MMedSci Speech and Language Therapy Pre-arrival Information

Full time study

Your welcome letter (full time students)

To help you get started at Sheffield your Programme Director, Dr Caroline Haw, has put together a welcome letter to help support your transition to master's level study, including dates for your diary, Welcome Week timetables, Occupational Health and DBS checks, placements and other key information.

Read your welcome letter from Caroline

Welcome week timetable (full time students)

As well as central University activities, we'll be organising events specifically for the Speech and Language Therapy programme. The below timetable is specific to full time students. A copy of this timetable can also be found in your welcome letter.

Monday 23 September

Morning

10am - 1pm - welcome morning part 1 with Dr Caroline Haw and Hattie Powis (MMedSci SLT Programme Directors).

Venue: The Wave, Workroom 2

Afternoon

Your Occupational Health and immunisation and/or DBS ID check appointments may be scheduled on Monday 23rd or Tuesday 24th September. Individual appointments will be sent via email.

Tuesday 24 September

Morning

10am - 1pm: welcome morning part 2 with Dr Caroline Haw (MMedSci SLT Programme Director).

Venue: The Wave, Workroom 2

Please bring your own laptop to this session, if you have one. Don’t worry if this isn’t possible. Please contact Hattie Powis (h.powis@sheffield.ac.uk) if you need to borrow a device.

Afternoon

Your Occupational Health and immunisation and/or DBS ID check appointments may be scheduled on Monday 23rd or Tuesday 24th September. Individual appointments will be sent via email.

Thursday 26 September

Morning

9.30am - 10.30am: Introduction to learning technology with Jesrine Darrington, Learning Technologist

Venue: The Wave, Lecture Theatre 4

Please bring your own laptop, if you have one. Don’t worry if this isn’t possible.

11am - 12pm: Meet staff and other students

Venue: The Wave, Foyer A and Workroom 1 (please find a map at the end of your welcome letter)

Please join us for an information get-together and meet other students on the course, as well as our wider staff team.

Afternoon

1pm - 3pm: Race and consent sessions

Venue: The Wave, Lecture Theatre 4

Semester one draft timetable (full time students)

Below you will find a copy of your provisional timetable for semester one of this course.

Please note that there may still be changes to this as we await confirmation of room bookings, however this will give you an idea of what a typical week may look like, and the modules you will be undertaking in semester one. You are expected to be available for study and placements Mondays - Fridays during semester time.

Semester one draft timetable (full time course)

Programme handbook (full time students)

Below you'll find copies of the programme handbook for 2023-2024 for the full time course. As such, this is for reference only as there may be changes for the 2024-25 academic year. However, you may find the document useful for understanding the course structure and key areas you will be studying. 

Programme Handbook (full time course)

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Part time study

Your welcome letter (part time students)

To help you get started at Sheffield your Programme Director, Hattie Powis, has put together a welcome letter to help support your transition to master's level study, including dates for your diary, Welcome Week timetables, Occupational Health and DBS checks, placements and other key information.

Read your welcome letter from Hattie

Welcome week timetable (part time students)

As well as central University activities, we'll be organising events specifically for the Speech and Language Therapy programme. The below timetable is specific to part time students. A copy of this timetable can also be found in your welcome letter.

Monday 23 September

Morning

10am - 1pm - welcome morning part 1 with Hattie Powis and Dr Caroline Haw (MMedSci SLT Programme Directors).

Venue: The Wave, Workroom 2

Afternoon

Your Occupational Health and immunisation and/or DBS ID check appointments may be scheduled on Monday 23rd or Tuesday 24th September. Individual appointments will be sent via email.

Tuesday 24 September

Morning

10am - 1pm: welcome morning part 2 with Hattie Powis (MMedSci SLT Programme Director).

Venue: The Wave, Seminar room 3

Please bring your own laptop to this session, if you have one. Don’t worry if this isn’t possible. Please contact Hattie Powis (h.powis@sheffield.ac.uk) if you need to borrow a device.

Afternoon

Your Occupational Health and immunisation and/or DBS ID check appointments may be scheduled on Monday 23rd or Tuesday 24th September. Individual appointments will be sent via email.

Thursday 26 September

Morning

9.30am - 10.30am: Introduction to learning technology with Jesrine Darrington, Learning Technologist

Venue: The Wave, Lecture Theatre 4

Please bring your own laptop, if you have one. Don’t worry if this isn’t possible.

11am - 12pm: Meet staff and other students

Venue: The Wave, Foyer A and Workroom 1 (please find a map at the end of your welcome letter)

Please join us for an information get-together and meet other students on the course, as well as our wider staff team.

Afternoon

1pm - 3pm: Race and consent sessions

Venue: The Wave, Lecture Theatre 4

Semester one draft timetable (part time students)

Below you will find a copy of your provisional timetable for semester one of this course.

Please note that there may still be changes to this as we await confirmation of room bookings, however this will give you an idea of what a typical week may look like, and the modules you will be undertaking in semester one. You are expected to be available for study and placements Mondays - Fridays during semester time.

Semester one draft timetable (part time course)

Programme handbook (part time students)

Below you'll find copies of the programme handbook for 2023-2024 for the part time course. As such, this is for reference only as there may be changes for the 2024-25 academic year. However, you may find the document useful for understanding the course structure and key areas you will be studying. 

Programme handbook (part time course)

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Resource list (both modes of study)

We use a wide range of texts during the speech and language therapy course and support you by providing multiple copies of key texts and/or electronic copies where possible. These will be available via the University library once you have registered on the course. 

There is absolutely no requirement to do any reading before you start the course or to purchase any books before or during the course. However, some students prefer to have some information in advance should they wish to do some background reading before arriving. 

Please also note that if you do wish to buy books:

• Most of the texts are available to purchase online
• Students sometimes agree to share the expensive books between them, so it’s sensible to wait and check this out with your new student friends on the course.

If you have any feedback on this list, or suggestions for future students, please do get in touch with your programme lead and let us know. We are always looking for new ideas!

Basic Background and Reference

Crystal, D. (2010). The Cambridge encyclopaedia of language. 3^rd Ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

A useful overview of various aspects of communication, and good for reference if you don’t have a linguistics background, but not essential. Earlier editions may be found in secondhand bookshops or online.

Impact of communication difficulties

A good place to start your reading can be from the perspective of the person with the communication difficulty, their families and other texts focusing on the functional impact on their daily life.

Acquired communication difficulties

Books

Bauby, John- Dominique (2008). The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. London: Harper Perennial.

Hale, S. (2002). The Man Who Lost His Language. London: Allen Lane, The Penguin Books Ltd. 

Parr, S., Byng, S., Gilpin, S. and Ireland, C. (1997). Talking About Aphasia: Living with Loss of Language After Stroke. Buckingham: Open University Press. 

Parr, S., Duchan, J. and Pound, C. (2003). Aphasia Inside Out: reflections on Communication Disability. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Maxwell, G. (2010). Falling and Laughing: The Restoration of Edwyn Collins. Random House. 

McCrum, R. (1999). My year off: rediscovering life after a stroke. London: Picador.

Websites

The Stroke Association: Effects of Aphasia: https://www.stroke.org.uk/what-is-aphasia/aphasia-and-its-effects

Reconnecting with life: stories of life after stroke - http://www.patientvoices.org.uk/naoconn.htm 

Stories from the Isle of Wight Stroke Club - http://www.patientvoices.org.uk/iowsc.htm (recommended stories: Vicious circles; The longest night; The most wonderful husband in the world)

Developmental communication difficulties

Books

Higashida, N. (2013). The Reason I Jump. London: Sceptre.

Pelman, C. (2014). Joshy Finds His Voice - A Story About Speech and Silence. Grovesnor House Publishing.

Silberman, S. (2015). NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently. NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin.

Websites

Raising awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) website: https://radld.org/ and YouTube channel has videos you can watch to learn about DLD:  https://www.youtube.com/user/RALLIcampaign

I CAN is the children’s communication charity: https://ican.org.uk 

The National Autistic Society is the UK's leading charity for people on the autism spectrum and their families: https://www.autism.org.uk

Participation and Society

You can explore the resources on this page to develop your understanding of health inequalities and Speech and Language Therapy, which you will learn more about in the module 'Participation and Society’: https://www.rcslt.org/learning/diversity-inclusion-and-anti-racism/addressing-health-inequalities/

You can watch this video to find out about the social model of disability. You will learn about the models of disability in the module 'Participation and Society' and it is important for understanding approaches to clinical practice which you will learn about in your clinical modules: https://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/social-model-of-disability

Core Texts for First Year Modules

For those students who do prefer to carry out some reading in advance, here is a little about core texts related to the first modules you will be taking. If you do want to start looking at texts, we suggest you single out ones for topics that are new to you or less familiar. Some students have reported that reading about Anatomy and Physiology, and specifically an SLT focused text, was useful prior to the course. Remember: you will not need to buy these, and copies of all texts listed are in the library as physical books or electronic copies which will be available to you once you have enrolled on the course.

Anatomy and Physiology 

Atkinson, M. & McHanwell, S. (2018) 2^nd Edition. Basic medical science for speech and language therapy students. London: Whurr.

The book is co-written by Martin Atkinson, who previously taught Biomedical Science to our students for many years, and so demonstrates an understanding of SLT student needs. This is the book that students often report they would like to have familiarised themselves with prior to the course. 

A broad-based discussion of theories of language development, by a famous psychologist.

Pinker, S. (2000). The language instinct. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Other useful references

Martin, G. N. and Carlson, Neil R. (2019) Psychology. Sixth edition. Harlow, England: Pearson. 

This is an excellent contemporary overview which you will find especially useful if you have not studied A level psychology, specifically chapters 5-12. 

Sheridan, M. (2014). From birth to five years: children’s developmental progress. 4^th ed. London: Routledge.

This is a general overview, with illustrations of key milestones of children’s developmental stages. Very useful for nursery, school and other clinic placements.

Maltby, M. T., & Knight, P. (2000). Audiology: an introduction for teachers and other professionals. London: David Fulton.  

Child Language/Lifespan and Language Development

Berk, L (2005). Child development. 7^th ed. Boston, Mass.: Allyn & Bacon 

OR: 

Bee, H., & Boyd, D. (2010). The developing child. 12^th ed. Boston, Mass.; London: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Either of these books will be good for reference. Both provide detailed information about child development, useful throughout the course and clinical practice. Earlier editions are still useful, if you do find a second-hand copy.

Other useful texts

Seikel, A., Drumright, D.G, and Seikel, P. (2013). Essentials of anatomy and physiology for communication Disorders. Clifton Parr, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.

Crossman, A. and Neary, D. (2010). Neuroanatomy: an illustrated colour text. Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.

Acquired speech and language difficulties

Papathanasiou, I., Coppens, P., & Potagas, C. (2013). Aphasia and related neurogenic communication disorders. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. 

Speech and Hearing Science

Ball, M., & Muller, N. (2005). Phonetics for communication disorders. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum. 

You may wish to look at chapters 1-9 alongside your learning on your Speech and Hearing Science module, particularly if you have never studied linguistics before.  

Key documents for SLTs

Finally, you may wish to familiarise yourself with some key documents for SLTs. We don’t recommend that you read these in detail, but it would be useful for you to recognise the importance of these, and know where to find them.

The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) regulate our profession and provide us with standards to work by:

Health and Care Professions Council (2023) Standards of Proficiency - Speech and Language Therapists. London: HCPC  Speech and language therapists

Health and Care Professions Council (2016) Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics. London: HCPC HCPC Revised Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics

Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists membership

We would strongly encourage you to join the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists as a student member on starting your course. This is our professional body, representing us as SLTs. As a student, you will find lots of very useful information and it will help you to feel a part of this wonderful profession!

Membership for students is now free. You can find out more in the RCSLT membership pages