Wortley Villager September 2024

Helping Children to be Heard “For anyone who is able to speak and be understood, it’s very easy to take for granted their voice and the ability to have others know what they need or want,” explains Kate McIntosh. “I was a late talker myself and received support from a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) when I was young. This brought the profession into my mind at a young age.”

delays and growing from fully non-speaking to using verbal communication throughout their day. Most recently, I worked with a client for his two years of kindergarten. When I first met him, only 10% of his speech was clear enough to be understood by anyone other than his parents. He was very young and would often find it difficult to work through our sessions, but he never gave up! After two full years of hard work, he had developed several new sounds in his speech repertoire and was up to 50% intelligible. This was a very significant improvement, one that I hope will support his success as he moves into Grade 1 next year.” “Another child who was mostly non-speaking has started to use short phrases to express themselves. This has been a brilliant development to experience with the child and their family, as it has had a very positive impact on the child’s ability to feel heard and understood during everyday situations with their family. Helping a child find their voice and learn how to advocate for their needs is the single most rewarding moment I can hope for in my career.” Kate has lived in Old South for 15 years. “I grew up in Old North so I’ve always loved the older homes, but Old South is just different than anywhere else I’ve lived. I describe it as the ‘out front living’ aspect of our community. Everyone’s front door is open, they live out on their porches, the kids play in the front yards and shoot hoops on the street. It creates a sense of community that just doesn’t exist to the same degree in other areas of London. I adore the old homes, architecture and heritage of the area, as well as the convenience of being able to walk into the village for errands. The floors in my home may not be flat and there aren’t too many right angles to find, but I know that the niceties of new homes are not worth the sense of character and community we have in Old South.” For further information, visit katemcintoshslp.com call Kate at (519) 282-1586 or email katemcintoshslp@gmail.com Beau (on the left) and Ava (and their 3 siblings and mother) were brought into our foster care at the beginning of August. Now 2 ½ months old, all 5 kittens are healthy, have 1st vaccines, are litter trained and are very well socialized. If you are ready to be adopted by a kitten or two, go to www.animalert.ca to apply online.

Kate earned a Bachelor of Applied Science in Health Science at Western University in 2006. “I knew I wanted to do something in the rehab sciences realm, as I always loved helping others, and when I read more about Speech Language Pathology, it felt like the right fit! I also loved learning about languages and linguistics, and there was a good amount of coursework on those topics, so it was easy to get engaged with the material.” Kate went on to earning a Masters of Clinical Science, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Speech-Language Pathology in 2008. “I work with all different areas of need in children. I mainly support speech (articulation) development which is the actual way we shape our sounds when we speak, language which is the way our brain receives and expresses words/sentences to share our thoughts and ideas, and then what is called functional communication which is the development of communication skills to get our basic needs met. I work with many children on the autism spectrum who are non-speaking and use non-verbal means (gestures, pointing, vocalizations, eye gaze direction etc.) to express what they want and don’t yet use many words in the traditional modality of communication. Non-verbal communication often requires additional support through tailored therapy strategies to broaden how well these children can get their messages across to listeners. I teach them how to add visuals to their communication, both in paper form and through apps on tablets, and how to increase their verbal communication by teaching them the benefit of functional communication (i.e.: I get my message across and my parents know what I want!). Another area of need I support is literacy development. I don’t directly teach children how to read, but I can support the foundational skills that lead to strong literacy skills. This includes building a strong vocabulary, understanding oral language, and a skill called Phonemic Awareness, which is the brain’s ability to hear individual sounds in words.” Families can opt to receive treatment in their own homes or in Kate’s clinic which is located close to Old South. “Over my many years as an SLP, I have had the privilege of watching hundreds of children work through severe speech delays, language

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Thursday September 19 7:30pm “Festival Season” by Shannon Patte Friday September 20 7:30pm “Rye an’ Gospel” by Lee MacDougall Saturday September 21 7:30pm “Gold Fish” by Steve Ross PLAYWRIGHTS’ FESTIVAL SIMON JOYNES