Speechmag

In Giving Voice we are proud to be speech and language therapists

I have watched with admiration as the Giving Voice campaign has spread the message across the UK that speech and language therapy transforms lives.  

Having been active in both Speak Weeks (circa 1987 and 1990) and the rather oddly named SpeakWatch (1994), it is fascinating to see how tools for raising awareness and ways of measuring success have changed, while the passion and many of the issues have not.

The Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists now has a Policy and Public Affairs Team which has provided the advice, coordination and resources to inspire and enable therapists at a local level to get active. One of the most useful of these is the report from Matrix Evidence into the cost benefits of speech and language therapy. (College members can calculate the savings for local services to people with dysphagia, aphasia, specific language impairment and autism here.)

Although the hard statistics following Tuesday's mass mobilisation event and awards ceremony are encouraging enough in themselves (255 turned out for the Giving Voice rally, over 100 MPs were met, and over 400 tweets including #givingvoiceuk were published), the softer ripple effects count even more in the longer term. This includes the increased camaraderie among teams and the success of shared projects and a common purpose with service users.

For Jennie Marshall - who cycled 180 miles to the event using a Lightwriter to communicate - it has provided a great deal of insight and opportunity for reflection. As she said at the Giving Voice rally, "The cycling is child's play compared to using a communication aid...I can't imagine how life would be if I didn't have a voice." A number of younger members of the profession including Sophie Jankel (Social Media Campaigner of the Year award) and Julie Carr (Outstanding Contribution award), have found their campaigning voice and I have no doubt we will all benefit from this in the years to come. 

As veteran campaigner Pam Enderby said, we want to do something about the fact that speech, language and communication difficulties affect relationships, education and employment, and we need to do it "in the context of an ever-moving NHS." Compared with times of previous campaigns we have more evidence, our therapy is more effective we will not be driven into losing our care. "It's not just a job, it's a part of our lives...I am very proud to be a speech and language therapist."

The photos show Ele Buckley, RCSLT National Coordinator for Local Campaigns, with the rally on Westminster Bridge, and Sophie Jankel receiving her award at Church House from Rt Hon John Bercow MP.  

 

Penultimate issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice now out

The Autumn 11 issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice has been mailed today, so subscribers can expect it through their door very soon!

Cover star Dan sustained a severe head injury in 2007, and Lindsay King describes how revisiting Melodic Intonation Therapy has helped his recovery. Our second 'How I manage acquired brain injury' contribution comes from Laura Flynn in Jersey and is written in memory of another inspiring client, Suzannah Pemberton.

The client-centred theme continues with Karen Leadbitter's reflection on empowering Rhys, a man in his thirties with Down's syndrome, to participate in training his own staff. Lynsey Paterson also concentrates on training, using a literature review to develop parent training following an autism diagnosis.

In the well received Journal Club, Jennifer Reid tackles critical appraisal of observational studies, and subscribers can download two associated frameworks from the members' area of www.speechmag.com. Sam Simpson & Cathy Sparkes continue their goal negotiation series, and include discussion of the thought-provoking Model of Change by Prochaska and DiClemente (1986).

In 2009, Louise Greenstock wrote an interim report on her PhD research into the use of graphic symbols in schools, and here she shares her final findings. These include a theoretical framework which looks as if it would be very helpful in practice.

Alison Roberts is back with 'Here's one I made earlier'. Her low cost and fun therapy suggestions for groups have proved so popular that Speechmark has released a book of them! Cynthia Pelman tells us about one of her top resources, Stern Structural Arithmetic, and Jan Broomfield explores the ethical issues raised when your new referral is the son of your Trust's Chief Executive Officer... 

As well as reviews and editor's choice from the journals, we have brief contributions from Diana James about Paget Gorman Signed Speech, and a delightful snapshot of Nicola Grove's granddaughters talking about talking. As always there are great reader offers, including a Grow Words resource set, books from Plural Publishing and the recently released New Reynell Developmental Language Scales (NRDLS).

You can sign up for all 4 issues in the final year of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice. You will also receive the Winter 10 issue free, and get access to the members' area of www.speechmag.com until 29 February 2012.

Identifying and supporting 'Other ways of speaking' to ensure everyone can have a voice

Gesure, signing, symbols, boards and books, adapted computers and Voice Output Communication Aids -  in the words of the Hello campaign, 'Other Ways of Speaking' that ensure everyone can have a voice.

My final year project 23 years ago was on 'Using computers with people with aphasia'. Technology has moved on unimaginably since then, and people with communication difficulties are benefiting as AAC (Alternative & Augmentative Communication) becomes ever more adaptable, portable and affordable.

Speech and language therapists have a crucial role in ensuring the 'other ways' are appropriate to the individual's needs and functional in real life situations. The difference matters between aphasia and dysarthria, a physical disability and intellectual disability, or a language impairment that may or may not involve comprehension, as does the age, personality and interests of the client. The right choice of 'other ways of speaking' and support to establish their use in everyday communication is vital.

Manufacturers of voice output communication aids are taking their role seriously. Euan Robertson is Clinical Application Specialist at DynaVox Mayer-Johnson. He says, "I strongly believe a manufacturer's job is not over when a device is sold. Implementation is the difficult part, and AAC manufacturers have a responsibility to help this process. As such, DynaVox have created the Implementation Toolkit and run free workshops across the country. Although DynaVox InterAACt software is demonstrated, the strategies can be used with any form of high or low tech AAC system."

The recently launched MyChoicePad is making impressive use of its website and social media to spread the word about appropriate and functional use through short videos. Developed with the full support and collaboration of the Makaton charity, 'chief juggler' Zoe Peden says, "The angle we've taken is not just that of a low cost AAC device, but more about building the skills for communication using symbols and signs."  

The Makaton charity has also been involved in the production of the free 'Other Ways of Speaking' resource, along with 1Voice, ACE Centre, ACE Centre North, Scope and Signalong, as member organisations of Communication Matters. Anna Reeves from ACE Centre North says, "It is imperative that the needs of children and young people who have difficulties speaking are identified at an early age. Finding the right method of communication can have a dramatic impact on a child or young person's life - helping them to express themselves, participate in decisions, and improve their self esteem, which will ultimately impact on their contribution to society at large."

For proof of this, you only need to watch this video, produced by the ACE Centre for Hello, as part of the National Year of Communication:

 

Communicating with young people about mental health and wellbeing



This afternoon I went to a twilight seminar for a range of professionals. We heard about the findings of a critical review of the literature on children and young people’s views on the factors that influence their mental health. One of the authors, Jenny Spratt, summarised the findings of the review’s 137 pages and we were then encouraged to reflect on how they relate to and can inform practice with young people, whether at school or in the wider community. The four most important influences for young people emerging from the review are all familiar territory for speech and language therapists:
- Social relationships
- A need to feel normal and fit in
- Transitions
- Control over choices.

One of the attendees talked about the challenges of finding the right language to use with young people to discuss their mental health and wellbeing. Jenny has found simple concepts such as ‘good’ / ‘bad’ can be the most effective.

By coincidence, earlier on today I had an order for a 2010 article by Yvonne Macleman. It examines how speech and language therapists can work with Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services using Talking Mats to facilitate accurate mental state assessments in young people with speech, language and communication difficulties.

Talking Mats is a low technology communication framework involving sets of symbols designed to help people with communication difficulties think about issues and express their opinion. Yvonne’s article included an example of their use with Greg, a young man with Asperger’s syndrome. She says his mother “spontaneously commented on two separate occasions that she felt the Talking Mat was an easier way for her son to express his thoughts and feelings around a difficult area.” A family therapy colleague also commented that he “thought the Talking mat could actually be ‘emotionally containing’ for both the young person and their family” (p.9).

Jenny Spratt talked about the irony that  children who are generally happy find it difficult to express the positive factors impacting on their wellbeing while, in contrast, the review says that “some of the most insightful thinking about ‘normal’ states of mental health in young people comes from those who feel they have somehow been tipped beyond this” (p.62). In a similar way, we know that work done with people with speech, language and communication difficulties gives lots of clues about the kind of language and supported conversation that is equally useful with young people who do not have such specific needs.

References
Macleman, Y. (2010) 'Talking Matters', Speech & Language Therapy in Practice Spring, pp.8-10.
Shucksmith, J., Spratt, J., Philip, K. & McNaughton, R. (2009) A critical review of the literature on children and young people's views of the factors that influence their mental health. Edinburgh: NHS Scotland.

Acknowledgement
Thank you to Sue Briggs, Senior Community Learning & Development Worker in Laurencekirk for inviting me to the seminar.

4 bursary places at No Mind Left Behind conference to benefit cash-strapped speech and language therapy departments

You're hearing it here first! In recognition of the vital part that speech and language therapists play in the field of learning difficulties, Mindroom is offering the profession 4 free places at the forthcoming major international conference No Mind Left Behind.

The conference runs from 29-30 March 2011 in Glasgow. Delegates also receive access to the Virtual conference for up to a year. It will feature 52 international speakers from the fields of learning difficulties, autism, ADHD and other early onset neurodevelopmental disorders. They include a speech language pathologist from Sweden, Carmela Miniscalco, who will be speaking about her work on early diagnosis of autism.

The cost for professionals attending the conference is £495 + VAT, but Mindroom founder Sophie Dow decided to offer these bursary places specifically to speech and language therapists following my blog post about the impact of cuts on training budgets.

She says, "The offer is for 4 free places at both days of No Mind Left Behind. This includes the bonus of access to the Virtual conference for up to a year. In other words, it also offers fantastic in-house training opportunities for an entire department."

Interested speech and language therapists should contact Sophie (email sophie@mindroom.org) as soon as possible. Successful applicants will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation.

What a brilliant CPD opportunity - good luck!

 

Therapy ideas - a collaborative web resource

While editing an article today, I went to check something online. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did come across a really interesting blog and ideas-sharing website run by speech and language therapist Rhiannan Walton.

Rhiannan's blog very sensibly favours quality over quantity of posts, with topics including dynamic assessment, care aims in education, outcome measurement and how speech and language therapy is changing.

The website is also a free collaborative resource for sharing practical therapy ideas, the bread and butter of direct intervention. I expect this would be particularly useful to students and new graduates, or anyone keeping an eye out for a fresh twist.

Major conferences in 2011 and how to get there

With training budgets severely constrained, it is likely UK speech and language therapists will have to use some ingenuity to access funds for major conferences in 2011.

If you're not quite ready to have a car boot sale or go busking, the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (RCSLT) offers minor grants up to £500. These are awarded on merit to members for activities which will “benefit the profession of speech and language therapy” and “enhance their own professional development”. The ‘Grants and awards’ section of its website also lists external sources of funding.

A number of conferences with exciting programmes are coming up this year. In addition to Caroline Bowen's Speech Sound Disorders (9-10 March, York) which I have already blogged about, here are a few more:

29-30 March 2011
No Mind Left Behind, Glasgow
The 52 speakers from a range of backgrounds in autism, ADHD and other early onset neurodevelopmental disorders include Lorna Wing, Simon Baron-Cohen, Jeremy Turk and Sam Goldstein. Topics include collaborative working, the impact on parents and families, attachment, and what makes different conditions (such as autism, Tourettes, intellectual disabilities, obsessive compulsive disorder, epilepsy) distinctive and similar.

2-3 April 2011
NAPLIC
Championing Better Communication: Theory, Practice and Innovation
University of Warwick
Early booking discount available until 31 January.
Keynote speakers include Jean Gross, Julie Dockrell, James Law and Sue Roulstone.

13-14 June 2011
Child Language Seminar
Newcastle
Themes include child language and literacy, children with speech, language and communication needs, capturing change in child language and bilingual and cross-linguistic perspectives on child language. Keynote Speakers include Maggie Snowling, James Law, Sheena Reilly and Elizabeth Pena.

PS Eagle-eyed Norbert Lieckfeldt (Chief Executive of the British Stammering Association) has pointed out that I failed to mention the 9th Oxford Dysfluency Conference, 1-4 September 2011. Abstracts are due by 1 April.

Contact a Family Directory lists information on 430 disabilities and health conditions

I still remember the first time I heard about autism, when a parent came to talk to our Guide Company over 30 years ago. As a new graduate, I read up on Neurofibromatosis, which affected one of my young clients. A few years later I learned about Fragile X Syndrome and the Fragile X Society through a very dedicated parent whose son is now a young adult. 

If you work with disabled children and their families, you will come across many who already have a diagnosis, or who are going through an assessment process where a diagnosis may help those around the child understand their needs. Some you may have heard of - awareness of CHARGE syndrome, for example, is growing. But others, such as Dravet Syndrome or Wolfram Syndrome, may be completely new. Contact a Family added these recently to their Directory. This lists physical symptoms, psychological and behavioural characteristics for 430 disabilities and health conditions, along with details of relevant UK support groups.

Chief Executive Srabani Sen says, "Families really appreciate it when speech and language therapists find out about their child's condition. It helps them feel more understood and less isolated. Research shows that parents of disabled children who enjoy positive relationships with the professionals involved in their children's care often cite them as important sources of emotional and practical support."

The Contact a Family Directory is available online (£17.25 per year) and in print (£40), tel. 020 7608 8700.

Better Communication Research Programme needs input from practising therapists

What interventions do you offer children with speech, language and communication needs, and what outcomes are you looking for?

The Better Communication Research Programme team is looking for speech and language therapists to respond to a survey about practice. The closing date is 17 December 2010.

This research programme was set up by the government as part of its response to the 2008 Bercow Review of provision for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. The team, which includes Professor Sue Roulstone and Yvonne Wren, wants to make sure that its research takes account of everyday practice, and that it will ultimately be useful to practitioners, commissioners, policy makers and parents.

It therefore intends to use the survey responses, together with the findings of a systematic literature review, to develop a database of the evidence for specific interventions and the outcomes which can be expected from them. The researchers want to capture different factors that influence effectiveness and efficiency. These include where the intervention takes place, the content of the intervention, the people and resources involved and whether it is offered via a direct or indirect method.

The researchers say the survey should take between 10 and 20 minutes to complete, and that all responses are in confidence and anonymous. Click here to complete the survey.

'Hello' to the National Year of Communication

Tsars, supremos, working parties, interdepartmental committees, royal commissions - it's easy for 'Yes, Prime Minister' (Gielgud Theatre, London) to be cynical. While the playwrights have a point, I had just come from a Communication Trust reception at the House of Commons which had a much more positive feel. It reminded me of the good that politicians can do, and of the potential of the National Year of Communication initiative and the appointed Communication Champion to make a real difference.

The National Year of Communication, which will run throughout 2011, is called 'Hello'. It aims to make children's communication skills a priority in homes and schools across England. Working with the Communication Champion Jean Gross, the year will be "managed and delivered" by The Communication Trust. This group of 39 voluntary and community sector organisations has the interests of children with speech, language and communication needs at its heart.

Mike Kennard of Signalong told me it is "the most effective coalition I have ever been involved with" - and, seeing the impact its work is having at the highest level, I can believe it. That doesn't mean it has been easy. As the Director of the Communication Trust Anita Kerwin-Nye said, tongue only half in cheek, "Some of us don't even like each other!" Resolving that she "will not rest until specific language impairment and speech, language and communication needs are as well understood as dyslexia or autism", Anita added, "The only way we're going to fix this is collectively. Everybody needs to 'get' it."

The reception at the House of Commons was sponsored by Robert Buckland MP, whose particular interest in this area has come about through his experience as a parent. The 150 guests heard a number of speakers, including Amanda Ryalls, whose son uses a voice output communication aid, Chris Pike, a young aspiring politician who has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, and Minister of State for Children and Families Sarah Teather. 

A fuller report of the event and the key messages for speech and language therapists will be in the Winter 10 issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice.