Preschool children in Nyngan are getting better support with their communication skills thanks to a new partnership.
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Speech pathologists Belinda Hill and Carly Bignill were in Nyngan last week to provide assessments for the children at Nyngan Preschool.
The visit came free of charge thanks to the preschool, which has raised more than $10,000.
Nyngan Preschool Director Chantelle Finlay said there had been a strong need for a speech pathologist to visit the preschool, especially with significant wait times in places such as Dubbo.
"There has been such a demand locally, and access to speech pathologists is difficult in our town," she said.
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The initiative is being guided by the Preschool board of directors, who will fundraise to help cover the costs associated.
"For us it's just as much about the continuity. It's not someone coming in and doing an assessment and going away again, it's the ongoing support," Ms Finlay said.
"Were hoping this will be the beginning of what will be an ongoing program, because the needs aren't going away."
Ms Hill will visit the preschool once a year, and continue support via video link with the staff, who will help deliver the program and support families.
For the speech pathologist, not only is early intervention incredibly important, but necessary to deliver ongoing support especially in a community such as Nyngan.
"Nyngan's in between so it's not remote, because it's relatively close to Dubbo, so I think it really gets overlooked and under serviced," she said.
"But the need is still there and an hour and a half to travel for services is really too much for families, so it will be great supporting them here at preschool."
"And it needs to be regular, so if we can support preschools and their staff with strategies about how to build children's communication then they're going to be getting that every day."
"Expanding to the preschool has been great, and I'm always welcomed ... people are appreciative of the help which makes it very easy to come back."