email nick leth at gmail dot com. Need solutions? No worries. Now. |
Various experts in child care are calling for "urgent action" to support children in need of therapy (Urgent call over child therapy, The West Australian, 17 Jul 10). Dr Trevor Parry, Michelle Scott and Fiona Stanley are raising concerns that "children were falling through the cracks because WA lacked a co-ordinated approach to early intervention."
Actually, the next paragraph of Cathy O'Leary's article blames delays rather than lack of co-ordination. Still, the two may be related.
What is it that has all these experts so worried? Speech therapists? Physiotherapists? Educational specialists? No.
The concern is that children may have to wait up to a year to see a clinical psychologist.
I'm sorry, all these experts seems to have missed the problem. By the time a child needs a clinical psychologist -- in many, many cases -- it is too late. Okay, you can help the symptoms but the cause is a separate issue.
Stop the problems before they happen. Insist that adults obtain a "suitable for breeding" certificate before they have children. And I don't mean money and physical capacity.
Are these adults fit to be parents? Will they love, care for and support their future children? Will they take responsibility for caring for their own children -- at least to the extent of hiring capable, long-term parent substitutes?
Ensure that parents will provide the time, the care and the attention that children require. That will shorten the waiting list for childhood clinical psychologists.
Agamedes Consulting. Support for your thought: email nick leth at gmail dot com |
No comments:
Post a Comment