Dr. Yvonne Lynch:

The Deputy spoke about participation. When children do not have the technology they need and the supports to implement it, it goes back to what Senator Clonan said. It is about social isolation. They are not able to interact with their friends or make the social connections with the GAA club, scouts or whatever. We did some research recently where we interviewed parents about their experience. They talked a lot about the anxiety their children were feeling. They know their communication skills are not meeting their needs. They know people do not understand them and so they withdraw and lose their confidence. Once they lose the confidence to be able to communicate, they miss out on multiple opportunities. We call this negative participation. Children withdraw from the situation and they do not get the learning and social skills they need. The ramifications are huge across their lives in terms of social development, not participating in school and the academic learning that is lost. That has huge ramifications. It is not just about the technology. It is about the supports to use whatever communication modes they want, be that gesture, sign, communication aids or symbols. It is about having an AAC system where we look at all the person's needs, where they need to participate and who they need to communicate with, and helping them have the right systems in the right places so there is no social isolation or loss of learning. That is for everybody across their lifespan but it is particularly acute for children who are losing out on their language acquisition and academic attainment.

Funding is a barrier. We have touched on that little already. We need a dedicated prescription framework and access to funding. It is possible to get those loan systems in. The members will know this themselves. People might change their mobile phone and not like the way it operates.

People need to have the system, get it home for a few weeks and see if it works for them. They might realise a certain feature does not work and they need something a little different. That is about making sure it is right. Our rate of abandonment within AAC is far too high. Much of that is a result of not having a sufficiently comprehensive assessment process and not having enough time to time to test and try out the technology.

I will not speak to the hearing loss piece because it is a slightly different area from mine. I feel I would not be able to give a qualified answer in that regard so I will not answer on that topic.

In respect of the public-private divide, there is an issue with getting access within the private system. There are certainly people who are able to pay for more services and there is inequity in that. We do not have a large number of speech and language therapists available to provide services in the private or public sector. There is an issue there in respect of clinical expertise and the quantity of it available in both areas.