3rd yr assessment suggestions!

Hi guys,

Currently planning an assessment where I basically have to plan out a module that i would teach to people if i had unlimited resources/time. I have an interest in aphasias/speech impediments so was going to carry my module out in a stroke unit/ hospital and open it to people who have a family member/friend with a speech impediment and essentially use literature to teach empathy towards speech disorders. Have already thought of using Kings Speech, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, as well as maybe Harry Potter to question why Quirrell (a weak character) has a stammer.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for books/films/monologues/poems etc. i could include, relevant to stammers/strokes/speech impediments?

thanks :smile:

Reply 1

evantej

Original post by dunksy18

I am training to be a speech and language therapist and recently completed an adult neurology placement mostly on a stroke ward so I am happy to answer any questions you have.

If I understand you right you want to teach the partners and friends of people with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) about their condition using literature? You are right to suggest that most people's awareness of SLCN is quite low, and people with SLCN and their family members frequently complain that they are not told about or given any information about their SLCN (this is not true by the way).

However, I see a few issues with this. First of all, why would the significant others need to read a fictional account of the impairment (which is not always accurate or relevant) when they could just interact with their loved one in front of them or ask medical staff for further information? Secondly, research tends to show that it is the people with SLCN themselves who demonstrate a lack of awareness about their SLCN - in terms of rating the severity of symptoms or overestimating likely recovery - not the significant others who very quickly come to terms with their loved one's limitations (usually). Thirdly, visiting times are quite limited and I think you overestimate people's willingness to read in a time of crisis (diagnosis; whether it is in an acute setting does not really matter). Having said that, it would be interesting to see if significant others preferred fictional accounts to non-fiction materials provided by medical staff and whether their comprehension was better (i.e. you could set up some sort of loan system or gift them the works).

Of those books I have only read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat which is mostly neurology. Only one chapter focuses on SLCN (aphasia). The chapter on the twins with savant syndrome is marginally interesting because they cannot read. The rest do not really cover SLCN at all (though they are interesting from a professional point of view as we often see patients with these conditions too).

In terms of suggestions, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is about a boy with autism spectrum disorder and tries to capture his pragmatic language difficulties.

3rd yr assessment suggestions!

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