Our History
The 1960s and 70s
Afasic was founded in 1968 by the speech and language therapist Margaret Greene, originally under the name The Association of All Speech Impaired Children. From the start it provided mutual support for parents initially by post or phone and subsequently a regular newsletter. As a result, parents who lived quite close to each other started setting up local support groups, and we quite quickly developed a nationwide network.
Fundraising initiatives at this time focused on the provision of mobile speech and language therapy clinics and ‘activity weeks’ (trips abroad) for young adults.
The 1980s to the mid 90s
The 1981 Education Act was a game changer, as for the first time, it gave parents strong legal rights to access the support their SEN children needed. This led to the widespread founding of language units in primary and (sometimes) secondary schools.
In response, Afasic’s focus shifted to providing information and guidance for parents in the form of factsheets and booklets, and eventually the Afasic Helpline, staffed primarily by parent volunteers. Afasic also introduced annual conferences for parents and launched a series of international symposia aimed at disseminating research findings to academics and professionals.
It was during this period that ‘speech therapy’ became ‘speech and language therapy’ and the then College of Speech and Language Therapists was awarded its ‘Royal’ title.
The late 1990s to the mid 2010s
Devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland presented a number of challenges as well as opportunities. Initially, we were able to access funding for offices and staff in all the UK nations, expanding our operation significantly.
For a time, we were also able to access funds for local coordinators in parts of England, one of whom developed the Secondary Transition Courses which are still an important element in Afasic’s work. She also established a pioneering youth group in east London, which, at the time, we hoped would become a model for other areas.
Afasic has always tried to work with partner organisations that share our interests, and during this period, Government funding encouraged the development of ‘umbrella groups’. As a result, Afasic became a founder member of the ‘Communication Consortium’, a partnership of over 50 organisations with an interest in children’s language development.
The mid 2010s onwards
The last few years have been a period of retrenchment. Economic realities have meant that it has become much harder to access funding and the existing stresses relating to speech and language issues could no longer be ignored.
Related conditions such as dyslexia and autism now had a high level of recognition among the public at large but ‘language difficulties’ had failed to achieve the same sort of breakthrough. A number of concerned colleagues in the sector felt that the confusing terminology used for language disorders might be part of the problem. This resulted in the ‘CATALISE’ project which decided to introduce the term ‘Developmental Language Disorder’ (DLD) for language disorders that were not caused by other conditions.
A new SEND system, supposedly designed to meet the requirements of the modern era, was introduced in 2014 but has proved so unsuccessful that it is already being reviewed only seven years later.
Currently, Afasic is working with organisations such as RADLD and NAPLIC to raise awareness of DLD and educate and support parents through the Afasic and DLD Together courses and Facebook group.
