Research vs. Taught Masters (Speech & Language Therapy)

To all those of you doing a research masters, could you give me an idea of how the courses are run. How much is written for example, are you left completely alone, how important is self-motivation, etc.

I am currently in the final year of a French and Linguistics Degree (French bit is irrelevant here really) and I've always planned to follow this with an MSc in Speech and Language Therapy leading to a job as a Speech and Language Therapist. However I've always been most interested in Autism and social communication disorders and hoped to specialise (which I can after a year of general practice).

However I recently did some research into a specific area of communication in Autism which as far as I can find has been largely overlooked. Now I have been encouraged by lecturers to consider researching this further, maybe as part of a Research Masters. I am really interested in this field, it might allow me to specialize earlier and I think the research could be important. However I have never been drawn to an academic career, I don't see myself writing books or lecturing, I would much prefer a hands on role in a child's language developement which is why I originally chose the taught Msc.

So.. yeah if someone could give me an idea of the differences, and how academic a research masters would be compared with taught, it'd be greatly appreciated. I'm so torn at the moment :confused: