Additional Learning Needs

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 2:13 pm on 23 October 2019.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 2:13, 23 October 2019

Thank you. At the beginning of this month, all Members received an e-mail from the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists highlighting the risks if speech and language communication is underdeveloped. I'll mention a couple of things they did, but, for example, without effective help, one in three children with speech, language and communication difficulties will need treatment for mental health; 88 per cent of long-term unemployed young men have speech, language and communication needs; and up to 60 per cent of young people in the youth justice estate have similar speech, language and communication needs.

It's nearly two decades since I fought this battle on behalf of one of my children to get interventions that he was otherwise being denied, and two decades later, we're still receiving e-mails with these horrifying statistics. Beyond the ALN Act, what specific action can you take with your colleagues—because this is a cross-departmental issue—to recognise the essential need for speech and language therapy for a wide range of children in the school environment, also recognising Welsh data on the economic value of speech and language therapy, that every £1 invested in enhanced speech and language therapy generates £6.43 through increased lifetime earnings, because it enables access to the curriculum and creates opportunities for individuals, and that every £1 invested in enhanced speech and language therapy for autistic pupils generates £1.46 through lifetime cost savings created by improved communication?