Speechmag

Spring has sprung at Speech & Language Therapy in Practice

Mailing of the bumper Spring 11 issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice is now complete and, as always, it is blooming with practical and inspiring articles.

We have a new arrival, Whose goal is it anyway?, a series for 2011 on goal negotiation from Sam Simpson and Cathy Sparkes. Journal club continues with a look at critically appraising systematic reviews, Editor's choice is on stammering, and Boundary issues is back with the ethical minefield when work and home life meet.

Other articles are on:

• putting people with learning disabilities in control of where they live and with whom
• introducing TOPICC (Targeted Observation of Pragmatics in Children's Conversations)
• reducing the risk of choking in adults with learning disabilities or mental illness
• training people with aphasia and their carers to communicate effectively beyond therapy
• resources for being an effective national specialist adviser.

And, as you would expect, we have fantastic reader offers (for NDP3 Speech Builder, Grow Words, and Independence Through Communication) as well as reviews of books and resources and more low cost ideas for groups in Here's one I made earlier.

New subscribers to Speech & Language Therapy in Practice should note that, in addition to the 4 issues for 2011, they will get a free copy of the Winter 10 issue.

Happy reading!

Supporting people with aphasia to volunteer: useful publications

Do you encourage or support people with aphasia to volunteer?

This topic was explored in the article 'Any volunteers?' in the Winter 10 issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice. Carole Cross of Connect has been in touch to alert readers to two further publications that might be of use: 'How to volunteer - A guide for people with aphasia' and 'Volunteering and aphasia - A guide for organisations recruiting people with aphasia as volunteers'. The titles are self-explanatory, but you can read more and order them via the Connect website. They cost £7.50 each. 

In the article Gill Pearl and Gill Jackson reported on a pilot study of the Personal Development Programme and concluded that it engaged and supported people to do more with aphasia. Identified activities included gardening at the local YMCA sports centre, teaching bowls to new members of the bowls club, helping at the local Citizens Advice Bureau, helping in a charity shop, taking on a new role in a Masonic club, volunteering at Dyscover, and making tea in a residential home. The Personal Development Programme is available to buy at cost from Speakeasy, tel. 01706 825802.

In an accompanying article, 'Actions not words', Rebecca Allwood and Jane Terry found a volunteer placement at Wheelbase for their client Colin. This has enabled him to embark on a journey back to work in spite of his communication difficulties.

 

Speech and language therapist Annabel Bosanquet

I was saddened to learn via the Voice Care Network UK of the recent death of speech and language therapist Annabel Bosanquet.

Annabel worked in independent practice as a voice specialist. Coming from a background in the theatre, she was also a reader for InterAct. This charity provides the services of professional actors to read poetry and stories on an individual basis to people who are in hospital following a stroke. 

Annabel had subscribed to Speech & Language Therapy in Practice for 21 years, since well before my time as editor. She always provided encouraging feedback, reviewed books and as recently as March contacted me to say she would be interested to hear readers' reflections on perceived 'failures' in therapy. Although we didn't get the opportunity to develop this idea together, it is well worth thinking about. 

As the Voice Care Network UK said in their announcement, Annabel had been diagnosed with cancer just a few months ago and died on 16 November. They added a telling message from her husband Mike: "She has always won hearts - and did so yet again amongst the wonderful staff at the hospital, one of whom, a student nurse, has decided to change career direction in admiration for Annabel."

 

Autumn 10 issue now out!

The Autumn 10 issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice was mailed on Friday. (My own copy hasn't made it to Scotland yet, but I know some people got theirs as early as Saturday!)

It includes:

• our new series to help you with critical appraisal of the literature
• teaching indirect interaction techniques to education staff
• working with people with aphasia in a community arts venue
• scaffolding opportunities for silent bilingual children to speak out
• How I support TEP (tracheoesophageal puncture) closure
• complementary therapy - exploring our boundaries
• my top resources for working outside the NHS
• what's hot and what's not: book, resource and software reviews
• In Brief - chewing in children with mild cerebral palsy
• Here's one I made earlier - the menu game
• Editor's choice - adolescents, aphasia, intergroup contact
• win our free reader offer for The Communication Toolkit

New subscribers always receive an extra issue FREE in their first year.

Going for a coffee - aids, prototypes and service developments for people with aphasia

Back in 2001, Speech & Language Therapy in Practice featured an article 'Imprints of the mind' about a group of people with aphasia from Dundee who had participated in an exciting research project 'Expression'.  

Christine Kingsley (then Farrell), who lectures in Design at the University of Dundee, was one of the staff members involved. I am delighted to hear that her interest in aphasia has continued. She is currently working with second year design students on an aphasia awareness project as part of a 'Design for social inclusion' brief.

You can follow the students' work on their blog. They developed their ideas with the help of the Dundee Speakability group, meeting for coffee at the University's Top of the Tower cafe. The students learned that a cafe - a favourite social setting for many of us - is a challenging environment for people with aphasia given the levels of noise, busy staff, time pressures and limited communication aids. The six teams of students then tackled their brief in a variety of ways. Although delighted with the support of the University catering service, Christine is disappointed that "other high street chains were non-commital and apathetic when approached by Speakability members."

The approaches adopted by the 6 teams were:

• Team 1 - development of a visual talking wallet
• Team 2 - telling an individual story through sequences of photographs (suitable for people in the early stages of aphasia)
• Team 3 - a variety of hand held tools covering signage and menus
• Team 4 - i-phone apps
• Team 5 - a training scheme for the catering community
• Team 6 - an awareness campaign about aphasia using social networking strategies such as blogging.

The students welcome feedback on their work.

Connecting people with aphasia with parliament

With the date of the UK general election expected to be announced later this morning, it is no surprise to find Connect - the communication disability network already prepared with a typically direct and positive manifesto for people with aphasia.

The message is that every 11 minutes in the UK three people have a stroke, and one of them will have aphasia. There are 50,000 new cases of aphasia every year in the UK, making it more common than breast cancer and multiple sclerosis combined. The manifesto adds, "...in the average parliamentary constituency nearly 400 people will have aphasia. They need your support in Parliament."

The manifesto further stresses the connection between election candidates and people with aphasia by including communication tips developed by people with aphasia. As well as helping candidates communicate better with people with aphasia, it suggests implementing the ideas will help them get their campaign messages across to everyone.

Connect recognises recent improvements in acute and emergency care, but is calling for the Life after Stroke recommendations of the National Stroke Strategy to be implemented fully as those affected will "live the rest of their lives with aphasia".

Connect also has a new DVD explaining aphasia, a page on Facebook and aphasia-friendly instructions for joining Facebook.

Spring 10 issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice out now

The courier has just been to take the authors' copies of the Spring 10 issue which means mailing is now complete. Spring 10 includes the first of a new ethics series considering everyday events which need to be on our ethical radar screen. In 'Brought to (Face)book', Jois Stansfield and Frances McAleer think through some of the implications of social networking for speech and language therapists.

As well as reviews, reader offers and Editor's Choice, other content includes:

• adductor spasmodic dysphonia - the case for speech and language therapy (not Botox)
• using the East Kent Outcome System in community stroke teams
• Talking Mats facilitate an accurate mental state assessment
• Clifford Hughes' personal story of rediscovering his voice after a laryngectomy
• a debate on the value of cognitive therapy in dementia
• resources from the 'Every Child a Talker' programme
• training early years practitioners to teach attention and listening skills
• suitable books for working with small groups of children in education settings
• Here's one I made earlier with a dating theme
• in brief (choice of words; accessible information; direct therapy).

Hopefully all UK readers will receive their copies by the end of this week, with the air mail ones not taking much longer, and you can get reading! 

North Wales speech and language therapy event and article

I am heading off to Wales tomorrow for an Afasic Cymru event 'Communication Counts' on Friday. I will have a stand in the exhibition hall, but the main reason for going is that I am doing one to one sessions with speech and language therapists on writing for publication.

All the therapists in North Wales will be attending, and this reminded me of my promise to put an article by Dawn Leoni from our Spring 09 issue on the speechmag website. When Dawn accepted a job in North West Wales, she also took on the challenge of learning Welsh by immersion. The article, View from a Welsh mountain, is a reflection on what this has taught her about the experiences and learning support needs of people with communication difficulties.

Elwyn Hughes, who organises Welsh Courses for Adults at Bangor University, asked if I could make the article more widely available, as he feels that "many of her findings and comments would be extremely useful for Welsh language tutors throughout Wales." What could I say, other than "Wrth gwrs!" (I hope that really does mean "Of course!")

Talking Mats release 'To see ourselves as others see us' on Burns Night

Burns Night is an appropriate time for the Scotland-based Talking Mats group to launch its latest resource 'To see ourselves as others see us'.

The line comes from a poem inspired by, of all things, the progress of a head louse over a fine lady's bonnet. As the World Burns Club says, "Poor woman, little did she know that she would, with her head companion, be the subject of one of Burns' poems, on how we see ourselves, and how we think other people see us."

The resource was developed as part of an Economic & Social Research Council funded research project which looked at the impact of aphasia on close relationships. It assessed three levels of perspective: what people think about themselves, what they think about their partners, and what they think their partners think about them. It found there were often differences in the views of people with aphasia and their partners, and that this could lead to significant misunderstandings.

The Talking Mats tool is subtitled 'a resource for comparing perspectives and enhancing understanding within relationships'. The developers hope it will help clients and their families understand each other better and aid decision-making and goal-setting negotiations.

How to run peer-led conversation groups

The communication disability network Connect will shortly be releasing a new toolkit and training package for speech and language therapists who want to run conversation groups led by people with aphasia.

This is the latest step in the national charity's drive to involve people with aphasia in service development, and recognises the particular skills needed to train leaders with aphasia and keep them motivated. Having learned over the years what gives a new scheme the best chance of sustainability, Connect offers initial support and training in your own setting with a toolkit including a CD ROM with training handouts and a DVD.

The Connect website also has a number of inspiring articles which show how the charity's approach to training is bringing about real change for people with aphasia.

For more information about 'How to run peer-led conversation groups: A guide for group coordinators', e-mail nikkiwimbourne@ukconnect.org.