Article: Mark - The Prevailing Winds -- A New Year Message

A prevailing wind blows predominantly from a single general direction over a particular point on the Earth's surface.  It is a natural phenomenon.  A prevailing wind is something that is expected.  To expect is to confidently believe something and to anticipate and prepare for it.   Prevailing winds are also metaphors for what to expect in the future.  During the last few years there have been new trends that cause us to develop new ways to deal with them.

Some of the trends we are now dealing with include:

• Global weather changes
• Financial and budgetary issues
• The occurrence of increased violence 
• Changes in world political views
• Medicare and insurance coverage 

Most of us who provide and receive medical services have been keenly aware of the prevailing winds that pertain to personal insurance coverage and the moving away from expenses that were once covered by employer health insurance.  The costs for personal health care are dramatically increasing and we are realizing the increased costs for deductibles and percentages of medical fees.

In the very near future we will have higher personal health expenses and additional taxes.  The expectation that health policies and Medicare coverage will take care of all our medical needs is now changing with caps, ceilings and more stringent requirements for procedures and services.

Rehabilitative services for speech therapy are being significantly curtailed, especially for those with moderate to severe speech and communication difficulties due to the time required to treat these problems.

We must be aware of the prevailing winds within the profession and for those who need our services and begin educating the consumers who need speech therapy services that caps are becoming more commonplace for speech therapy and that they will have to take on greater responsibility for the care and expense for these services.

Yes, there are many changes that are affecting our society today and we must be prepared for them.  The Teaching of Talking was written to help both professionals, caregivers and loved ones find new ways to help those with speaking difficulties.

My message is plain and simple, like the way that we teach therapists and caregivers to help those who have lost the ability to speak and communicate.  Our health care system can no longer afford to provide ongoing speech therapy for severe speaking difficulties; family members and caregivers can learn how to stimulate speech and language at home.

We must all prepare for these changes by learning new speech and language stimulation methods that are simple and can become like second nature when incorporated into one's daily routine at home by loved ones and care givers.  Hopefully in the future therapists can train family members during the allotted time for speech therapy so that when it is time for discharge the speech and language stimulation can be continued at home.

The methods to stimulate speech and language in The Teaching of Talking can have a profound affect on one's ability to improve the ability to speak and communicate and I invite therapists, family members and caregivers to consider using this new approach to speaking instruction.  Our book is available on the teachingoftalking.com website and I am always accessible to help families or fellow professionals.

I wish for everyone a good year ahead in 2013 !

Sincerely,

Mark A. Ittleman, M.S., CCC/SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
http://teachingoftalking.com/