Speechmag

'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.

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.

Off We Go! with Signed Stories

ITV's Signed Stories have signed up Avril Webster, author of the Off We Go! series. You can see 'Going to Buy Clothes' being signed here.

Avril's inspiration for the series came from her son Stephen's love of books. Stephen has intellectual disabilities and found everyday experiences overwhelming. Looking at her books about going to the hairdresser, supermarket, a restaurant, the doctor, the dentist and the swimming pool helped him deal with these situations.

Since I interviewed Avril in 2007, she has introduced more stories: Going to Buy Shoes, Going to Buy Clothes, Going to a Birthday Party, Going to the Optician, Going on a Plane and Going to the Cinema. These were reviewed very positively in the Summer 10 issue by Helen Burnford who said, "They are a useful resource to be used as part of preparation for daily living or by therapists in narrative therapy groups or as part of topic based literacy or language groups in schools."

As well as the website, Off We Go! is also on facebook.

SpeechQuest takes speech and language therapy online

The internet is now an integral part of our everyday lives. We take it for granted that if we want answers we will get them online. But virtual speech and language therapy as a form of service delivery? Could that help ensure children with communication difficulties get the right help at the right time?

Speech and language therapists Rosy Bostock and Suki Ahsam clearly believe this is possible. They have launched SpeechQuest, a web-based venture aimed at giving parents, carers and early years practitioners a new level of access to assessment and advice.

As their website explains, the SpeechQuest user selects and completes a short online multiple choice questionnaire, then receives an immediate summary of results along with activity ideas and any recommendations for referral. The user can return to the online questionnaires at regular intervals to check on progress, with new activities provided according to the age and stage of the child suggested by their responses.

SpeechQuest is aimed at carers of children from 3 months to 5 years and costs £19.95 per child. The developers believe that it "complements existing NHS and Independent Sector services, empowering parents and practitioners to get involved in supporting the child without delay." A free month's trial is currently available. I will be interested to hear what readers think.

SpeechQuest will also be reviewed in a future issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice.

National Literacy Trust to survey young people's attitudes to communication

The National Literacy Trust is looking for schools to participate in a survey to investigate young people’s attitudes towards speaking, listening and more general communication skills.

The online survey will run from 14 June to 3 July 2010 and involve 8-16 year olds from a variety of socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds.

The Trust says “very little” is known about this subject. The survey will include attitudes about the importance of speaking and listening, what the young people think employers, society and education establishments expect and the degree to which they are confident in and good at using different communication skills.

Interested schools need to reply by 23^rd May 2010.

The National Literacy Trust has recently overhauled its website and in my view is well worth a look. Like many organisations, it is keeping a close and interested eye on how the change in government will impact on education and other children's services in England.

Circle time opportunities for speech and language therapists

My sons' primary school had Circle Time guru Jenny Mosley running their in-service today. When volunteers were sought from the primary sixes and sevens I persuaded my older son to go in, albeit reluctantly. (He looked a bit skeptical when I said, "You know, she's really famous!") I was lucky enough to get to observe the circle time demonstration.

Jenny has developed the Quality Circle Time model over the past twenty five years. It is "a whole-school approach to enhancing self-esteem and building positive relationships". This afternoon she demonstrated how to encourage and give feedback on good thinking, good listening, good looking and good concentrating. The children were also given the opportunity to ask for help with aspects of behaviour, and to appreciate the suggestions and support of their peers. Active learning using games and a parachute was included, and Jenny also showed how puppets can facilitate discussions around difficult issues without anyone having to feel under the spotlight.

Speech and language therapists writing for Speech & Language Therapy in Practice often mention circle time as one of the opportunities for working with teachers to raise awareness of support strategies for children with speech, language and communication needs. In one short demonstration Jenny could not hope to begin to cover all the nuances of the approach. However, I did find myself wondering how the children that we see would cope with the speed of speaking and level of language comprehension and expressive vocabulary required without significant modification.

The book 'Language Development - Circle Time Sessions to Improve Communication Skills' was written in 2003, and one of the co-authors is speech and language therapist Jackie Lowe. Having looked over Jenny's website, I don't see specific Quality Circle Time resources beyond this, yet there are questions on the discussion forum about including children with severe learning disabilities and autism, as well as those who are bilingual. Perhaps there is an opportunity here for enterprising speech and language therapists?

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! 

Speech and language therapists and teachers of the deaf - 'Communicating clearly together'

Reader Sue Hamrouge gave me a call to ask if I would alert readers to a forthcoming conference to promote collaborative working between speech and language therapists who work with deaf people, and teachers of the deaf.

The conference is on 13th March in Wandsworth from 9.30-16.15. As the title 'Communicating clearly together' suggests, the programme is weighted towards presentations on joint working, including visits, assessment and target setting.

Although relationships between the two professions have not always been easy, Sue says "there is some excellent work going on now." She explains that initiatives such as the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme and the Early Support programme have brought the whole team of people who work with deaf children and their families closer together. Teams are quality audited every 12 to 18 months for the service they deliver following a diagnosis. This has led to sharing rather than duplication, and the good clinical practice is emerging as people work and develop resources together. Good news indeed for our tiniest clients and their families.