Marie Gascoigne

Consultation as a model for providing speech and language therapy in schools: a panacea or one step too far?

In recent years there has been a pressure to introduce an indirect “consultative model” to working with children with speech and language needs. It is favoured by educationists because it avoids the need to take children out of class and embeds any support children received in the curriculum. This paper reports the results of a recent study which indicates that Speech and Language Therapists are concerned about the universal application of this model of service delivery. It introduces and discusses a number of interrelated factors which need to be in place before the consultative model can be successfully introduced.

Teaching receptive vocabulary to children with specific language impairment: a curriculum-based approach

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) frequently experience difficulties with understanding vocabulary and are subsequently academically disadvantaged. This study describes a curriculum-based assessment and therapy technique and its implementation with two children with language difficulties. Mathematical vocabulary that the children did not understand was randomly allocated to either the treatment or the control conditions. Over a period of seven to eight weeks, two boys were individually taught 18 words each. Each word was taught in one session only. The intervention was found to be effective for both children. The results of this study have implications for the rate of teaching of receptive vocabulary, the role of speech and language therapy in schools and the assessment of receptive vocabulary.

Facilitating communication between education and health services: the provision for children with speech and language needs

In this article, James Law, Marie Gascoigne and Nina Soloff, of the Department of Language and Communication Science at City University, London; Geoff Lindsay and Sue Band, of the Institute of Education, University of Warwick; and Nick Peacey and Julie Radford, of the Institute of Education, University of London, explore provision for children with speech and language needs. The authors report the outcomes of Government-funded research into the provision of speech and language therapy services and identify 13 key themes which emerge from a review of these findings. They proceed to make a series of important and challenging recommendations, many of which focus on the need for enhanced collaboration at a range of levels.

Collaboration between LEA and SLT managers for the planning of services to children with speech and language needs

Whereas collaboration between practitioners such as teachers and therapists is relatively well documented, less is known about collaboration between their respective services at managerial level. This article reports on the case-study phase of a national study into provision of services to children with speech, and language needs. The case sites were 15 LEAs and a corresponding health trust partner, 10 self-rated as high collaborators. 57 health and education managers were interviewed about a range of themes relating to the strategic planning of services, collaboration, funding and resource allocation, training and professional development and the involvement of parents. We find extensive recognition of the need for collaboration between agencies, but wide variation in practices across England and Wales. At strategic level, various factors appear to facilitate joint planning, although constraints operate at several levels. Tensions in the current system are explored, with particular reference to how to achieve equitable distribution of resources whilst working towards an agenda of inclusive education.

SAFE SWALLOWING? - AN OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS WORKING WITH DYSPHAGIC CLIENTS

The challenges of providing student speech and language therapists (SLTs) with clinical experience in acute hospital settings are outlined. An innovative model of student clinical placement will be described which takes advantage of the recent change in policy by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) in respect of student involvement in work with dysphagic clients.