosing young kids with speech problems difficult as workers had to be brought in ad hoc.

“The way I got around it was to contract services through a company in Edmonton that provided assessments and ongoing direct therapy. The therapy sessions are offered through video conferencing,” said Beck in an email. “This past year, all GYRD in ECS children participated in timely speech and language screens for all communities. In so doing, appropriate assessments for all children . . . were completed. [We were] able to close the gap and ensure success for students with mild, moderate and severe needs.”

There are still some hurdles to overcome so the needs of all kids can be met in the area, she said.

In a March 17 report to the GYRD school board, she stated, “There still continues to be challenges in accessing supports and services such as speech and language, occupational therapy and mental health in many areas of our division. This leads to difficulties in providing appropriate therapy and strategies to ... our students.”

Still, the number of kids getting appropriate treatment is improving, said Beck.

Beck said that she has been doing her job in the GYRD school division now for three years, and over that time, she has established more relationships with a network of community agencies.

Members of that network are made up of workers at play schools, day-care centres and other facilities around the GYRD. They now understand better how to contact Beck about a problem. Instead of being just ‘the new person’ she’s now ‘Jodie’ and that helps facilitate more contact and, in turn, more kids get support, she said.

“I think I’ve just become much better at my job,” said Beck.