Blog

I was a year and a half into working as head of therapy at a specialist dyslexia school in Somerset when the pandemic hit. Shortly after the first lockdown began, we were informed that the school would be shutting due to insolvency. My first thought was for the students who were now without education and their support network. Then I had a mad dash to set up remote private therapy for my students, while trying to figure out what my next...

I went straight into office-based work when I finished school, and it wasn’t until I had my own boys that I realised I really wanted to work with children. I studied at night classes to receive my NVQ Level 3 in early years, then went on to study childhood studies and graduated to teach this subject. Over the following year I worked part-time as an early years assessor. In 2009 I started working as a Sure Start early years assistant....

I attended the Kingdon-Ward School of Speech Therapy and qualified in 1953, so it seemed like losing my right arm when I stopped practising as a clinician in 2017. Lockdown has prompted me to reflect on my years in the profession. During my studies I was driven to our local station by my mother. If the train was in she would hoot to the driver who would kindly wave, permitting me to alight. Those were the days! The college was situated...

Hello, my name is Susie. I lead the speech therapy team on the stroke unit at Ipswich Hospital. Ever since I was a student SLT, I’ve been interested in academic research. When I graduated, I threw myself into clinical work, as I enjoyed working with patients and families. I always tried to base my practice on the best available evidence but found myself asking clinical questions for which there weren’t always clear academic...