The specialty of phoniatrics and logopedics was completely lacking in Egypt. There were attempts to give services in special education for the deaf, blind and mentally retarded. These services started in the mid 1930s by stimulation from a Danish speech therapist, Breben Nim. Another attempt to help school pupils with speech problems was established in the form of a clinic attached to the teachers high school. The categories handled there were mainly dyslalia and stuttering.
Onset of Modern Phoniatrics and Logopedics:
The specialty was established by the return of qualified phoniatrician in January 1974. This phoniatrician, M. Nasser Kotby, was trained in Sweden under Professor Bjorn Fritzell for two years in Gothenburg. Kotby complemented his training with Professor Soren Fex in Lund for several months concentrating on dysphasia and dysarthria. On his return, Kotby started modest clinical services in the Ain Shams University hospital under the Department of ORL. The urgent need was to train logopedists. The first course of logopedics was launched in the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University in 1975. Two Logopedists from Denmark, namely, Ulla and Arthur Boberg, and Bibi Fex from Sweden participated generously in the course. The first group of qualified logopedists was graduated in 1975.The Unit of Phoniatircs and Logopedics was established in relation to the Department of ORL in 1975. The administrative duties were run only by “half” a secretary, as she served both the Unit of Phoniatrics and the emerging Unit of Audiology.
The clinical services were provided within the limits and the capacity of the emerging clinic. The mother clinic of Ain Shams University has grown to an area of 1500 m2 and is run by 32 phoniatricians and 22 logopedists. The academic and training courses of this Unit have prepared specialists in Phoniatrics and Logopedics to 12 University clinics all over the country, as well as Hospitals of the Ministry of Health, Hospitals of the National Health Insurance, and Hospitals of the Ministry of Defense and Police. Graduates of the courses of the Ain Shams Unit have now started such services in 7 other countries in the Middle East where such services were lacking.
The practice of the specialty of human communicative disorders used in our clinic is based on a model in which two professionals trained in speech-language pathology work together in a team, often with other specialists. The two professionals are: (a) a phoniatrician (medical speech-language pathologist) and (b) a logopedist (non-medical speech-language pathologist. The phoniatrician/logopedist team co-operates, in turn, with other related disciplines to form a wider team that serves the rehabilitation needs of persons with communicative disorders |
