RCSLT Conference 2012

Last week I attended the RCSLT conference at The Midland Hotel, Manchester which was an inspirational and educational 2 days. It was extremely well organised with lots of brilliant speakers. The theme of the conference was Driving Transformation through Evidence Based Practice and there was lots of practical advice that SLTs could take away and put into practice.

The Midland Hotel, Manchester

It was also great to talk lots of speech and language therapists working with all different client groups, each and everyone an inspiration.

The Annual General Meeting saw the inauguration of new council chair Bryony Simpson, as Hazel Roddam, previous chair’s term came to an end. I’ve never been to an AGM previously and was grateful of the opportunity to attend while at the conference this year.

The Robin Tavistock Award is presented annually to a person, or group, who it is felt, has made a significant contribution in the field of aphasia. This year the award was presented to Professor Pam Enderby on Wednesday 12^th September. It was a pleasure to be there and listening to Professor Enderby’s achievements and contributions to the field of aphasia made me extremely proud to be part of such a diverse and valuable profession. A standing ovation filled the room as Pam made her way on stage to collect the award. Read more about why Pam Enderby won the award this year. Professor Pam Enderby truly deserved to be this year’s winner.

At the end of the second day Derek Munn, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, gave an inspirational and informative Giving Voice update, ensuring that everyone knows the campaign is still ongoing and reminding people of the deadline for this year’s Giving Voice Awards (last Thursday 13^th September). He encouraged that we continue to engage in the campaign to highlight the value of the profession. He pointed out that society adapts well for people who are blind, deaf or cannot walk, yet the same level of adaptations are not made for those who have difficulties with communication. I think this is a very valid point and highlights the need for us to continue to campaign on behalf of those who struggle to make their voices heard!

I had a brilliant day supporting the runners at the Great North Run yesterday and will be blogging about this over the next few days. Thank you for reading my blog, I am delighted I have almost reached 9000 page views!

Speech and Language Therapy Transforms Lives