Dr Clare Smith

Living Planet Act Nature is our life support system, but right now it’s in trouble. We’re urgently calling for a new law at Westminster, the Living Planet Act.

Twenty years ago I would wake up every morning to the deafening sound of the dawn chorus. Now… in the same house I am lucky to hear just one or two birds. Please consider signing this petition for our government to have a living planet act.

www.wwf.org.uk/act/living-p...

AI has an environmental problem. Here’s what the world can do about that. The sprawling data centres that house AI servers churn out toxic electronic waste and are voracious consumers of electricity, which in most places is still produced from fossil fuels.

"A request made through ChatGPT, an AI-based virtual assistant, consumes 10 times the electricity of a Google Search"

This isn't a game. This is accelerated destruction via huge usage of power, water, resources etc. Stop using it - especially for messing about!!

www.unep.org/news-and-sto...

For the next few days, we're going to be looking back at some of our highlights of the year...

... and meeting our new Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social has to be up there! (1/8) 🧵

Vaccines save lives. Keep repeating the message. It’s the truth.

Watch and learn. 👀 🧠

I’ve written often about how infants learn language not just with their ears, but with their eyes.

But I’ve rarely run across a better video example than this lovely moment shared to IG by seanandcaitlin.

(Thread 🧵)

🔓🔓WilmotA @me-boyo.bsky.social SieversR @suze-freogirl.bsky.social NorburyC (2024). Impact of #devlangdis on mental health AND well-being across the lifespan: a qualitative study including the perspectives of UK adults with DLD AND Australian SLTs. BMJ Open. doi.org/10.1136/bmjo... 🦋 #bskySPEECHIES

There is a social narrative that the perinatal period is a time of increased connection and support - but in reality many new parents struggle with isolation and loneliness.

In our latest episode we talk to
Dr Kate Adlington about loneliness and mental health in the perinatal period.

Systematic review by @lucyrodgerssalt.bsky.social on co-occurring #DevLangDis and #SSD #CSSD.

bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/8...

#bskyspeechies #SLPeeps

There is a strong association between deprivation and #obesity in children.

For both reception and year 6 children in 2022/23, the prevalence of obesity in the most deprived areas was double the value in the least deprived areas.

Find out more: www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/obe...

LU and Beaumont Community Players foster communication growth through theater LU and Beaumont Community Players foster communication growth through theater

Hi #bskyspeechies! Anyone collaborating with the arts in their clinical practice or student clinician training?
I’d love to connect and swap tips and ideas! tinyurl.com/LUinterACT Link to info on a project I work on for background on me. I *hope* to develop similar for adults/cog. #slps #inclusion

Hello @kwsaar.bsky.social I'm really interested in this. We've started using creative methods for participation & developed a drama for engagement training day for clinicians w/ Chichester Festival Theatre. We have a network 'Creative Collectives' where we share ideas but are at very early stages.

A Covenant For Health | The King's Fund Led by Lord Geoffrey Filkin, a group of experts have been working to examine and make recommendations for improving the health of the nation.

One for @sammacrory.bsky.social … you can “look after yourself” better when you have resources, access & agency not when you have little to none of these … #childpoverty isn’t a “lifestyle choice” worth a read www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

Seeing the mouth: the importance of articulatory gestures during phonics training - Reading and Writing Substantial evidence exists suggesting that access to articulatory gestures during instruction improves students’ phonological awareness skills, but researchers have yet to explore the role of articul...

Excellent new article by Tina Novelli - for early phonics instruction, just drawing attention to the mouth movements facilitated learning. Check it out! doi.org/10.1007/s111...

Seven Children: Inequality and Britain’s Next Generation by Danny Dorling review – essential reading Inspired by the documentary Seven Up! and based on real data, this important book exposes the extent of inequality in the UK and what it means for our poorest children

Hearing today that more than one in three children are in poverty in the UK. Please read Danny Dorling's book, Seven Children, on inequality. I reviewed Seven Children for @theguardian.com and cannot recommend it highly enough. www.theguardian.com/books/2024/s...

This is the cost of “small government”. Newly created intergenerational trauma. Thousands more children needing expensive care placements.

It’s now costing more than £4 billion a year to pick up the pieces from shattering health visiting, family support, early help, social services, CAMHS.

Noticing that SPEECH SOUND DISORDERS enthusiasts tend to put #ssd in their bios. ℹ️ #ssd largely a k-pop tag, short for
#StaySelcaDay. The tag #cssd (CHILDREN'S speech sound disorders) is relatively uncluttered. If we use it, it would soon be obvious that it's a 🦋 #bskySPEECHIES SLP/SLT tag/feed.

So here we go. This paper shares current consensus childhood #apraxia of speech research needs- I’m really proud to be the first author in a list of clinicians, emerging stars and leaders in #CAS
doi.org/10.1044/2024...

The government is reviewing the curriculum and assessment system. Alongside @dcpcampaign.bsky.social we are urging parents and carers of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (#SEND) to ensure their children's needs are included by speaking up loud and clear: bit.ly/DCPCAR

The Effectiveness of Individualized Morphosyntactic Target Identification and Explicit Intervention Using the SHAPE CODING System for Children With Developmental Language Disorder and the Impact of Wi... Purpose: We investigated the effectiveness of a highly individualized morphosyntactic intervention using the SHAPE CODING™ system delivered at di...

Our latest research paper on the effectiveness of individualized & explicit intervention using the SHAPE CODING system for children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is available here: pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/...

#DevLangDis #bskySPEECHIES

I'm looking to recruit a PhD student (Oct 2025 start) to work on a project looking at the range of cues that guide accurate sentence comprehension. Unfortunately the funding opportunity is just for students who would pay UK fees. If you know any suitable applicants please tell them to email me.

Sharing this alternative link to the Speech and Language Therapy starter pack. Let me know if you should be added! go.bsky.app/QKf7XWq

So lovely to start the week with so many new followers! Welcome all 🤗

Our (UK) children's sector #StarterPack is still a work in progress, so let us know if you'd like to be added: bsky.app/starter-pack...

Thread for those new to BlueSky. First of all, welcome. It feels like a safer space, doesn’t it? But also perhaps a bit disorienting initially? Here’s some tips for getting your bearings.

Ah Thankyou @kimt-slt.bsky.social

Thank you for sharing this! Please could you add me?

Calling UK Paediatric SLTs
Researchers at City are seeking to find out more about how UK paediatric SLTs select intervention goals and content.
If you would like to help, please complete our survey: bit.ly/3Z3DNWv
This will take about 40 minutes of your time.
Please share with others if you can.

Research Associate

We're hiring! We're looking for a Research Associate to join the Young Lives, Young Futures team. Check out the role here: www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/099825-...

Tempted? Contact us via the flyer below and please share the first post in this 🧵 to #AHPs, #SLTs, #CNS, #A&E, #H&N, #ENT staff who may benefit. #bskyspeechies
4/4

Thank you @nestauk.bsky.social for hosting a great session today on Using Data in the Early Years. I have learned so much and made some great new connections.