This is the ninth week of my placement at Talking Matters and due to the whole team being so busy and hard at work, I have not even had a chance to notice the weeks pass by. This placement has been unlike any other placement that I have experienced to date. All of the staff at Talking Matters are very kind and generous with their time; they are busy and professional clinicians who I have learnt a great deal from. I feel that they are always willing to help and they continue to develop my learning by letting me share my experiences and ideas.
I have been very lucky to work with some wonderful families and children. All the parents have been great, as they have made me feel really comfortable and welcome. Until Talking Matters, I had not yet had the opportunity to work closely with a child’s family and the child at the same time. I have grown to understand how the relationship between speech pathologist, child and family should ideally work. From working closely with parents, I have been so impressed with the positive attitudes and dedication they have shown in helping their child’s communication. Directly seeing the results of this hard work is not only rewarding for the families, but also for me as a student.
I have been working with groups of children at a nearby school. I find this aspect of my placement really enjoyable, as the school is really supportive of me and the teachers are always so helpful. The staff at the school are very dedicated to their students, and they are constantly working with me to support their students learning. Working with the group structure allows for good peer support and fun activities where the children are learning together as a team.
I have been fortunate to work with children of different ages, with each child having separate development goals. This experience has broadened my understanding of the different areas and therapies that a child speech pathologists works with. I feel like I have developed my initial university knowledge and previous placement experience into more refined and practical skills. I feel that these newly developed understandings and skills will make me a much better clinician when I graduate at the end of the year.
In my time at Talking Matters, I have grown to fully appreciate how organised and well developed their speech pathology service is. All the speech pathologists are dedicated and hard working. Their goals and sessions are thoroughly thought out, planned and tailored specifically to each child. I have learnt a lot from staff meetings; each week there is an opportunity for speech pathologists to develop their knowledge and skill-set, through professional development and discussing future goals and therapy resources/ideas.
I am looking forward to seeing all the children meet and exceed their goals. I am also
looking forward to everything I am sure to learn in the last five weeks. If you see me around, please feel free to say hello! If you have any comments or questions please feel free to approach me, as
every little of feedback will help develop my learning and my skills.
To find out more about Talking Matters visit our website
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