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.