Headford couple help people with speech and language difficulties

By TOM GILMORE PEOPLE with speech and language difficulties, both children and adults, as well as stroke victims, may benefit from a new product designed and manufactured by a Headford-based speech and language therapist and her husband. Therapist Rine Duenker, a native of Clonbur, and her German husband Christian have established the company Active Speech at Deerpark near Headford in recent weeks to manufacture and distribute their newly designed speech and language cards. Those who may benefit include people with special needs speech and those with a language delay or disorder. Children with delayed or disordered language who need support at home and in school in conjunction with therapy can also benefit from the cards. 'From working in the field myself for many years, as a speech and language therapist, I realised there was a demand for these cards. But the ones that were available had to be imported from the USA or Europe and are very costly. 'We now have come up with Irish alternatives and they only cost half the price of the imported one,' says Rine. The Headford cards cost €23.95 per pack plus postage. Parents and guardians often face difficulties when their children do not speak at the right age or have trouble putting sentences together. It can be very worrying for parents when they do not know what to do and do not realise that they can help their child.[private] Teachers, pre-school teachers and therapists who work with these children are constantly striving to come up with new materials which will help each child to better focus on the target word or sentence being taught. Rine says the product that she has designed will be of immense help to parents and others working with children and adults with speech and language difficulties. 'The design is simple, bright and colourful and the new range consists of four different packs of cards, â€ËœVocabulary', â€ËœSentences', â€ËœPrepositions' and â€ËœPut Things Together'. Each of the packs have been designed and printed in Co Galway, targeting the common themes focused on in therapy. 'Packs contain 32, A6-size cards and are supplied with clear concise instructions to achieve the best possible outcome for the user. They can be used in the home, clinic, school or pre-school,' she says. According to Rine the reason they can sell their product at half the price of those imported is due to working from home and the couple having very few overheads. 'I take the photos myself and my husband operates the online side of the business. 'Apart from being of benefit to children and adults with speech and learning difficulties, the cards can also help stimulate speech for those who suffer strokes,' says Rine The â€ËœVocabulary' pack can be used for very young children to teach them their first words. Parents and pre-school teachers can use the cards to improve the child's naming skills and to play games while also taking turns at naming the pictures. In compiling the pack Rine has chosen common everyday items so children will be familiar with most of them. The cards in the â€ËœVocabulary' pack can also be used with older children to teach them for example, word association, how to follow and give clues, rhyming games and how to spell from the sounds they hear. Children with language problems can find it difficult to understand and use sentences with the correct grammar and the â€ËœSentence' pack focuses on this. They often find it hard to remember to say 'she is â€Â¦..', in particular. 'Accordingly, this pack includes cards depicting both females, and males, so parents can teach their child how to notice the difference. 'They can learn to formulate sentences correctly, gradually increasing in length as they improve their skill,' says Rine. She added that parents often mention that their child is not putting sentences together and this is a cause of concern for them. 'These cards can be used in the comfort of the home to help their child improve their skill in this,' she added. The â€ËœPreposition' pack helps the child understand and say the words in a sentence, which tells us where, for example, an object is placed. In compiling this pack of 32 cards Rine has included humour in many of the pictures to aid concentration. She says children can often have problems learning these words and it can be most helpful for parents to have these cards for home use that to these words. The fourth pack features the idea of â€ËœPutting Things Together'. This pack explains why certain pairs match and others do not. Such skills as logical thinking, matching, naming, discussing and explaining are some of the skills taught with these cards, according to the speech and language therapist who is currently working on a further range of materials which she hopes to have ready in 2013. 'I have a lot of work done on two more packs of cards and my preparation of four new workbooks is also well advanced,' she says. According to Alison O'Carroll, a senior speech and language therapist who works with the HSE West, and is primarily involved with young children, the new Activate Speech range of materials is up there with the best she has seen throughout her career. 'The simplicity of the design of each of the photocards, together with the colour and quality were the main features which attracted me to the range,' says Alison. The Activate Speech range of speech and language materials can be ordered on line from www.activatespeech.ie or by writing to Rine Duenker, Deerpark, Headford or by phone at 085 8447769.[/private]