Speech and Communication Problems in Psychiatry

It is a relatively unexplored field having received scant attention until recent years, but the quality of the work included here gives a clear indication that the area should move from the periphery into a main­ stream position in the education and practice of speech therapists.

This volume represents a painstaking and scholarly introduction to the management of children and adults who have problems of communi­ cation related to, or in addition to, mental disorder. It is a relatively unexplored field having received scant attention until recent years, but the quality of the work included here gives a clear indication that the area should move from the periphery into a main­ stream position in the education and practice of speech therapists. Although all students in training receive some teaching in the area of psychiatry it tends to be limited to a brief consideration of the role of the psychiatrist, and clinical psychologist - very rarely the speech therapist. It has been proposed that the education of the speech therapist who intends to enter this difficult but rewarding field should be developed at post graduate level and there are strong arguments given in this volume to support the idea. Claims that the field is neglected during initial training are, however, well founded and this volume should alert those responsible for the education of speech therapists to this deficiency.