In the conclusion to their book, Jane Stokes and Marian McCormick wrote that they hope it makes you think “Hmmm…” – it certainly does.

As Jane and Marion designed the curriculum for a new postgraduate course in speech and language therapy they collected stories, and then wrote this book to add to the conversation about issues that underlie the SLT profession. The book has 10 chapters, 5 written by Jane and Marian, and 5 contributed by other people. It raises challenging questions and explicitly invites the reader to examine their professional beliefs.

There are a number of chapters I’m looking forward to re-reading and think I’ll review regularly. Marian’s chapter about reflective practice inspired me, and reminded me that one outcome of reflection needs to be a goal for the future. Aoife Gallagher’s chapter “To intervene or not to intervene” had me nodding with agreement. I’ve been considering the role of parental expectations, fear and anxieties in my own clinical work so was interested to read Aoife’s ideas about how to make services transparent and responsive.

In her chapter about supervision Jane introduces models from related fields, that we in speech and language therapy can learn from. Keena Cummins’ chapter on using video clarified issues I’d been struggling with in my therapy sessions. Her analysis of the value of face watching and mirroring between adults made me reflect on some recent interactions with parents. I hadn’t considered the link between spirituality and speech and language therapy. I enjoyed Sophie MacKenzie’s chapter on this topic, which discussed the narratives clients use at different points in the therapeutic journey and person-centred care.

I was scribbling down thoughts and questions as I read this book and enjoyed how it encouraged me to consider why I do what I do. If you’re a therapist who enjoys asking why and getting stuck in to some interesting discussions, I think you’ll enjoy this book. 

The book includes quote from students of Jane and Marian’s course, I was stunned by how insightful they were. If you’re looking to hire a new grad keep your eye out for therapists from the University of Greenwich!

On Wednesday evening I attended the National Autistic Society’s Ageing and Autism launch event. Francesca Happé talked about the huge gaps in the research, and outlined the things we don’t know about what happens when people with autism age. As autism was first used as a diagnostic label in 1943, the children diagnosed then are now approaching their 60s and 70s.

Saskia Baron’s brother Timothy, was one of these children. In 1961 he was diagnosed with “Childhood Psychosis” which later became known as Autism Spectrum Disorder. He is now 57 years old. Saskia talked movingly about growing up with a sibling with autism, and her worries about Timothy’s future. She described how difficult it is for Timothy to let people know when he is unhappy or in pain. More positively, she talked about how she’s observed that Timothy is still able to learn new skills. Saskia agrees that early intervention is important, however, she feels it’s not justified to remove therapeutic resources in late childhood or early adulthood, as the door to learning is still open.

My clients with autism are between 3 and 6 years old, they’ll be approaching old age in 60 years! Saskia’s presentation made me think about two things, how can I support the siblings of my clients? And how can I teach my clients ways to express their pain?

This week I also had a wonderful conversation with Keena Cummins. I’m using her VERVE technique with several families and was thinking about how to manage parents’ expectations. All the children have been making great progress due to the efforts of their skilled and perceptive parents, yet these parents often express frustration that their children aren’t using more words. Keena suggested I’m clear about what I want parents to focus on:

 “During these therapy sessions I want you to focus on his playing, I’ll worry about his talking. I want you to think about how you’re supporting him to play, explore the toys, and try out his ideas. We’ll be thinking about his words later.”

This makes sense to me, I’ll try it out this week.