“We estimate that approximately 10–12 percent of elementary school-aged children need speech-language services. This means that in a school with 500 students, at least 50 children are likely to need these services,” says Anna Ósk Sigurðardóttir, a speech-language pathologist leading the pilot project.

Waiting times for speech-language services have been long in recent years. In response, the Ministry of Health decided to launch a pilot project in which speech-language pathologists work directly in elementary schools, providing services to children in their everyday surroundings. Initially, four elementary schools will participate, with one speech-language pathologist from the Hearing and Speech Center based at each school.

The project will serve children with speech and language disorders who meet the eligibility criteria set by the Icelandic health insurance. These children have significant speech and language development and articulation difficulties, and many have been on waiting lists for a long time.

Greater continuity of care

“We are still getting a clearer picture of how many children at each school will need services. Through this pilot project, we will gather information about the children and their service needs,” says Anna Ósk. “We hope to ensure greater continuity of care for the children and foster close collaboration with teachers and parents.”

Plans are underway to recruit additional speech-language pathologists to join the pilot project and gradually expand the number of participating schools. “It is encouraging to report that the administrators of all the schools we have approached are extremely enthusiastic about the project,” says Anna Ósk. She adds that although the pilot project will initially be limited to schools in the capital region, options are being explored for testing this approach in other parts of the country as well.

Reducing waiting times

“We hope that the pilot project will be successful and that this new approach will help reduce waiting times for children who need speech-language services. This is a very exciting opportunity to test a new approach, gain experience, and learn from it,” says Anna Ósk.