Speechmag

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.

 

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.

Making a succinct case for speech and language therapy

Last week I heard Mike Inglis, the newly appointed Governor of Polmont Young Offenders Institution, make a succinct case for speech and language therapy.

Mike was speaking at a Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (RCSLT) study day on effectiveness and efficiency. He explained that speech and language therapy helps inmates cope with the training programmes (on alcohol or drug dependency, sex offending, anger management) that will increase their employability and reduce re-offending. Reinforcing the message, RCSLT Chief Executive Kamini Gadhok (pictured) said, “Communication is central – without it we cannot access the world of education or the world of work.”

In a later slot Professor Paul Carding said that, although speech and language therapists have always been innovative thinkers in the face of the constantly challenging environment of the NHS, we are not good at making the case for our services “succinctly, sharply and clearly”. Richard Simpson MSP reinforced the need to be concise when presenting information or ideas to politicians, for example as part of the RCSLT Giving Voice campaign. A short brief with links to supporting evidence for parliamentary researchers to follow up is most effective.

Keeping it simple is also a good principle for conference presentations, where the time per speaker is strictly limited. Eryl Evans got her message across clearly, but with humour and compassion: long journeys for treatment are not good for clients or services, yet we are not always aware of alternatives. Eryl discovered that state of the art videoconferencing facilities were already in all of the small rural hospitals in her health board area. She now uses telemedicine to provide a high quality service which is convenient for the clients and a more efficient use of therapy time.

The RCSLT Study Day and AGM 2010 ‘Effectiveness and efficiency – innovation in speech and language therapy’ was in Edinburgh on 7th October. The photograph from the event is used by kind permission of RCSLT. Presentations are due to be added to the RCSLT website soon.

Sharing good practice and giving voice to people with speech, language, communication and swallowing needs

Being honest, I wasn't too sure when I read the programme for the RCSLT Scotland day on 26th August that I would particularly enjoy it, other than as an all too rare opportunity to catch up with colleagues in person. How wrong could I be! I have attended many RCSLT events over the years and - especially given the difficulties facing public services - this was one of the most inspiring and timely. I have written about it in a freely available article as an early taster for the Winter 10 issue (due out at the end of November).

It is also well worth reading keynote speaker Gerda Stevenson's story of her communication journey with daughter Galina (now 12) who has Down Syndrome. It tells us so much about the value of user involvement, being up-to-date with the evidence, and the potential of storytelling and drama in therapy.

Perhaps you know other service users who would like to share their experience with a wider audience? If so, the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists is inviting them to join its Giving Voice campaign.  

Free conversing with Sharynne McLeod article now available

Being a speech-language pathologist herself, internationally renowned educator, researcher and editor Sharynne McLeod knows how much our profession likes to talk.

During a study day in Bristol in July ('Speech Sound Disorders in Children - Seminar for SLTs'), Sharynne made a point of encouraging the 50 attendees to shift seats at each interval and talk to someone new. It may feel more natural to find a seat and stick with it, but I enjoyed experiencing her informative, challenging and inspiring seminar from different vantage points, and discussing it with a variety of friendly speechies. Definitely something to do again at future events.

To finish, Sharynne got us each to blow up balloons and write on them the main two messages we would take away from the day. The activity also involved a song and punching the balloons around, which I imagine goes some way towards explaining why I still remember that I wrote 'siblings' and 'polysyllabic words' on mine.  

There were, however, many other equally important messages about making sense of the literature, writing for publication and making a difference across the globe, which I have written about in a new free article on the study day and a follow-up interview with Sharynne. This e-article supplements the content of the Autumn 10 issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice magazine. Other free original articles are also available here.

Caroline Bowen brings her 2 day speech sound disorders workshop to the UK

I can't believe it was as long ago as 2002 that Australian speech-language pathologist Caroline Bowen compiled her top ten child speech resources for Speech & Language Therapy in Practice.

I have "known" Caroline virtually for many years, and enjoy her humourous contributions to the excellent ACQ magazine. I also admire the firm hand with which she guides the phonologicaltherapy listserv, a fantastic resource for anyone who works in the field of child speech.

Now finally I am going to meet her in person when she presents a two day workshop in York next year on behalf of ASLTIP (the Association of Speech & Language Therapists in Independent Practice). 'Speech sound disorders: The basics and beyond II' will cover referral and screening, assessment, diagnosis, contextual factors, intervention approaches, target selection, treatment principles, goals and strategies and roles. It should be an exciting - if exhausting! - couple of days.

 

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.

Training people with learning disabilities to tell stories

"Stories give meaning to our lives - we are storytelling creatures who are constantly reviewing and interpreting our experiences and making link with what has happened to others" (Storytracks, 2009)

Lesley Johnson used this quote to open an article about a collaborative approach to developing narrative in people with learning disabilities in the Winter 09 issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice (see abstract). She explains how a visit from four members of Openstorytellers, including speech and language therapist Nicola Grove and musician Jane Harwood, inspired the development of her own project with "wonderful practical ideas for structure of the sessions, opening and closing activities and stories".

Openstorytellers enables people with learning disabilities to tell stories and build a strong sense of personal and cultural heritage. While it has secured a grant to train people with learning disabilities to manage the organisation, it has at the same time lost business in cancelled projects due to the current financial climate. If you would be interested in commissioning the group to do training or a performance, or in linking as partners in some way email Director Nicola Grove (info@openstorytellers.org.uk).  

Openstorytellers also has a page on Facebook.

Reference
Johnson, L. (2009) 'How I create creativity (2): Defining who I am', Speech & Language Therapy in Practice Winter, pp.26-28.

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.

'ASHA needs to actively enforce its code of ethics' petition

The Chair of the British Stammering Association is urging people to join him in petitioning ASHA to prevent misleading claims that stammering is curable.  

Leys Geddes has been at the forefront of a UK campaign to ensure that people understand there is no universal 'cure' for stammering and that very few adults recover. He wants to ensure people who stammer are not given false hopes, and that people who do not stammer are not given a false impression of the condition.

Leys says, "Within the UK we have seen some considerable success but, as the web is international, it has been difficult to stamp it out worldwide. We approached authoritative organisations in other countries, particularly the States, asking for their support. Many have come on board but, disappointingly, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) declined, explaining that, in their view, these claims were a case of 'let the buyer beware'."

The new 2010 ASHA code of ethics includes rules, which are "specific statements of minimally acceptable professional conduct or of prohibitions". One of these states, "Individuals shall not guarantee the results of any treatment or procedure, directly or by implication; however, they may make a reasonable statement of prognosis." ASHA members Peter Reitzes (co-host of StutterTalk) and Dr Phil Schneider believe that speech-language pathology colleagues marketing their services with phrases such as 'Discover how to stop stuttering' and '12 days to fluent speech' are violating this rule. They have therefore started a petition to ask ASHA to enforce it. 

Leys comments, "It is both brave and sad that two speech-language pathologists, and ASHA members, must ask for support from the outside world to fight against a refusal by their own professional body to uphold such a straightforward ethical issue. Stammerers need to stand together on these issues, so every signature will be important."