Posts tagged “Stephen Parsons”

Although there’s plenty of formal education for Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs), we need more opportunities to share ideas, learn from each other, and develop our skills in an informal environment. I had a blast at Ignite London last year, and it inspired me to organise a similar event for SLTs. Meet Therapy Ideas Live.

With some friends and colleagues I’m trying something new: an evening of informal and informative lightning-style talks presented by ten SLTs from a range of backgrounds. Broaden your perspective, learn from others, share your own experiences, and socialise over a glass of wine—it’s a more inspiring version of CPD!

The first Therapy Ideas Live is happening on the evening of 5th July 2011, hosted at the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in London. Ten amazing speakers–including Gina Davies, Marie Gascoigne, and Stephen Parsons–will each present for 5 minutes, with slides that advance automatically. Find out more on the event page.

Amazingly, all 50 free tickets for this event sold out within 24 hours, and we closed the waiting list when 50 more people had signed up. Thanks for your support! We plan to film the presentations and share them on this website.

We’re also planning another event at City University in the autumn. Register your interest and be the first to hear when tickets are released. And if you fancy sharing your experience, perspective, case study, or challenge, send us your talk idea using this form. You don’t need experience of public speaking: anyone can give a lightning talk (read this post for some handy tips), and we’ll give you plenty of help.

You can follow the event live on twitter, using the hashtag #therapyideas.

See you there!

I have a great way of keeping up to date with SLT issues in the media: my Grandma calls me whenever she spots relevant stories in the newspaper! She pointed out the article in the Independent which features an interview with John Bercow (an MP), and quotes Beth Junor and Stephen Parsons — both friends from Hackney.

The article prompted me to read the executive summary of The Bercow Report: Services for Children and Young People with Speech, Language and Communication Needs, and the government’s response. Lots of the recommendations in the report seem sensible; a few particularly jumped out at me.

I’m encouraged that some of the recommendations are already common practice; in some areas where Children’s Centres have successfully been implemented, I’ve observed that speech, language and communication is being made a priority (recommendation 11).

Having come across teachers who anxiously refer children with lisps to me, but seem unaware of the those with severe language delay, I think developing teachers’ understanding of speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) is vital (recommendations 21 and 22). Training teachers will aid early identification and allow SLTs to use their time more effectively.

Recommendation 14 talks about issuing guidance to schools on the use of funding, in order to meet the needs of all children with SLCN. I’ve often suggested to schools that pupils would benefit from various inexpensive resources, only to be told, “there is no budget left this year, talk to me again next year!” So a reminder of the requirement to meet all children’s needs may mean that staff on the ground, working with the children on the SLT caseload, have adequate resources.

In their response to the report, the government announced a £40 million programme called “Every Child A Talker.” The programme is supposed to ensure that early years staff can support children’s speaking and listening. It sounds great; I’ve seen how effective joint working with early years staff can be. Bring on the £40 million!

The Bercow Review has got speech and language into the news this week: for example, this article from the BBC. Just raising awareness is helpful. I’ve only read the summary, but how exciting that the Government might have too! Anyone delved into the actual report? Which recommendations do you think the Government will actually implement? It would be interesting to hear what other people make of it.

Rhiannan