Speciality: Adult Acute
Location: London
Duration: Temporary
Speciality: Paediatric
Location: London
Duration: Temporary
Speciality: Adult Acute
Location: London
Duration: Temporary
Speciality: Community Dysphagia
Location: Beds and Herts
Duration: Temporary
Speech therapists may have a key role to play in helping to implement the Welsh government's newly-announced Autistic Spectrum Disorder Strategic Action Plan.
A total of £6 million is being spent on improving autism diagnostic services throughout the country over the coming three years, with a brand new strategy in place to encourage faster diagnosis of the condition in young people, allowing them to begin accessing the best support for their individual needs.
For example, children who are on the autistic spectrum often struggle to communicate, meaning they would benefit significantly from speech therapist intervention to help them to better integrate in social situations.
With this in mind, the Welsh government is working to introduce a greater level of support for the families and carers of individuals with autism, alongside launching new adult diagnostic services for the condition and improving the training given to healthcare professionals on how to deal with autistic patients.
In addition, the country's government plans to provide enhanced support to people with autism and their loved ones when they are transitioning from provision services aimed at children to those designed for supporting adults in order to make the changeover process as smooth and non-disruptive as possible.
Meleri Thomas of the National Autistic Society Cymru commented: "The Welsh government's new autism strategy includes promising new actions designed to bring down waiting times for diagnosis across Wales. But it stops short of introducing new autism legislation that we believe can help to make this happen."
The organisation is calling on the government to make these measures official with the introduction of new formal legislation. In the meantime, healthcare professionals from doctors and nurses to speech therapists and physiotherapists need to make sure they are doing their bit to make the world easier to navigate for people who fall onto the autistic spectrum.
Written by Martin Lambert
Mediplacements is a genuine specialist medical recruitment company. Contact us to see the latest speech therapy jobs.
Recent reports have highlighted a number of concerning cases regarding the treatment of people with learning...
Several different conditions - from strokes to traumatic brain injuries to degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s...
Many speech therapists will be familiar with patients who have completely lost the ability to speak. This...
Stuttering is one of the most common speech problems around, affecting approximately one per cent of adults...