recognised health profession, I feel like I have had to explain what music therapy is and who it can help. I think when you get to the specifics of how particular therapies work it can be overwhelming and confusing for people.” Maffescioni said that speech pathology is such a new field in Vietnam that there have been many impediments to care along the way. Many of the issues arise because her clients are bilingual or multilingual. “There are so few local and international speech pathologists in Ho Chi Minh City and so many people that are in need of services. The speech pathology caseload in Ho Chi Minh City is more complex than what I experienced in Australia. Almost all of my clients are at least bilingual and the typical speech pathology treatment resources are often inappropriate linguistically and culturally. I usually need to create specific resources for each separate case, which is particularly timeconsuming. Also, standard tests for speech and language are normed on monolingual English speakers, so assessing a client’s communication skills requires extra tasks and analyses.” One unique aspect of ICCD is that they host weekend groups to help children
develop their social skills. Lyons noted that this area is neglected in most educational settings and that she finds it highly rewarding. “The social skills groups at ICCD are a really important part of the work I do. The groups provide an opportunity for many kids from different backgrounds with various developmental, social and behavioural needs to come together every week and receive instruction in areas which are critical for their social development, including: conversation skills and body language, cooperative play and sharing, empathy and kindness, emotional awareness, self-regulation, teamwork, and expected and unexpected behaviour in various contexts.” ICCD does no marketing or advertising. Clients find them through word-of-mouth and former client referrals. Jeffrey said, “We believe our reputation and quality services speak for themselves.” He also talked a bit about the coming year and the goals that the team has set. “We want to continue to provide professional services to the local and international community. We plan to link stronger with the Vietnamese community and we wish to develop and bring in
more Vietnamese staff with international training. Currently, we are supporting our Vietnamese staff to gain training and international certification. We would like to expand locations within Ho Chi Minh City and other cities in Vietnam. And we want to continue to provide training and support to educational institutions to develop resources for children with special needs in the community.” Currently, ICCD is nearing capacity. Jeffrey explained, “As our reputation developed, so did our team and caseload. We need qualified and experienced professionals to provide services for our growing caseload of children with special needs. This includes speech pathology, occupational therapy and behavioural therapy. We also need counsellors, psychologists and psychotherapists for our growing local and international client caseload. Interested professionals can contact us through the website and set up a time to come and meet us to discuss potential opportunities.” ICCD is located at 191 Nguyen Van Huong, Thao Dien, District 2, on the fourth floor. They have several counselling rooms and you can make an appointment over the phone, over email, or in-person.
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