Speechie at DMU

Hello there, a very warm welcome to my last post of 2018! I am very excited to be writing this post today...and I’m actually still slightly in shock that I get to share this news with you all. I am completely delighted to be a successful applicant for the 2019 Student Leadership Programme, and to be one of the #150leaders !  The  Council of Deans Student Leadership Programme (SLP)  is a program for successful first and second year Student Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), Midwives and Nurses. The programme aims develop the leadership skills and knowledge for working in health and social care. These skills form part of our essential competencies that the  Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)  set as standards for professional practise. I am so grateful for this opportunity, and very proud to have been successful. This year really has been a completely incredible, surreal one and I can’t wait to see ...

Hello there, thank you very much f or poppi ng by. This is a really fun and exciting post for me today, because I get to share some really lovely news with you all! Yay! I am so delighted to have been selected for one of Sarah Buckley Therapies minor student Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) grants this year! It is a fantastic opportunity, and I want to send a huge thank you to Sarah Buckley & her team. Writing my application was a really great chance for me to summarise my student SLT career so far, and to reflect on what I have achieved. Happily, I was very pleasantly surprised! It's so easy to get caught up in the busy uni terms, assignments and general life - and it's always a good time to take stock of what you have accomplished. I think it's true for everyone that you have always done more (and better) than you think, and one of my favourite quotes sums this up quite nicely: “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter t...

Hello!  It's been a little while, how are you? Please feel free to drop me a comment, I would really love to know how things are with you! I hope you're enjoying these rare sunny autumnal days we've been having in the UK. We are back at uni now, almost into week 3 of the term - how did that happen already?! It's great to be back studying, and there's lots of exciting things happening so keep an eye out on my  social media  for lots of lovely news! Anyway, that's enough enough catching up for now! Back to the matter in hand... I CAN -  The Journey of an SLT Student In late 2017, I was delighted to be asked to work with I CAN, a UK children's communication charity! In the piece, I talk about the role I CAN has played in my SLT-life, and the wonderful experiences they have given me so far, including my placement delivering the Early Talk Boost, and my thoughts on the current provision of Speech Language and Communication support and services. I CAN  ...

Hello there! It’s lovely to have you here, this is a special blog post for me today about the amazing charity A World with Friends, formally known as Friend Finder. If you're new to the blog, firstly hello and a very warm welcome to you! If you'd like, you can pop over to the Welcome! page to get to know me a little. Friend Finder is a charity founded by the wonderful Lewis Hine , who founded his charity after experiencing loneliness and isolation when he became incredibly poorly at a young age. As Lewis was not well enough to go to school, he spent long stretches of time in hospital having operations, so he did not have opportunities to maintain friendships or make new friends. This is a very common problem that those who have long term or terminal illness find, and we know the negative impact for social isolation has on our wellbeing. I distinctly remember coming across a video Lewis made for his 16th Birthday, telling us about his life, the challenges he contin...

Hello there, thank you so much for stopping by, it really is lovely to have you here. I hope you're enjoying the beautiful sunny weather we are having, and staying cool! T he watermelon ice-lollies in our freezer are definitely calling to me today. I have wanted to do a blog post about this topic, which is very close to my speechie heart, for a while…so here we are! Today is the 100th day of the #Bercow10 campaign… let me explain what this is all about! The Bercow report was first published 10 years ago in 2008, lead by John Bercow, to highlight the current situation of provision for children with SLCN in the UK. The report showed numerous inadequacies in support and lack of sufficient services and recommended guidance to increase services to sufficient levels for the population. (T his link provides some overview and signposting to more information, if you’re interested in reading more: https://www.rcslt.org/about/campaigns/bercow_review ) Ten years on, and the...

RCSLT Hubs Logo (source: https://twitter.com/rcslthubs) The RCSLT Hubs – East Midlands day 22 nd May 2018! Part two. Hello! Thank you for popping over to read part two of this post series, it’s lovely to have you here. You can pop over and read part one here:  https://speechieatdmu.blogspot.com/2018/06/rcslt-east-midlands-hub-lets-get.html  if you missed it! I asked Tara, Shagufta and Jess if they would chat about their main takeaways and reflections from the event, and what the RCSLT Hubs mean to them as a student SLT. I think it is really important to hear about the event from different perspectives, it’s so interesting to hear our personal reflections; and we can never have enough diversity. So, without further ado, it’s over to them! Tara has just finished her second year at DMU, and this is what she wrote about the day: So Charlotte kindly asked me if I would like to contribute to her blog following the East Midlands hub day. The hub day gave the ...