By Murtala Issah
For eleven years, Madam Christiana Abu lived with a quiet ache. Her son, a bright-eyed boy who should be progressing through primary school, has never spoken a single word. His condition was detected at age two and promptly reported to the Tamale Teaching Hospital. However, at the time, the facility had no speech therapist. With nowhere else to turn, Christiana kept her son at home, watching helplessly as his peers advanced while he remained in Basic Two.
“I was hoping against hope that his condition would change,” she recalls.
Her son’s story is not unique. Globally, an estimated five to eight percent of children experience speech difficulties. In developing countries such as Ghana, the situation is worsened by a severe shortage of speech pathologists. The few available specialists are concentrated in urban centres in the south, leaving vast parts of the country with little or no access to professional support.
Nowhere has this gap been more evident than in northern Ghana—five regions with a combined population of roughly six million people but with limited access to speech therapy services. That is, until recently, when help began to arrive.
In 2025, an initiative known as Smiles for Speech launched a pilot programme to support children with speech disorders across the north. Led by Sandy Dorsey, a speech pathologist from the United States, and her team, the initiative aims to assist families who have long lacked access to care. Its mission is to build capacity among local health personnel, strengthen institutions, and provide professional support to children in need.
On Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12, the initiative took a significant step forward, as more health workers received intensive training to deepen their understanding of speech disorders and improve support for affected families within their facilities.
More than fifty children and their parents were also assessed, counselled, and offered personalised guidance.
For Christiana Abu, those two days marked a turning point.
“The sessions were very productive,” she told GBC News in an interview, her voice reflecting both gratitude and a hint of sorrow. “At least there is hope now for children with speech disorders. I just wish the initiative had come earlier.”
Sandy Dorsey, who leads Smiles for Speech, acknowledged the significance of such experiences, noting that early detection and appropriate support can transform a child’s life.
“Our goal is to bring smiles to the faces of these children and their families,” she said.
“With early detection and the right support, these children can make progress in their language development so that they can be included in society, be seen and heard, and be given the opportunity to live to their full potential.”
Her message underscores that speech disorders are not lifelong limitations. With timely intervention, therapy, structured exercises, and family involvement, many children can learn to communicate effectively, while families can better manage the associated challenges.
The real challenge, as Christiana’s story illustrates, is not the condition itself but the lack of access to support.
The training held on April 11 and 12 marks a beginning rather than an endpoint.
Smiles for Speech is working to build sustainable capacity within northern Ghana’s health system by training nurses, community health officers, and other frontline workers to identify speech difficulties early, provide basic support, and refer complex cases appropriately.
For the eleven-year-old boy who cannot speak—and for thousands of others like him across the north—the arrival of Sandy Dorsey and her team represents more than medical intervention. It signals the possibility of change.
As Christiana Abu prepared to leave after the session, watching her son interact freely with other children for the first time without hesitation, she allowed herself a moment of relief.
“Now there is hope,” she said.
And in that hope, a silence of eleven years may finally begin to break.
