JCPSLP Vol 21 No 1 2019

The role of speech-language pathologists in the justice system

Top 10 tips for working within justice Fiona Tayor

F iona Taylor (@FeTaylor25) is an Australian speech- language pathologist who has worked in the UK for the past 20 years. She has worked within a youth justice service for the past 8 years. She has worked closely with the police, care homes, education settings, magistrates and youth justice service workers/managers to raise awareness of the communication difficulties of those young people who are in contact with the criminal justice settings. She has also presented at numerous conferences about her work. Fiona has compiled her Top 10 tips for working within the justice sector. This includes tips for working with commissioners, training, intervention and self-care. 1 Justice Evidence Base Published by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in 2017, the Justice Evidence Base is your go-to document for justifying why speech-language pathologists have a role within the justice sector. It provides information on incidence of speech, language and communication needs within this population and extensive information about identification, assessment and intervention along with a useful evidence base and case studies. This is an important document if you are speaking with commissioners about provision of speech-language pathology services within justice settings. The document can be accessed from https://www.rcslt.org/speech_and_ language_therapy/slt_work_settings/justice_slcn/justice_ evidence_base2017 2 Sentence Trouble by the Communication Trust Sentence Trouble is an online resource by the Communication Trust, which is useful for improving understanding the communication demands in the justice system for young people with speech, language and communication needs. This resource is very helpful not only when you are first working within the youth justice sector, but also when you are delivering training to professionals about the communication needs for young people within the justice system. It also has a long list of vocabulary which people encounter, which is helpful for increasing your own knowledge, and useful for determining whether people understand the vocabulary. The resource can be accessed from https://www. thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/resources/resources/ resources-for-practitioners/sentence-trouble.aspx 3 The Box learning journey The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists have recently updated The Box, an e-learning tool. There are 10 modules, which are split into 21 sub-modules overall. This is another good teaching resource and also has helpful modules on screening for speech, language and

communication needs, legislative responsibility and commissioning support. These free e-learning modules designed for professionals working in the justice sector can be accessed from https://www.rcslt.org/about/Courses_and_ training/the_box_training_for_the_criminal_justice_sector/open 4 Visual resources Visual support is always beneficial to aid understanding and to support spoken language. Pen, paper and post-it notes are helpful to jot ideas down quickly and to support the young person/adult in telling their story. Talkabout series by Alex Kelly and particularly “Talkabout for Teenagers” and “Talkabout Relationships” can be helpful for visualising complex social situations (http://alexkelly.biz/product- category/talkabout-books/). Others include social stories and comic strip conversations by Carol Gray and Mind Maps by Tony Buzan. 5 Lego therapy Lego therapy is an intervention approach that provides a fun, engaging and motivating way to improve communication skills in young people and adults. Originally developed for children, I have adapted the approach involving young person/adult, speech-language pathologist and the case worker/intervention worker. Not only has this promoted relationship building but it has also allowed the speech-language pathologist to model different strategies to the case worker, which has led to increased knowledge and skills in how to increase communication skills in young people and adults. Useful resources include: • LeGoff, D. (2014). LEGO-based therapy . London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. • Ralph, D., & Rochester, J. (2016). Building language using Lego bricks . London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 6 Games Games can be used creatively to build relationships and to develop turn taking and social skills (particularly managing emotions). They can also be used to recap on work the young people/adults have been engaging in. For example, the young person can only pull a Jenga brick only after providing an answer to a question or given an example of a specific situation. 7 Considering the views of the young people and adults Too often the systems are created without considering the views of the young people and adults who will be accessing these systems. Through asking the young person and adult questions about their journey, their experiences and their thoughts and feelings you gain trust. Moreover, you can use their responses to develop functional communication targets. Talking Mats is a visual way of gaining information from the

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JCPSLP Volume 21, Number 1 2019

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au