Speech and Language Therapist to work with Pre-Schoolers

Speech and Language Therapist- Mrs. Kerri-Ann de Castro, Speech and Language Therapist speaks to the media at a press conference held on October 6

Minister for Education and Culture Honourable Andrew Fahie made the announcement during a press conference on October 6 and welcomed Mrs. de Castro as the newest member of the education team.  

“We know that there are increasing numbers of students in our Territory with special needs problems and to assist our students we have invested in the services of a therapist,” he said.

Minister Fahie said apart from the need for the development of a special programme to meet the needs of these students, it is also necessary to have trained personnel in a variety of areas to work with the students.

“Early intervention is crucial if the system is to stop the growing problem encountered when students go through school with undetected sensory deficits,” the Minister said, adding, “very often the student becomes frustrated and this evolves into behavioural problems.”
 
The Minister outlined a number of areas to be addressed, namely: to increase teacher awareness and training so that they can work more closely with the therapist as well as with the students experiencing challenges in speech and language development; to provide additional support services to aid the work of the speech therapist, special education teachers, education psychologist and counsellors.    ~~Adz:Right~~

Additionally, he idenitified collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Development and other sectors to ensure coordination of the variety of programmes and services offered and the development and funding of a comprehensive Early Childhood Development Strategy as areas which must be addressed.

Acting Chief Education Officer Dr. Marcia Potter said she is also pleased to welcome Mrs. de Castro to the Department of Education team.  “We realised that special needs is a growing problem in our society, not just in the BVI, but all over the world,” Dr. Potter said.

“We need to deal with the problem here in the BVI, get it under control and help our students as much as possible in the area of speech and language therapy so that we do not have our students falling into the cracks,” she said.

Mrs. de Castro thanked the Government for the opportunity to do what she loves.  “I thank the Government of the BVI for affording me the opportunity to do what I love, which is giving the gift of communication to persons with speech and language disorders,” Mrs. de Castro said.

“I am extremely honoured to have been chosen to perform this very important task,” she added.
The mission of the Ministry of Education and Culture is to provide high quality education and rehabilitative services, as well as, to facilitate access to and participation in sports, recreation and culture, in order to enrich the lives of all residents of the Virgin Islands.