Lucy, Londoner #307, is training to become a Speech and Language Therapist

Lucy discusses her journey to becoming a Speech and Language Therapist, what led her into the job, the small victories that make it rewarding and where she plans to take it in the future.

1000 LONDONERS

This film is part of 1000 Londoners, a ten-year digital project which aims to create a digital portrait of a city through 1000 of the people who identify themselves with it. The profile contains a 3 minute film that gives an insight into the life of the Londoner, as well as their personal photos of London and some answers to crucial questions about their views on London life. Over the course of the project we aim to reveal as many facets of the capital as possible, seeing city life from 1000 points of view.

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1000 Londoners is produced by South London based film production company and social enterprise, Chocolate Films. The filmmakers from Chocolate Films will be both producing the films and providing opportunities to young people and community groups to make their own short documentaries, which will contribute to the 1000 films. Visit www.chocolatefilms.com

TRANSCIPT

Speech language therapists work with people who have... it sounds obvious but speech and language difficulties. Most people when you say, "oh I'm a speech and language therapist" they say, "oh like The King's Speech", or "oh if you're stammering and my usual answer is, "yeah that’s a small aspect of it”. We work with babies that have been born with cleft lips and cleft palates. Children with different syndromes, a lot with autistic children all the way up to adults who've had head injuries, strokes. A huge range of people.

What inspired me to get into speech and language therapy? I did linguistics as my undergraduate degree. I found out that there was a career in which you could work with people to help them to get their speech back. I've always wanted a job where I can work with people all day every day and it just, yeah just kind of made sense.

During my training there's been loads and loads of outstanding moments. One particular that sticks in mind: I was working a special-needs school and there was a boy there who had global developmental delay and severe epilepsy. He was very, kind of, absorbed in his own world, played by himself. When I was assessing him I tried this thing called intensive interaction where you mimic their actions and mimic their vocalisations. So he was clapping. He quite enjoyed the sensory aspect of just clapping like this, and so I just went up to him and I clapped along with him and he kind of made an eye contact and I got a small smile. After I kept mimicking his actions eventually he'd come and show me the toy he was playing with and I just thought that's such a it's such a huge step for a child who's just met me to decide that actually I'm worth communicating with. So yeah, that was a really special moment.

My favourite aspect of training as a speech language therapist is that I get to meet so many different people. I've been in a special school, at a nursery, a primary school. I'm soon to be working in a care home. Just getting to know each person individually and taking a really, like, person-centered approach to my therapy is something I really enjoy.

In five years time I'd quite like to work with children with special needs. So I really like special needs schools because I think the support that you can give to a child there: It's a privilege to be able to help a child in the school setting and help their teachers to understand their types of communication and ways that they can be supported.

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