A SINGLE mother is calling for better speech therapy provision at a primary school where more than 60 per cent of pupils have communication problems.

Lesley Mosditchian, whose four-year-old daughter, Natasha, has autism and severe speech difficulties, says the situation at Holmwood Special School, in Easterside, Middlesbrough, where a speech therapist visits once a week, is woefully inadequate.

She has collected more than 800 signatures from parents, teachers and the public, to try to persuade Middlesbrough NHS Primary Care Trust to provide a full-time therapist.

"There are 91 children at the school and 57 have problems with speech and language. But last year they had nobody coming in and now they have somebody just one day a week. My question is, how can she possibly cover 57 children, who are all different ages and have different problems, in one day?

"The trust knows about the number of children and the complexity of their problems, yet is doing nothing."

Natasha is unable to say more than the odd word.

"The best time to coach a child with speech difficulties is in the early years," said Mrs Mosditchian. "My daughter gets very frustrated because she has such difficulty communicating, but she's not getting the help she needs and nor are the others.

"I think Holmwood is a fantastic school, but they are lacking in this area. I am determined to get a full-time speech therapist to start at the school next term."

Headteacher John Appleyard is backing the 44-year-old Hemlington mother's campaign.

He said: "The school has felt for a long time that we do not get the provision our pupils need and we are very grateful to Mrs Mosditchian for enlisting parental support."

Her petition has now been passed to South Middlesbrough MP Ashok Kumar, who plans to meet with trust bosses to discuss the problem.

A Middlesbrough NHS Primary Care Trust spokeswoman said the trust was working with Middlesbrough Council to find a way to improve services.

"We have already agreed to allocate a therapy assistant to support the speech therapist," she said. "The trust acknowledges that demand for speech and language therapy services at the school has increased and can sympathise with parents' concerns."