The Speech Interpretation Service for Speech Impaired in

Finland

Terttu Elo, Taina Hissa, Minna Vanhala, Victoria ZilliacusThe Finnish Stroke and Dysphasia AssociationLAPH-seminar in Tallin 28th-30th June 2007

The Speech Interpretation Service for Speech Impaired

• the speech interpretation service is based on the law in Finland (from the year 1994)

• each municipality has a duty to provide these services

• a person with a severe speech impairment has a right to use the service at least 180 hour per year

• municipalities take care of the payments to the interpreters; the service is free of charge for the users

• the service can be used as an aid for- going to work

- studying - daily affairs (going shopping, to

bank, to see the doctor etc.) - taking part in hobbies - taking part in seminars and meetings

Who needs Interpreter Service?

• people with speech impairment who use AAC

• most of the users are adults with CP, mental handicap or aphasia

• in Finland the service is not yet widely enough used– many people who would get use of the

service are not aware that the service exist

The Aim of the Speech Interpreter Services

• to enable people with speech impairment to take part in everyday life in their community

• to increase their autonomy• to give them the opportunity to

live an equal life in society.

The Speech and Language therapy vs. Interpretation

Service• speech and language therapy is

rehabilitation where the AAC method is chosen for the client

• the speech interpreter assists the client to interact with other people in everyday communication situation

• an interpreter can interpret the non-intelligible speech into intelligible speech ; interpret a written message or message produced by BLISS-language into speech

• with aphasic clients the interpreter mostly interprets the messages from single words, symbols, gestures etc into spoken language

• the interpretation service also includes assistance in writing and reading

• the interpretation service can also include taking care of the communication aids and giving guidance for communication partners how to communicate with the client

Who Can Work as an Interpreter?

• In Finland there is specialized education for speech interpreters (competence-based qualification)

• in this education, which normally takes 1-2 years, students learn i.e. about communication disorders and AAC

• a person who knows the client can also work as an interpreter if he/she get quidance from a speech and language therapist

• a family member can’t work as an interpreter

Organization of the Service

• the service is applyed for in social services • the interpreter get to know the client and

his/her communication methods before she/he starts working as an interpreter

• in most municipalties the interpreters get quidance from the speech and language therapist

• the implementation of the service is followed-up by the social security office

The Use of Service within Aphasic Clients

• most of the aphasic clients uses the service for getting assistance in daily affairs (going shopping, library, pharmacy) and for reading the paper and post

• The interpreter also often updates communication books or aids

Challenges with Aphasic Clients

- using the service ”feels strange” for them

- ”my spouse is my interpreter”- many clients don’t understand the

content of the service before they test it in practise

- Interpreter versus personal assistant

Case E.

- the client is a 62-year old man, who suffers from severe aphasia and right-side paralysis due to a right-side stroke in the year 1999

- he has motor aphasia and his speech consists of a few non-words.

- he reads short texts but writing is very limited

Case E.

- the client started to use the service after his divorce

- he uses the service for taking care of the daily affairs (going shopping, going association for people with stroke etc) and for reading the post

- the interpreter assists him with making reservations through telephone

- the interpreter updates his Imagetalk –device and his Arnit- e-mail programme

- helps him to get to know new people

Case E.

- nowadays the client has two interpreters and he uses the service a couple of hours/week

- he thinks that the service is very useful for him even though he has very much courage to communicate with strange people without any help