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After many years of bitter conflict in Vietnam there is now a disproportionately high incidence of children born with cleft palate, autism, and physical disability. These children's teachers and physiotherapists wish to provide high quality intervention but they are up against huge obstacles. One of these is that there are no speech-language pathologists in Vietnam.
In August 2005, I joined educational advisor, Marianne Simpson, and a team of Vietnamese teachers at a Centre for Disabled Children in Ho Chi Minh City on the fourth year of a project to deliver a series of training courses. The aim was to increase teachers' understanding of physical disability in schools and develop their training skills, so that local staff could take over the work at the end of the project. Funded by the UK's Voluntary Services Overseas, I spent three weeks in Vietnam, working through an interpreter. It was a most enriching experience.
Despite an inspiring level of interest and commitment from the trainees, I was strongly aware of my limitations as a non-Vietnamese speaker. Teachers wish to learn about syntactic and phonological intervention. Parents want the advice of specialists. There is a need for a longer visit from an SLP, especially one who is Vietnamese-speaking, and for a professional course to be established so that skilled Vietnamese teachers can train as SLPs. Please contact me if you are interested in becoming involved.
Rosalind Bleach
Oxford, UK
bleachfamily@hotmail.com
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