Speech and Language Therapy in Hyperactivity: A United Kingdom Perspective in Complex Cases

In the United Kingdom, multidisciplinary teams within the National Health Service (NHS) usually manage children and adolescents with disorders of hyperactivity. These multidisciplinary teams do not routinely include speech and language therapists (SLTs), and therefore speech and language therapy services for children and adolescents with disorders of hyperactivity are limited. Consequently, research and service delivery for children and adolescents with disorders of hyperactivity in the United Kingdom is only starting to emerge. Two case studies are used to show how speech and language therapy in the United Kingdom can be involved in the treatment of hyperactivity through various types of service delivery. The cases are used to highlight the importance of detecting speech, language, and communication impairments in children with diagnoses of hyperactivity. The potential role of speech and language therapy in the assessment and management of these clients in the United Kingdom is discussed.

KEYWORDS

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD); speech - language - and communication impairments; therapy

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