The Children’s Communication Centre in Houghton Estate is celebrating 50 years of supporting children with speech, language, and hearing impairments.

Established five decades ago by the speech therapy department at Wits University, its multidisciplinary team of speech therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and music therapists continues to collaborate to help children communicate, participate, and reach their potential.

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The co-head of the centre and speech therapist, Nicole Chesler, said the facility operates as a pre-school with seven classes, catering to eight children in the younger groups and up to 10 in the older groups, with a strong focus on speech, language development, listening, and communication.

Chesler added that children ideally start their journey at age three to allow maximum time for intervention.

“The oldest they can be here is Grade R at the age of six or seven, which will be determined if they have repeated a grade or not,” Chesler said. “In the final year they’re with us, we refer for an educational psychologist expert external to the school and the results of that, together with the child’s team made up of the teacher, speech therapist, physiotherapist, and occupational therapist who will look at what the best options are for the child going forward.”

The school’s multidisciplinary team comprises seven speech therapists, three occupational therapists, two physiotherapists and a music therapist.

Co-head and speech therapist Lindsay Segal said the school also offers outreach initiatives, including training students from Sparrow FET College.

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“We run a workshop on signs of speech, language and communication difficulties as well as basic language stimulation techniques,” Segal said. “We also offer practical work for the students at Sparrow.”

Segal added that the centre staff also conducts talks and workshops at various schools upon request.

An afternoon language booster programme is held every Thursday from 13:30 to 15:30, run by a teacher and an assistant, catering to children who cannot afford the morning programme.

Speech therapist Fatima Bulbulia, who has been with the centre for five years, said her journey began immediately after graduating.

“I have learned so much from the centre,” Bulbulia said. “It is still a site for learning; we have third-year students from Wits University who come once a week to do their practical work and benefit from what the centre has to offer them. We also have an ear, nose and throat specialist who visits every six weeks to check the learners’ ears voluntarily.

The facility also features an audiology centre where every child undergoes annual testing, conducted by the therapists, except for children fitted with cochlear implants and hearing aids.

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