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!

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 [email protected]) as soon as possible. Successful applicants will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation.

What a brilliant CPD opportunity - good luck!

 

New 'Communicating ethics' article explores use of Seedhouse grid

There wasn't room for 'Boundary issues' in the Winter 10 issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice - but don't despair if you missed your ethics fix, as I have just published an online only article which explores the use of the Seedhouse grid.

'Communicating ethics' is a collaborative effort from Professor Jois Stansfield of Manchester Metropolitan University and Jane Handley, one of her former students and now a practising therapist.

When Jane was in her final year she found a series of workshops on a case-based approach to ethical reasoning very helpful. As she says, we frequently need to make decisions that "are often difficult to resolve because they present ethical dilemmas which cannot be reasoned out with logic alone. To achieve the best possible outcome, it seems that a moral judgement is also required." 

The article explores how Jane used David Seedhouse's Ethical grid with a hypothetical client, Bryan (5), who has profound physical and cognitive disabilities. His parents are looking for a second opinion, as they do not believe sufficient time is being allocated to his feeding in school or in respite. This was the first Manchester Metropolitan University speech and language therapy case to be presented in Seedhouse's Values Exchange, an online approach to ethical decision-making.

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.

'Benefit finding' and coping with head and neck cancer

ENT & Audiology News for Nov/Dec 2010 includes a summary review (p.132) of Morwenna White-Thomson's article 'How I support TEP closure: an open and shut case?' from the Autumn 10 issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice.

The Nov/Dec issue of ENT & Audiology News also contains a thought-provoking article by Sandy Cavell (pp.49-50), 'Head and Neck Cancer: quality of life and beyond.'

Sandy is a Health Psychologist in New Zealand. As she says, "quality of life assessment and further information on psychological factors are important in enabling the clinician to improve communication with the patient, to ensure there is a more informed choice regarding treatment options and that better health outcomes are achieved" (p.49).  

Health professionals are increasingly recognising the importance of qualities such as resilience, so I was particularly interested in her comments on 'benefit finding' and its positive association with effective coping strategies. Examples of benefit finding were where the person's experience "caused them to think differently about their relationships with family and friends, altered their worldview and their prioritising of life issues" (p.49).

Between its print publication and online presence, ENT & Audiology News says it aims to offer "an invaluable forum for the communication of news and information from every aspect of ENT and audiology". For subscription rates and offers, contact Pinpoint Scotland Ltd, tel. 0131 557 4184.

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."

 

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.

Blu-Tack and speech and language therapy

Suggesting ways to make learning fun, speech and language therapist Priya Desai says that blu-tack is "to this day a clear favourite of all the children I have worked with". 

The clever marketing people at blu-tack use their website to collate and share ideas about the many uses for their product. Speech and language therapists are amazingly creative, and are always looking for new, low cost tricks. What suggestions do you have for using blu-tack in therapy?