Tailor-made speech and language therapy provision to schools across southeast London
This would normally be the time of year when SBT would be opening up applications for our Student Grants. However, unfortunately, the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions mean we will be deferring until September 2020. Applications will open on 1 September instead.
In the meantime, if you’re interested in the grant, please email [email protected]. The new closing date for applications will be 31 October.
SBT therapist Michelle Quaye has put together a brilliant new video for our new YouTube channel that talks about five common items you can find in your home that you can use to help your child with their communication skills. Can you guess what they are?
SBT is currently providing a full service to schools via teletherapy and to extend that service further, we have created a new YouTube channel that will have video resources for parents and teachers to use at home. Subscribe to the channel to make sure you stay up to date with all our latest content!
It’s March 2020. As I write this, the coronavirus is affecting the entire globe. Schools in the UK are poised to close to all children, except those who are the most vulnerable, or who have parents who are key workers.
Many families are self-isolating already. Nearly every single family in the UK is facing the prospect of educating their children at home as of this week.
When I am at the school gates waiting to pick up my own children, I am hearing so much anxiety from parents and carers. Some people are already off and grappling with getting their children to do their maths work. They say that it is… a challenge.
Parents and carers of children with speech, language and communication needs may find this challenge is even greater. So here are some top tips on how to support your child’s engagement in learning activities.
Continue reading “How to help your child learn at home during the coronavirus outbreak”In the eighth edition of our newsletter we have all of this in store for you:
You can read all of that in the window above or download it as a PDF.
SBT’s founder and practice manager Sarah Buckley has been appointed acting vice-chair of the Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice (ASLTIP).
As vice-chair, Sarah will be involved in many strategic aspects of ASLTIP, including helping to develop ASLTIP’s strategic plan with the chair, providing input into and reviewing its business development plan, helping the chair to deliver the ASLTIP Uni Tour, and assisting in the organisation of local groups’ national study and collaborative partnership day.
ASLTIP provides information and a contact point for members of the public searching for a private speech and language therapists. For its members, ASLTIP provides support and information on working as a independent speech and language therapist in the UK.
SBT is passionate about providing the best support possible to children with developmental language disorder (DLD). We also want to ensure that children receive evidence-based therapy, which is why we are also committed to supporting research.
Two SBT SLTs, Michelle and Rochelle, are both conducting studies for their Master’s Degrees at the moment, with the support of SBT, and we have just started a collaboration with Abbie Moran, an SLT and PhD student at City University.
Abbie’s PhD study is investigating the impact of DLD on working memory development in six to 10 year olds. She is hoping to recruit 80 children with DLD and to compare them to 80 typically developing children. So far, she has tested around 30 children with DLD, but is hoping to recruit more – something with which SBT is helping her.
Abbie had a student placement with SBT seven years ago and it’s great to be working with her again.
But this summer we’ll be welcoming some ‘new Abbies’, as we’ll be taking a group of UCL undergraduates on placement. They’ll get to practise assessment, observation, Year 6 transition and discharge, review and discharge, creating therapy target outcomes, and working with resources.
We’re looking forward to hosting them – and maybe helping them with their own PhDs in seven years’ time!
The first SBT Communication Booster of 2020 will be ‘ASD – introduction to ASD and working within the classroom’ and we are now taking bookings from interested schools.
The course will be held in SBT’s offices on Friday 24th April at 2.30pm. The price for each course is £25 per person.
Communication Boosters are training courses designed to provide a combination of information, strategies and top tips to support communication through fun, informative and practical sessions.
Download the Communication Booster Booking Form and return it to us by email or post to request your place.
Here at SBT, we are very passionate about providing the best support possible to children with developmental language disorder (DLD). DLD is a condition that affects 7.6% of children – two pupils in every class of 30 – in which they find it difficult to understand or use language, with no outlined cause and no other biomedical condition present, such as a hearing impairment or autism spectrum disorder.
Without a specialist understanding, DLD can be mistaken for autism spectrum disorder, as they both result in delays to the development of language and difficulties in understanding higher-level language such as idioms. It can also commonly be mistaken for behavioural difficulties, because children with DLD often find it difficult to follow instructions and to respond appropriately to questions.
These and other difficulties in identifying DLD can significantly affect a child’s experiences at school, as well as the building of healthy relationships with their peers and staff.
Speech and Language Therapists are trained to assess, diagnose and provide bespoke support for children with DLD. We:
SBT is committed to providing positive outcomes for children with DLD and their families. Knowledge is power! We will therefore continue to use our ever-growing, combined knowledge to support this area of our work.
The past few weeks have seen SBT’s staff going on several training courses. Catherine attended a two-day course for SLTs on how to run fluency groups using the Swindon model at The Swindon Centre at the end of October. We’re very much looking forward to Catherine sharing what she’s learnt with the team!
Meanwhile, last week, Sally, Rochelle and Michelle attended a course on Shape Coding in Oxted.
Says Michelle: “The Shape Coding Course was a very interesting and engaging learning experience. The course captured many different ways that language disorders present and the variety of ways that the Shape Coding system can help to provide effective support. It was also very interactive; we had many opportunities to have a go at working with the Shape Coding system ourselves. I feel a lot more empowered to incorporate this area of intervention into my caseload, going forward.”
During Half Term, Sarah Buckley delivered another of SBT’s Work Experience workshops. These are designed to help you decide whether a career in speech and language therapy is right for you and increase your readiness to undertake training to become a speech and language therapist.
The response was great, with feedback including “Very informative and enjoyable,” “This has confirmed that this is the career I want,” and “I enjoyed the workshop and look forward to shadowing.”
We’re looking forward to attendees returning to shadow some of our therapists action and to put into practice what they learnt at the workshop.