The folks at The Hanen Centre kindly sent me a copy of I’m Ready – How to Prepare Your Child for Reading Success and asked me what I thought. Here in the UK advice about how to support literacy skills seems to change frequently, so I was interested to see what Janice Greenberg and Elaine Weitzman suggest.

The book has 6 chapters: Early Literacy, Conversation, Vocabulary, Story Comprehension, Print Knowledge and Sound Awareness. It’s visually appealing; the text is broken up by photographs and drawings. I read it over several days and found it easy to pick up where I’d left off. There’s a comprehensive list of recommended children’s books, coded in terms of how they can be used to support literacy. I think the ‘Try it out!’ checklists and reflection questions look useful.

The book is full of practical examples from real families, so it’s both straight forward to apply and realistic, in terms of what parents can fit into their lives. There are plenty of Hanen’s trademark memory aids, some familiar like OWLing (observe, wait, and listen) and some new (to me) like POP – point out print.

My favourite thing about the book is how clear the authors are about the importance of making reading fun by following the child’s lead. I often worry that parents go in too heavy with the flashcards approach, which can put kids off, so I was relieved that the book stresses reading needs to be fun.

The blurb on the back of the book states that the authors have taken the most current research and broken it down into fun strategies for promoting early literacy. The only thing that frustrated me is that although they’ve provided references for each chapter, these aren’t clearly identified in the text. It simply says: “studies have found….” – so it’s not clear which study they are referring to. I think some parents (and professionals) would like to read more detail from the original research paper, and the format of the book doesn’t support this.

If you’re looking for ideas about how to use books (and conversation!) to prepare a child for reading and writing I’m Ready is packed full of them. It’s easy to read, practical and fun.

If you’re in the UK, the book is currently only available directly from Hanen. Hanen hope their UK distributor will be stocking it soon.

I’ve been thinking about how parents choose a therapist for their child (I’ve recently set up my private practice). What are they looking for? What do they want? I used feedback I’ve received from parents to make a list, then arranged my ideas into themes.

First there are ‘logistical’ factors. Parents want an SLT who:

• is punctual,
• is professional – doesn’t cancel appointments at the last minute,
• is reliable – does what she says she’ll do,
• gives appointments at a convenient time,
• communicates in a convenient way, for example by email,
• completes reports in a reasonable time frame,
• has time to listen to them.

Next there are ‘therapist’ factors. Parents want someone who:

• can build rapport with their child, so therapy is fun & their child likes going,
• can facilitate progress, so their child develops new skills,
• is flexible, if something isn’t working she’ll try a different approach,
• is responsive to changes in the child or family,
• is experienced,
• is consistent (this is a big one) they want the same therapist, not a different person every block or visit.

Interpersonal factors are also important. Parents value therapists who:

• listen to their views and respect them,
• believe in their child’s ability to make progress and offer hope,
• can give advice and support around wider issues such as school placements,
• can work well with the other professionals their child sees,
• can admit when they don’t know something and ask a colleague,
• are transparent, with an open, honest, straightforward attitude.

A magic wand and the evidence base

I thought of two more things that don’t really fit in above: the magic wand and the evidence base. Some parents want to find an SLT with a magic wand, someone who can simply make their child’s difficulty disappear. If you find one, let me know, I’d love to interview him or her for my podcast!

Finally, there’s evidence based therapy. I’m not sure how much of factor the evidence base is for parents. Although I’ve never been asked to support my therapy plan with research papers, I have been asked: do you think this will work, how has this approach worked with other children, and which approach will have the quickest result? So some parents are evaluating different therapy options, it’s really encouraging.

When I look over this list, I’m struck by how many of these depend on a therapist having enough time. Perhaps that’s the key, parents want a therapist who they feel, has time for them.

What have I missed? SLTs, what do your families tell you they’re happy with and what do they complain about? Parents, what is most important to you when you’re looking for a therapist? I’d love to hear from you!

I’ve been thinking about how evidence-based practice is relevant to daily life as a therapist. I enjoyed reading Arlene McCurtin and Hazel Roddam’s Review, Evidence-based practice: SLTs under siege or opportunity for growth? The use and nature of research evidence in the profession, in the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders. Check it out!

Many clinicians and managers I’ve spoken to think that evidence-based practice (EBP) consists solely of evidence from systematic research. Which means the mantra – base service decisions on EBP, can seem punitive rather than supportive. Watch Kate Malcomess describe how clinicians can feel dismissed and devalued if they don’t have an evidence base, in her 5 minute lightning talk. McCurin and Roddam use a definition by Dollaghan (2007) that highlights there are three components of EBP: research evidence, the expertise of the clinician (internal to clinical practice), and patient values and preferences.

They raise a number of issues:

• There’s a mismatch in research agendas: academic researchers aren’t studying what clinicians want to know.
• Evidence from Randomised Control Trials can’t be applied directly to real-life patients as treatment protocols can’t be rigidly applied outside the lab and patients may have co-occurring difficulties.
• The way researchers communicate information to clinicians for example in journal articles, isn’t effective.

Translational Research

McCurtin and Roddam state that translational research addresses these issues however, I wasn’t sure what translational research was! A quick google led to this definition:

“For others-especially health service researchers and public health investigators whose studies focus on health care and health as the primary outcome-translational research refers to translating research into practice; ie, ensuring that new treatments and research knowledge actually reach the patients or populations for whom they are intended and are implemented correctly.”

Steven H. Woolf, in The Meaning of Translational Research and Why It Matters.

Sounds good! It got me thinking about how research carried out in universities could be more effectively used by therapists working on the ground. Summary blog posts, interviews in podcast format or short videos on youtube all seem like they’d be more accessible to the time strapped clinician than reading a journal article is.

Therapy Ideas Live: Using Social Media to Participate in EBP

If you’re interested in this real-life slant on EBP join us at the next Therapy Ideas Live event on Monday 3rd December, when we’ll be talking about how therapists can use social media to participate in EBP. There’ll be talks from featured speakers, including Nicola Botting, and small group discussions. Our venue is Google Campus in Shoreditch, London and the event is sponsored by MyChoicePad – you’ll be able to try out the app on the night. Check out the webpage for more details and to buy tickets. See you there!

Photo by Ohio University Libraries

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