HOW DO WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

The Challenge & The MFC Difference

• 35% of children in Quebec are not prepared to enter school. We close this gap by increasing academic readiness through early and effective therapy.
• The dropout rate in Quebec is 29% according to The Ministry of Education. We reduce dropout rates and school failures by providing successful treatment to children through all educational transitions from preschool to high school.
• Some of the most remote areas of Quebec (such as the James Bay communities) are at the highest risk of school failure, and have limited access to services. We make our treatments available to remote communities via telepractice, using our videoconferencing facilities.
• Many high risk children are disadvantaged because their families are unable to pay for language therapies. We provide bursaries to families who need financial assistance – no child is ever turned away for inability to pay.
• The average waiting time for treatment is 18 months in the public sector. Our average waiting time is 3 months

• Treatment takes much longer than it needs to if there is no home program to support treatment goals. We enhance treatment effectiveness by developing and training a full support team both within and outside the clinic, which includes training parents, in order to ensure the child’s continued success.

• Immigrant families with multiple languages often represent complex clinical cases – cases very few clinicians are comfortable treating. We specialize in complex clinical cases and we develop community partnerships that enable our treatment programs to reach this type of family.
• Not only do we make the difference on a day-to-day basis, our center and clinicians are internationally renowned:
  - We publish both nationally and internationally.
  - We have trained over 2000 speech languages pathologists in continuing education workshops across North America.
  - Our staff receives ongoing mentoring – mitigating the need for scaled fees – giving every clinician at the MFC the same level of knowledge, and providing families with equal opportunities for treatment success.

“I have been a teacher for 40 years and have seen first hand how a language problem that isn’t address early can lead to a devastating future for some children.”

- Mary L. Hebert, Chairperson MFC

* Download the document “How do we make a difference document”