Throughout our MSc in Speech and Language Sciences at UCL we have been trained to use active listening. It’s a key clinical skill. As trainee SLTs we listen when we collaborate with clients to take case histories. But these are often about a snapshot in time. What happens when clients complete assessment and intervention? How … Read more
I first started working as a speech and language therapy lead for safeguarding about 15 years ago. My arm was twisted into it by my then manager. We needed a named lead and I was the one who kept coming to her with the most cases ………so she said “It seems really relevant to you … Read more
Talking Mats (TMs) I hear you say, is that a mat that talks?! And so begins my story of Talking Mats. Talking Mats is an evidence-based pictorial tool developed by Dr Joan Murphy in 1989. Since its creation, it is used in the UK and worldwide. What does Talking Mats do? It gives individuals with … Read more
If someone had said to me few years ago that I would one day write a blog about something I am extremely conscious of, I would have laughed out loud! But here I am and this means a big step for me. As long as I can remember, I have always stammered. I remember when … Read more
I must admit I arrived with a little apprehension, this was the first time I had attended a public event related to stammering. I was aware that I was wearing two hats, as a person who stammers and a psychologist who has a special interest in working with PWS. The opening remarks by Mark Malcomson … Read more
Most of us will likely agree that the brain of a person who stammers works somewhat differently to the brain of someone who is fluent. What is not so clear, is how it is different. Earlier this year Dr Soo-Eun Chang at the University of Michigan spoke to Peter Reitzes from StutterTalk about her research … Read more
Disclosing one’s stammer is easy they say… vital I say. In fact it is very much a technique I subscribe to, use frequently and encourage others to try. Imagine going into a stressful situation, an interview for example; walk through the door, friendly handshake, introductions gone well, half way through the first question, BLOCK. No … Read more
I have been fortunate in my career to have some really excellent supervision, but all too often I hear from colleagues that the service they work in does not offer quality supervision. I regularly hear that for many it becomes a tick box managerial function, concentrating more on the doing of therapy rather than the … Read more
Dom: ‘Post brain injury life is about staying busy and in touch with the world. To that end one of the things I go to is a group set up by my counsellor Cathy that we tentatively call ‘Culture Club’. No, we don’t sit around and discuss Boy George! Once every two months a group … Read more
When I say to people sometimes that I see my stammering as a positive in my life, they can find it a strange notion. Normally people can only envisage stammering as a negative concept. My stammering is my natural pattern of speech, and having a stammer does not limit my speech nor hinder my conversations. … Read more