Giving Voice: Birmingham City Style!

It's always fantastic to see enthusiasm and drive and even more so when it's associated with a really important topic! Speech therapy transforms lives!!

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Why should you talk to a baby?

I've  just come back from a restaurant in Uttoxeter where families are encouraged (Helen Stretton is cringing now after the last time I mentioned someone she knew by co-incidence!). On an adjacent table were 6 adults and baby in a  high chair at the end. I would say the baby was about 6-8 months. They had no toys for him to play with and didn't talk to him at all for the half hour we sat near by. Occasionally if he whimpered, the mother tapped the high chair tray with her finger nails but did not look at or interact with him. He didn't wimper much as he was obviously used to them ignoring him.

He was beautifully dressed and obviously well cared for physically but they had no clue they could be, or should be including him in the conversation.

Why should they have been interacting with him?

Babies' brains need stimulating in order to develop properly:

By 22 months – a child’s development can predict outcomes at age 26

By 2 years – 75% of a child’s brain growth has occurred

By 2 years – the experiences of the child physically affects the brain structure

By  4  years – the difference in the number of words different groups hear is 19 million

By 5 years – a child’s vocabulary will predict their educational success and outcomes at age 30

So if you were the family in the  restaurant this evening, please make sure you are stimulating your little one much more than you do now!

We have some lovely new sessions in the Tamworth area to look at the marvellous first year, what factors help promote communication and what hinders development: Coton Green Community Room 1pm Wednesdays or Mill Lane Link 10am Thursdays

Speech Therapy transforms lives

We  need to be shouting about this. No-one else can do what we do. Have a look at this from some de Montford students who are saying that their way....

Developing your therapy business

Setting up a business is fairly straight forwards and there may be start up workshops or in the case of Speech and language therapy, ASLTIP run a very successful introduction to setting up in independent practice. But what next? Here is often the more difficult part and where potentially money can be wasted and  hours can be mis-spent.

I have been lucky enough to have set up and developed several businesses during my time out of speech therapy i.e. UK Garden Buildings Ltd which became the largest independent manufacturer of garden buildings in the UK, Hill Properties Developments Ltd, a property development company, Bexfield Developments Ltd, a leisure and entertainment business, and Armour Security Personnel Ltd, a security company. 

What I learned was, that in many respects all businesses are the same, in that the same drivers need to be established. The answers will be different but the questions need to be the same. The lessons I learned from the other businesses helped me enormously when I was developing my speech and language therapy business which I started in 2007.

I've just read an ASLTIP forum post where the person was asking whether a website or leaflets or business cards are essential. A much better question would be 'who am I targeting and what would help me  reach them? However, if you don't know the questions you should be asking, you are unlikely to get the right answers.

We are running a course to look at such matters called 'Developing your therapy business'.

If you come on this you will: 

• understand essential business drivers
• learn about effective advertising and marketing
• be able to identify social media potential and learn how to harness this
• examine the usefulness of websites and SEO.  
• learn how a business plan can be a practical tool. 

I'm doing it with Ray Wellington who is Director of Strategy at Milton Bayer Communications which is a strategic,creative marketing agency.

The first course in London is already fully booked with a waiting list but we have spaces on the Bristol, Birmingham and Salford ones. See https://bookwhen.com/smalltalk

We'd love to see you there and be able to say we had a small part in helping you to develop your therapy business.

Do you know about two year old's speech, language and communication?

If you are in the Stafford area and work with 0-3 year olds, you are welcome to attend some free training. 19th April 1pm - 3pm at Silkmore children's Centre. 

By the end of the session participants will:

• be able to describe the development of speech, language and communication skills in children under 3 years
• to be able to understand the processes of pre-verbal and early verbal development
•  to be able to identify risk factors that impact on the development of communication skills
• understand the role practitioners play in supporting speech, language and communication development in children aged 0-3 years
• be able to gather information regarding any difficulties along with knowledge of when and where to refer

To book a place see www.bookwhen.com/smalltalk Places are limited, so reserve your asap!

National Story-telling week

This week will mark National Storytelling Week. It’s the twelfth such annual event run by the Society for Storytelling. And it’s storytelling, note, not story reading which will be happening at events in schools, libraries, theatres, cafés and other public spaces all week.  There are festivals and celebrations every day until and including 4 February. The impressive list of events is on the Society for Storytelling’s website.

We use stories every week in the all the Smart Talkers Pre-School groups to create discussion, help reasoning, work on attention and  and many other reasons.

In the Small Talker sessions we also introduce work on narrative with the magic jigsaw from Languageland and the Nursery Narrative Pack, both from Black Sheep Press. This is something that many, many children struggle with. We look at when the story happened, who was in it, where was it, what happened and what happened in the end.

We'd like to know what your favourite is....... please let us know!

Do you wish you knew more about how to help your child's language and communication?

Lets talk with Under 5's is an accredited course delivered over six two-hour workshops with an optional seventh which explores phonology.

Who is the course for?

This course is relevant to all parents of pre-school children, carers (including child minders) and pre-school practitioners wanting some key skills and knowledge. Completion of this course can lead to exploring the issues involved in more depth by attending our Speech and Language Support for Under 5's ten week course.

What do participants receive?

• Teaching from qualified speech and language therapists and or an experienced teacher
• Opportunities to discuss ideas to help children learn to listen, understand and talk
• Information about communication difficulties children can experience
• Opportunities to meet other pre-school practitioners, parents and carers
• Information about normal speech and language development
• An illustrated workbook full of practical tips and ideas which provides a rich source of individualised strategies and information to support a specific child
• Accreditation if you would like it
• Support needed to complete the workbook to achieve accreditation at level 1 though the Open College Network.

What is taught?

• What is communication?
• Adult-child interaction
• Play; the link between play and language.
• Using words and sentence
• Asking questions and sharing books
• Helping children with unclear speech

The sessions are very practical, there are opportunities to:

• Think about you child's communication
• Try new ideas
• Choose activities specifically for you
• Discuss a range of issues
• Practise using ideas at home or in the work place
• Gain recognition for taking part in the course by recording your ideas, observations and activities in a booklet. You can gain a certificate from the Open College Network South West which is part of Plymouth University. This could help you with employment opportunities. You will be given support and encouragement to achieve this goal.

There is a  course running in the Uttoxeter, Stafford and Lichfield areas very soon. To register your interest email info@smalltalk-ltd.co.uk