What does your job
involve?
I
work with children, usually 2-11 years old, although the childrens' service
covers the 0-19 age range. My time is
split between working in a community clinic one day a week and the other days
are spent in different primary schools. I assess and offer advice on children's speech, their understanding and
use of language, and their social interaction skills. I can also give general advice on eating and
drinking skills. I work closely with
parents/carers and support staff in educational settings. I also liaise with a
wide range of other professionals such as Health Visitors, Educational
Psychologists, Early Years Service, Social Workers, Doctors, School Nurses and
many more.
Why did you decide to
become a AHP professional?
It
was having contact with an SLT as a mum and through working in schools. One of my children had trouble saying some
sounds; I also worked as a Teaching Assistant in primary schools and began to
have training on understanding communication difficulties and how TA's can
support children. I worked with children
with ADHD, behaviour difficulties, autism, and children who were learning
English as an additional language. I also spent a year working with high school
pupils who were struggling to read. I kept coming into contact with SLTs, asked
loads of questions and decided this was the job for me. The other big appeal was that SLTs can work
with all age ranges, with a wide range of different difficulties and needs and they
can work in so many different environments!
How long have you
worked as a AHP professional?
It
will be five years this October and I can't believe how quickly that time has
gone!
Have you seen the
profession change during this time?
I
think there has been greater awareness of the role of SLTs in recent years,
especially with the film ‘The King's Speech’ and the TV programme ‘Educating
Yorkshire’. SLTs are also getting their
message across to the wider public and parliament through campaigns such as
‘Giving Voice’. There is increasing awareness
of the significant impact on individuals, their carers and communities that
communication difficulties can have; e.g. in the early years, schools, youth offending/prison
population, adults and the elderly. The
Government is now recognizing that communication skills are a fundamental part
of children’s development and difficulties with this key skill directly
contribute to educational attainment.
Do you have a
particular highlight from your career to date?
I
have two highlights – the first is graduating from university as a mature
student from university. That was
something I'd only dreamed I could do, especially as I didn't have a clue what
I wanted to do when I left school at 16, apart from wanting to help people. The second highlight happened last year. I
was able to work in two of our Child Development Centres as part of a team of
medical and allied health professionals who assess pre-school children with
complex developmental needs. It was very
challenging on many levels but extremely rewarding to be part of such a team supporting
families with children who often had significant medical, physical and
developmental needs.
If someone was
thinking of becoming a AHP professional, why would you encourage them to do a
role like yours?
It
can be very hard work, but it's the sense of achievement you get using the
knowledge and skills you acquired through your training, and increasing
experience, to find that you can make such a difference to people's lives. It's also about being in a position to use
those skills to listen, problem-solve, act on concerns, offer solutions and to
work as part of a team or partnership.
Would you like to see
the profession change? If so, how?
I'm
obviously going to say that we need more SLTs locally and nationally! We are a 'cradle to grave' profession that
does so much more than "help people to talk properly". As a children's SLT, I would love to see simple
key messages about communicating with babies and young children being put out
there by the media regularly for parents. For example, in Leeds we can sign-post
parents to locally produced resources and media, such as our interactive
website and our online toolkit, to support and educate parents on how to talk
to and play with their baby or child.
What is the best bit
about doing your job?
Despite
being a difficult and demanding job there are also wonderful rewards. Just this week a little boy began to say his
'tricky' sound correctly after months of struggling, and another little boy
began to show real interest in another person and requested a game using eye
contact and gesture to say he wanted to play again. These may seem very little
highlights but when you have been working with a child for a long time and you
see their ‘lightbulb moment’ and their sense of achievement, it's amazing to
have been involved in helping them to communicate effectively with another
person.
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