December 1, 2006
Thunder Bay, ON - Good news for Thunder Bay children! In the past two years, Fair Start has increased the numbers of children they have screened by 15%. During this time more than 1,300 toddlers and preschool children have been screened by Fair Start and over 200 of them have been flagged for follow up with speech and language skills alone. Early intervention allows these children to enter school with age appropriate ways of communicating and ensures they can join their peers in learning, thus getting a “fair start”.
Seventy-five percent of a child’s brain actually develops in the first five years of life. It is much easier to help a child to change their habits early in life as the brain’s critical pathways are not yet firmly established yet. A critical time for speech & language development is between birth and three years of age.
Parents often think that they should wait until a child enters school and those concerns will take care of themselves. Elizabeth Skea, speech-language pathologist with Preschool Communication Services at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit disagrees, “Providing appropriate intervention at an early age allows us to take advantage of this window of opportunity. When people outside the family have difficulty understanding a child, the family should have their child’s speech and language development checked by a professional.”
Fair Start screens speech & language, motor development, and social and self-help skills to help children who may be experiencing delays in any area to have those concerns addressed before they enter school. Screening begins at 18 months, a critical age for brain development. For information about free screening in neighborhoods around the city, call 625-8817.
Fair Start is a partnership of Thunder Bay District Health Unit; Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board; Lakehead District School Board; Conseil scolaire district catholique des Aurores boreales; Dilico Ojibway Child and Family Services; Children’s Centre Thunder Bay; Communities Together for Children/Ontario Early Years; George Jeffrey Children’s Centre; Brass Bell Family Resource Centre/Ontario Early Years Centres District of Thunder Bay.
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