Speech and Language Therapy

This book demonstrates novel ways of working across a wide variety of clinical areas, including children, people with learning difficulties and adults with acquired communication disabilities. It explores the paradigm shifts beyond technical rational approaches to professional artistry underpinned by reflective practice and user involvement. This book is about novel ways of working across a broad range of clinical areas - children, learning disabilities and adlts with acquired communication disabilities. Recognition of commonalities across specialist areas is increasing all the time, and reflects changes in health care and the profile of undergraduate training. It explores the paradigm shifts from technical rational approaches to professional artistry, underpinned by reflective practice and user involvement. There is as yet no book which sets up speech and language therapy in this context, and provides therapists with frameworks for developing their practice. This book demonstrates novel ways of working across a wide variety of clinical areas, including children, people with learning difficulties and adults with acquired communication disabilities. It explores the paradigm shifts beyond technical rational approaches to professional artistry underpinned by reflective practice and user involvement. It discusses values, understanding expectations of clients, the commonalities of therapy, the Care Aims model and the biopsychosocial model in dysphasia management. The contributors look at the three elements of competence, knowledge, skills and attitudes and attributes, to demonstrate the relationship between observable skills and the hidden influential aspects of competence that play a vital role in making a practitioner professionally competent. By bringing together constructs and challenges from differing areas of practice, the book will stimulate readers to think about their work in new ways by learning from experts outside their own scope of practice.