Dear loyal supporters,

We thank you so much for getting us this far, we have more work to be done. I have meeting with Kate twaites who is Banyule Area federal MP, i will setting down to discuss the plan and support the government can give. we ask you to flood your local federal MP with this letter. there is any area you can write why you are supporting the cause, or just wipe the ** areas if you don't want to fill them in, just put your name to it like you did this petition and help us show the MP and government we mean business. My meeting is in April.  

Dear XXXXXXX,
I am a local constituent in your electorate. I am writing to express my strong concern that children with a cleft lip and palate are being left behind because of a lack of timely and affordable speech therapy.
Every year more than 400 babies with a cleft condition are born in Australia, and of these children up to 75% will have a severe defect that requires significant surgery and ongoing speech therapy. Research has shown that strong speech skills are essential for a child’s social and educational development. Being able to speak clearly is essential for literacy and language development and underpins a child’s ability to make friends at school, deal with bullies and develop self-esteem.
Growing into adulthood, many of these children do not reach their full potential to live their best lives due to the self-esteem issues they face from bullying and the speech impediments they face. These impediments are further compounded by further surgeries that are required during adulthood – speech therapy is often required after maxillofacial or oral surgery.
From childhood to ~ 20 years old, most cleft-affected individuals require at least 3-4 maxillofacial and oral surgery to correct the face and mouth so that they can breathe, eat and speak normally. Some require further surgeries, which is why the Medicare Cleft Scheme extends to 28 years old. Speech therapy is often beneficial after each of these surgeries to help the individual learn how to use their newly reconstructed facial and oral muscles to speak, breathe and eat.
Parents and cleft-affected adults are currently faced with two options to access speech therapy:
1. Long wait times with public services. Allied health services in this state are delivered using a hub and spoke model. Parents face long wait times in early childhood years. During primary and secondary school years, they face equally long wait times with Department of Education provided allied health services. Once a cleft-affected individual reaches adulthood, they can access up to 5 sessions of speech therapy under a GP-referred Chronic Disease Management plan. The COVID-19 pandemic has further compounded waiting periods for allied health services, with waiting lists of up to 2 years to access public services.
2. Use a private service, at a significant financial cost of up to $350 for initial consultations and ~ $190 per session for ongoing therapy.
Many children with clefts often have compromised hearing, which means that speech difficulties may not be detected till 3 years of age. Thus, a two year wait for public therapy is an extremely unattractive for parents. However, private therapy is very expensive, with a normal consultation costing far more than many families can afford. These children grow up into adults, which require speech services after they have more maxillofacial and orthodontic work to restore function to breathing, speaking and eating.
My request:
The Australian Government currently provides subsidised access to a range of dental and orthodontic treatments for children through the Medicare Cleft Lip and Palate Scheme, but this does not extend to speech therapy. I strongly believe that there is an urgent need to extend this scheme to include Speech Therapy. While the Government has made welcome moves to provide up to five subsidised sessions of therapy per year under a Chronic Disease GP Care Plan, this is simply not enough, with 90% of children with clefts surveyed in CleftPALS research requiring treatment for over five years.
Cleft-affected children do not consistently qualify for NDIS, even though the cleft condition is one that spans a period of 20 to 28 years from baby to adulthood before breathing/eating/speaking functions are working as they should be.
*****[I have a personal understanding of the importance of speech therapy – my son has a bi-lateral cleft lip and palate, and we benefitted immensely from intensive speech therapy through a combination of private speech therapy and ‘song and rhyme’ programs run by my local Maternal Child Health Nurse during early childhood years: we attended weekly therapy sessions from the ages of 12 months to 4 years old. My son faces into 3 more major surgeries until he gets to 20 years old, and I am concerned about my ability to afford speech therapy after each of those surgeries so that he can live his best life].
***** [I have a personal understanding of the importance of speech therapy – my child desperately needs speech therapy, and our family cannot afford it. As my child faces into more surgeries for the next 20-28 years, I am concerned about my ability to afford speech therapy after each of these surgeries, so that my child can live his/her best life]
This issue requires urgent attention. While extended the scheme would not be particularly costly for the Government given the small number of people with clefts in Australia, it would make an enormous difference to the parents who are working so hard to give their children the best chance to reach their potential.
***** [I would be very appreciative if you could raise this issue with Minister Hunt and Minister Reynolds at your earliest convenience. I would also be interested to hear other ways that you think I might be able to bring this issue to the attention of relevant decision makers. I would happy to discuss this issue with you in more detail, and I can provide further information from CleftPALS Victoria, who is running a campaign on this issue.]
***** [I would be appreciative to understand how your party is intending to address this issue at the upcoming election. I would also be interested to hear other ways that you think I might be able to bring this issue to the attention of relevant decision makers. I would happy to discuss this issue with you in more detail, and I can provide further information from CleftPALS Victoria, who is running a campaign on this issue].
I hope to hear from you soon,
MY NAME
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