Hungary

In the Hungarian education system, dividing children into separate groups on the basis of native language skills was first initiated in 1580 by school rector, pedagogue and evangelical priest, Pal Halvepapius, in Besztercebanya. Speech-language pathology is taught within the framework of special education with a specialization in logopedics. Since the 1980s, there has been a marked increase in the number of parent associations that support caregivers who raise individuals with special needs, including those who need professional help with the development of communication skills. The Speech and language therapy (SLT) initiates examination of the child by medical doctors, psychologists and educators or other specialists/experts. Access to SLT services needs to increase even more, both via legislative action and changes in the number of people being trained to become SLTs. SLT training will have to be developed further, possibly along the lines of increasing the duration of training and graduation requirements.