Community neuro rehab

With the #avoiceforrichie campaign to enable Richie Cottingham to have his own voice capturing the hearts of the nation, NR Times meets the woman who made it possible - speech and language therapist Jennifer Benson

Having had the same vocabulary package for his communication aid since school, Richie Cottingham was well overdue a change.  Being reliant on assistance with speaking from the earliest age, Richie - a 26-year-old with Cerebral Palsy - had become used to the generic ‘American’ accent he spoke with, not believing there could be an alternative.  But as part of the change in his communication package - which came through an overhaul of his wider multi-disciplinary team - Richie met Jennifer Benson, his new speech and language therapist.

Young adults with disabilities are being supported in understanding and articulating their feelings, enabling them to increase confidence in themselves and their abilities, through a new innovation from two specialist neurorehab providers. 

MyAbility was developed to enable young people to better understand their disabilities and express themselves, while allowing parents and carers to learn more about ways they can support them in doing so. 

Iconic songs are helping people living with dementia use their love of music to rediscover how to sing and dance.

The Music Makes Us! project combines singing and dance lessons with speech and language therapy and physiotherapy, and has engaged hundreds of people with dementia to use their love of music to re-learn lost abilities. As well as seeing participants who couldn’t talk begin to sing to The Farm’s ‘All Together Now’, others with severe mobility problems began to dance to The Beatles.

Parents have been able to interact with their children in new ways through the introduction of music therapy into the home during lockdown, according to one business which has overseen remote sessions.

Prior to the pandemic, ELM Music Therapy worked widely in schools and with charities across the North East of Scotland, supporting children with neurological conditions and other disabilities with their development through harnessing the power of music. But as of March last year, ELM has taken all of its sessions online, also making use of YouTube to deliver content to the children it would ordinarily teach in person.Prior to the pandemic, ELM Music Therapy worked widely in schools and with charities across the North East of Scotland, supporting children with neurological conditions and other disabilities with their development through harnessing the power of music. But as of March last year, ELM has taken all of its sessions online, also making use of YouTube to deliver content to the children it would ordinarily teach in person.

Through community speech and language therapy continuing even during the height of lockdown, many patients received a “massive boost” from the progress being made in regaining or maintaining their communication and swallowing abilities.

While many therapies were stopped or conducted remotely, speech and language therapy (SLT) continued in-person throughout the pandemic, supporting people in their recovery from brain injury or stroke, as well as working with those with progressive neurological conditions.

A music group established to support people living with dementia, memory loss and brain injury has received funding to launch an online project for the South Asian and BAME community.

Leicester Musical Memory Box (LMMBox) was founded in July 2018, and since that time has grown from one group in the city to six, providing interactive music sessions for people of all ages and backgrounds, including a group specific to the South Asian community. The group - which has two staff members who are fluent in Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu - aims to provide the local community with a supportive network and a safe space to explore the unique challenges that a brain injury may bring to individuals, as well as their families and carers.

Having set up in private practice 22 years ago, SP Therapy Services has watched a burgeoning sector grow around it. Here, founder Susan Pattison shares her views on its progress, and why community rehab has an ever-increasing role to play.

“We’re no longer a child who is complaining without a strong voice - we’ve grown up into the teenager who can articulate themselves.” Susan Pattison’s analogy of the specialist neuro sector is an interesting one. From setting up in business in the very early days of development for private practice 22 years ago, she has watched a thriving industry grow up around her. “When I first set up in business, it was said many times I was like gold dust,” she recalls.

A brain-related visual impairment may affect one in every 30 children, new research has revealed.

In a study of Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI), which was thought to be rare, University of Bristol researchers have found it is more commonplace than previously accepted. The study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), investigated how many school-aged children may have undiagnosed brain-related vision problems. Information was collected about 2,298 children aged five to 11 across 12 schools using teacher and parent questionnaires. They invited over ten per cent of the children (262 pupils) for a detailed assessment using validated tests to identify children with brain-related visual problems suggestive of CVI.

A medical centre has become the first in the world to adopt technology to alert them to a disabled person’s visit before they arrive, ensuring they are fully prepared for their arrival and can offer the best possible standards of customer service.

Charter Medical Centre in Hove has become the first of its kind to use the WelcoMe app, which makes use of pioneering technology to enable people with disabilities, including brain injuries and neurological conditions, to tell businesses and venues when they intend to visit their premises.

Katie Pinn, Senior Cognitive Rehab Assistant at BIS Services.

My week really starts on a Sunday as this is when I plan my upcoming week, I check to see if any clients have appointments during the week, what goals we are working on, where we are in each and make sure there's lots of variety within sessions. My first client on a Monday I must check in on their well being, ascertain level of productivity over the weekend and schedule the new week. This particular client I've had to provide with much support due to shielding during both the 1st and the second lockdown.