This online start-up offers a special place to heal people with speech disorders

Speech disorders is one of the most common impairments found in India, with one in every 10 children reported to have some kind of speech disorder.

Given how much we rely on speech and communication skills especially in today’s world, this can affect people’s day to day lives and growth significantly.

People with speech and language disorders face difficulties in talking, writing and understanding, also suffer from stuttering and stammering. It can have crippling consequences and getting the appropriate help at an early stage is critical.

It is this need that 1SpecialPlace, aims to fill through technology. It is helping people with special needs with online therapies and mobile apps. The start-up is leveraging technology to improve the lives of people with communication, special needs and disability.

There is a shortage of good therapy services in India and as a result many children miss out on getting the right inputs at the right time. We launched a diagnostic app called Speech Doctor, which helps parents figure out if their child has a speech delay. Language and communication development starts from birth and the app can help diagnose it even in a baby – Pratiksha Gupta, Founder, 1SpecialPlace

Since 2016, 1Special Place has been offering online therapies to people across India and abroad. The services are not limited to children alone. A large number of their clients are adults who have been dealing with speech problems from childhood.

Working to help them are a a team of 15 therapists with degrees in speech therapy, audiology, occupational therapy and special education.

We give speech language therapy in many Indian languages, including all the languages of South India, Bengali, and Punjabi. We have many international clients as well. There are children overseas whose parents cannot afford private therapy and are on the waitlist for government-assisted support – Pratiksha Gupta, Founder, 1SpecialPlace

The online sessions are typically for 45 minutes to an hour and the charges are Rs 800 per session.

In India, their reach so far is mainly in urban areas, but Gupta hopes to expand her initiative into smaller towns in a major way in the future.

Given the dramatic growth in Internet penetration and the rising awareness about the need for early intervention in such disorders, there is clearly great potential for growth.

To know more,visit their website at https://1specialplace.com.

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