1. General information
· Participating countries
36 European countries as well 3 near neighbours (Lebanon, Albania and Russian Federation) and 4 international partners countries (United States of America, Australia, Canada and South Africa)
For more information, see
https://ddltools.huma-num.fr/DLD/maps.php (countries)
· Participating members
The management committee is composed of 67 members (generally 2 people per country), 49 substitutes, as well as 7 observers from the near neighbour and international partners countries.
For more information, see
https://ddltools.huma-num.fr/DLD/maps.php?map_type=partic (participating members)
· Professional groups
A list of professional groups dealing with children and young adults with LI between the ages of 0 and 18 has been established across Europe. These groups mostly consist of professionals such as Speech and Language Pathologists / Therapists (SLP/SLT) and Psychologists.
For more information, see
https://ddltools.huma-num.fr/DLD/maps.php?map_type=profes (professional groups)
2. Information about service provision for children with LI
Working Group 2 addressed the implications of identifying and treating children at different ages across the different countries participating in the Action. For this purpose, they formulated a questionnaire about service provision to LI across Europe.
The collected data includes information about identification, assessment, diagnosis, decision, planning and intervention delivery, as well as about the education systems and intervention funding types according to the children’s age.
The main terms and their definitions used in the questionnaire are listed below.
· Identification = timely detection and recognition of children at risk of having LI
· Assessment of eligibility for intervention = a combination of standardised assessment procedures (where available), observations of linguistic and communicative performance and professional judgement
·
Diagnosis = the process of determining
the exact nature and circumstances of LI by the detailed examination of
symptoms and signs
· Decision = the referral of the child with LI for intervention
· Planning = the process of devising an intervention plan for the child with LI
· Intervention delivery = intervention for children identified as having LI is a set of practices (methods, approaches, programmes) which are specifically designed to promote language development and/or to remove barriers to participation in society which arise from a child’s LI.
Professionals who are involved in one or more of the aforementioned procedures for children with LI across countries are: Speech Language Therapists (SLTs), SLT-assistants, Paediatricians, Neurologists, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Audiologists, Ears, nose and throat (ENT) specialists, Phoniatricians, Teachers, Early childhood educators, Special Education Needs (SEN) Teachers, Teacher assistants, Social workers, Occupational therapists, General practitioners (GPs), Doctors, Public health practitioners, Public health nurses and School nurses.
There are several Intervention funding types: Health Services, Insurance companies, Local Government, Regional Government, State (national) Government, Educational institutions or Private funding systems.
Education of children with LI can be provided within several structures:
Mainstream Schools (MS), Special Education Needs (SEN) schools or day care centres, LI schools, Early Education Centres (EEC), and Special vocational schools. Some of these structures can provide specific support to LI children (such as MS with SEN class, or EEC with LI groups, ….).
How to have access to the interactive maps and search the database?
All the obtained information have been entered into a database which can be browsable through two search modes: easy search mode, and profile search mode.
Easy Search mode
What kind of search is possible with the easy search mode?
Here are some examples of the information that can be easily found within the database:
· Which professionals are involved in the identification of children who may be at risk of having LI across countries?
· Which professionals are involved in the assessment of LI children across the participating countries?
· Who mainly delivers the intervention for the LI children across countries?
· Which funding types exist among different countries?
· How is the educational system for LI children organised across the participating countries?
For the Tutorial on how to use the easy search mode click on the following link:
http://25images.msh-lse.fr/cost/video/easy-search-mode/en-0
For the Tutorial with subtitles, click on the following link:
http://25images.msh-lse.fr/cost/video/easy-search-mode/en
To search the easy search mode, go on the following webpage
https://ddltools.huma-num.fr/DLD/query.php
Profile search mode
What kind of search is possible with the profile search mode?
Here are some examples of the information that can be easily found within the database:
· Are professionals such as SLTs, Psychologists and Neurologists involved in the assessment of preschool children with LI in a specific country?
· Which professionals are mostly involved in the diagnosis of school children with LI in specific countries such as Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia?
· Are Educational services and Local Government involved in the funding of service provision for the youngest children with LI in specific countries (in the UK and Ireland, for example)?
· What is the most common funding type for the provision of services to young people with LI within the age range of 16-18 across the European countries, or in specific countries such as Estonia, Finland and Denmark?
· How is the educational system of school-age children with LI organised in specific countries across Europe?
For the Tutorial on how to use the profile search mode click on the following link:
http://25images.msh-lse.fr/cost/video/profile-search-mode/en
For the Tutorial with subtitles, click on the following link:
http://25images.msh-lse.fr/cost/video/profile-search-mode/en-0
To search the profile search mode, go on the following webpage