Dame Vera Lynn Children's Charity (DVLCC) supports children under-five with cerebral palsy, chromosome abnormalities and rare genetic disorders. The charity is the largest organisation of its kind in the UK, providing a holistic service including physiotherapy/ conductive education, music therapy, speech and language therapy, rebound therapy, hydrotherapy and Portage accredited home-play sessions. The new partnership will allow the charity to meet the needs of even more families across SE England as the law firm provides much-needed financial support for the charity’s speech and language service.
Children with speech and language difficulties are among some of the most vulnerable in our society, facing exclusion from social situations and having a detrimental impact on mental health. Kingsley Napley is helping to change the lives of children like Finlay.
Diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder – Hao Fountain Syndrome – Finlay is one of only 250 people worldwide with the condition which causes muscle weakness, developmental delay and affects speech. He struggles to express himself and verbally formulate words. Using Makaton sign language and his personalised Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display (PODD) book – provided by the charity – Finlay can now better engage with activities and has begun to vocalise sounds or words. He now knows over 50 Makaton signs and is keen to learn more!
Glenys Creese, CEO of DVLCC, said: “We are delighted to partner with Kingsley Napley. This new partnership will be transformational for our children, with their support for our speech and language service. It is wonderful that Kingsley Napley recognises the importance of supporting children with their communication, helping them to express themselves and provide them with the building blocks to unlock their full potential.”
Sharon Burkill, Legal Director in Kingsley Napley’s Medical Negligence and Personal Injury team, says: “The world must be a truly bewildering place for children who cannot communicate or make themselves understood. Investing early to improve a child’s ability to communicate can not only enable them to socialise and form closer relationships with their families and friends, but crucially to participate in learning in whatever form that may take.
“We recognise the vital work DVLCC is doing to provide early SLT intervention and support. This support is seriously under resourced within the statutory system, leaving far too many children without any meaningful input before they reach school age. We are therefore truly delighted to be able to support the DVLCC team in continuing to provide and develop its SLT services and resources. In our work representing families impacted by avoidable brain injuries we recognise how often vital support is simply unavailable or unaffordable to the majority of people. I look forward to being able to continue our support for DVLCC.”