We all start out with dreams and ideas about how our careers will go. It’s hard to foresee when, where or why the forks in the road will come, but it is almost certain that they will. This blog post explores two key ways in which supervision helped me to negotiate a fork in the … Read more
Supervision. The word invokes many different thoughts for me. The many supervisors I have had, and the many people I have supervised. And the formality of the word. I got a bit stuck when trying to move past this, so I read through multiple blog posts about having one’s communication shaped, ‘therapyed’ or embraced. These … Read more
An aneurysm ruptured in my brain when I was 27. The facts are simple enough. Yet, I find this topic resists such simplicity. I had been an American abroad, touring a show to the International Fringe Festival in Scotland. I was onstage when it happened, though I don’t remember when I stopped singing. I don’t … Read more
As an allied health professional and educator in the health and social care sector, I interview a lot of would-be health and social care professionals. Almost without fail, these university applicants talk about caring and their desire to work with people, of communication skills and understanding. In due course the successful students study hard to … Read more
As a student Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) nearing the end of your training, you begin to feel a bit like you might know a few things. After four years of placements and the range of experiences you have amassed through interaction with a variety of clients and their families, you start to think ‘Ok, … Read more
Together we have compiled some images and reflections to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. For 10 years as intandem, we have: Preserved our core values Valued and invested in our relationship Been consistent and flexible Balanced work-life transitions Collaborated and created links Developed a voice … Read more
I wrote last month about how some of our neuro-rehabilitation service users benefit from the experience of attending the news group we run on the ward. As a service, we have found that we can use our group provision for a number of purposes: We can use the group to provide different packages … Read more
10.30am and this week’s News Group is about to start on the neuro-rehabilitation unit where I work as a speech and language therapist. As I arrange chairs and sort through the newspapers, John arrives without any prompting, having remembered to consult his diary for his programme for the day. John is working on strategies to … Read more
A week later and I am still feeling buoyed up by the positivity of the British Stammering Association’s National 2014 Conference, held in association with the Scottish Stammering Network in Glasgow. I was not sure what to expect as I made the long train journey north on Friday 22nd August, arriving just in time to … Read more
Where does the real problem of stammering lie? How does society communicate its values and norms about fluency and how does this affect people who stammer? How does the SLT tread the delicate path between helping their client manage their stammering more effectively (and increase ease of communication) without reinforcing unhelpful ideas about stammering (and … Read more