Welcome to the BAS Summer Newsletter 2017.
The newsletter aims to bring you updates about what is happening within BAS and in the wider aphasia community. We welcome news and information from around the UK and the world.
BAS Therapy Symposium 2017:what do therapists do in clinical practice?
The British Aphasiology Therapy Symposium will be held in Bristol this autumn, on September 13th- 14th, on the ship SS Great Britain.
The symposium focuses on the translation of research into clinical practice.
Outline Programme:
Posters and workshops across both days.
Workshops to include - Mental capacity, Ways into research, Therapy Apps for Aphasia
Wednesday 13th September
Keynote - Sarah Wallace - Improving Research Outcome Measurement in Aphasia.
Talks to include - assessment of reading, group therapy, cognitive therapy
Thursday 14th September
Talks to include - CommuniCATE, EVA Park, assessing internet use, accessible information,
- Standard fee: £170 for two days, £85 per day.
- Student: £120 for two days; £60 per day.
- Registration now open with NCORE
- Follow the link to the NCORE site
- Search for “British Aphasiology Society” or “Therapy Symposium” to find links for registration and payment. You will need to create an NCORE account to register and pay.
BAS Research Update Meeting in Leeds in April
This year’s Research Update Meeting was held at Leeds Beckett University for the first time. We were delighted to welcome clinicians and researchers from the Yorkshire and Humber area as well as those who had travelled from across the country. The meeting had a lively atmosphere with attendees asking lots of questions and sharing their own experiences in relation to each of the topics.
To start the day, Morag Bixley gave a fascinating presentation about Semantic Activation Therapy with and without word-finding. Louise Lander then presented the results of her MRes study evaluating an intensive group rehabilitation game therapy for word-retrieval difficulties. Next, Lindsey Thiel presented her work on using technologies for writing in aphasia. In the afternoon, Helena Thornley discussed the influence of emotional valence as a psycholinguistic variable and how this can impact people with aphasia (PWA) during word recognition which forms the basis of her current PhD. Helena’s talk was followed by Elizabeth Anderson who shared her PhD research focusing on single-word and context frequency effects of verbs in aphasia at Sheffield University. The final talk of the day was given by Cecilia Devers who presented on a study carried out as part of her previous PhD which investigated pronoun processing in people with fluent and non-fluent aphasia at single-word, sentence and discourse levels for both comprehension and production.
This year contained a variety of topics which were engaging on many levels for all of the attendees and presenters. We have received very positive feedback on the location of the venue, how diverse the research areas were and how valuable all topics were in relevance to clinical practice. We would like to thank everyone who helped to organise the day, presented interesting talks on their research, attended and engaged in insightful discussion.
See you all next year!
Lindsey Thiel and Cecilia Devers
BAS Student Prizes
Applications are currently open for the 2017 British Aphasiology Society (BAS) Student Prize awards.
These prizes are open to any current BSc or MSc student who has completed an essay, case report or dissertation project on the subject of aphasia.
The essay/case study prize awards £100 to the student and £50 to the department/educational establishment.
The project prize awards £200 to the student and £100 to the department/educational establishment.
More details, including the prize advert and submission guidance can be accessedhere. Submissions can only be accepted in electronic format and should be sent look forward to receiving more submissions - the deadline for submissions isFriday 21 July 2017.
Research Round-up
Please follow the link to the BAS website for a summary ofabstracts of recently published aphasia research. Clickhereto find out about:
- Reviewing the quality of discourse information measures in aphasia
- Part of the message comes in gesture: how people with aphasia convey information in different gesture types as compared with information in their speech.
- Treatment integrity of elaborated semantic feature analysis aphasia therapy delivered in individual and group settings
- Generalization and maintenance of treatment gains in primary progressive aphasia (PPA): a systematic review.
- Does communication partner training improve the conversation skills of speech-language pathology students when interacting with people with aphasia?
- Cross-situational word learning in aphasia
Child Stroke Guideline 2017 published
In our recent BAS Spring Newsletter, we reported on the development of an evidence-based clinical guideline on stroke in childhood, in which the BAS has been involved as a stakeholder; this guideline by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) was published in May 2017 and can be downloaded online (please find the link below).
The up-to-date documentation on stroke in childhood comprises the full clinical guideline, key recommendations for a succinct overview, and a parent/carer guideline. The need for assessment and rehabilitation of aphasia and related disorders, as well as the involvement of Speech and Language Therapists throughout acute care and rehabilitation, are clearly presented. The variety of disorders including language, cognitive and motor deficits which may result from stroke during childhood is covered and evidence-based recommendations are given. Thus, the guideline fills the gap on current clinical recommendations on childhood aphasia; aphasia during adulthood is well covered by other resources, e.g. the guidelines delivered by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) ( Moreover, the RCPCH guideline helps to understand the contribution of the diverse professions in this multidisciplinary and complex field.
The development of the guideline has been funded by the Stroke Association, who also offer valuable advice for affected persons, including theChildhood Stroke Parent Support and Information Day, which was just held in London (details of the event will be shared on the website soon) and will be held again later this year in Liverpool (please find the link below).
Links: RCPCH guideline:
The Stroke Association:
Dr Stefanie Abel, University of Manchester
Conference in Portugal
The 10th European Congress of Speech & Language Therapy takes place on 10-12th May 2018, in Cascais, Portugal
Deadline for submission of abstracts is October 15th 2017
Registration opens on September 1st 2017
For more information please click here:
International Aphasia Rehabilitation Conference 2016: feedback from Professor Marion Brady
I would like to express my thanks to the British Aphasiology Society for their funding support which enabled me to attend the recent International Aphasia Rehabilitation Conference (IARC) at City, University of London. Working in a Chief Scientist Office (part of the Scottish Government’s Health and Social Care directorate) funded research Unit, based at Glasgow Caledonian University, has many benefits including a dynamic, multidisciplinary, research intensive environment. One of our challenges is that my colleagues and I at the Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Research Unit are reliant on external funding (such as that provided by the British Aphasiology Society) to support attendance at such events.
The IARC event was truly international with delegates from 23 countries attending over three days. The conference included more than 30 platform presentations as well as workshops, round tables and posters. I was delighted to have the opportunity to share some of the highlights from our recently updated Cochrane review of the effectiveness of speech and language therapy for aphasia after stroke (
This presentation was followed by Dr Sarah Wallace who shared some breaking research news on the development of a core outcome set for aphasia. Following a pre-IARC conference consensus meeting involving aphasia researchers from across the world Sarah was able to report on the key outcomes that all aphasia researchers should strive to include and report in their research. This builds upon her recently published work which can be found here.
- Core Outcomes in Aphasia Treatment Research: An e-Delphi Consensus Study of International Aphasia Researchers
- Which outcomes are most important to people with aphasia and their families? an international nominal group technique study framed within the ICF
- Which treatment outcomes are most important to aphasia clinicians and managers? An international e-Delphi consensus study
Following the break we heard from Michelle Attard reporting recent qualitative work on community based aphasia groups. This was followed by Rachelle Pitt who considered the impact of online aphasia group therapy on participants’ quality of life and Sally McVicker from Connect UK who highlighted the importance of collaboration. Just before lunch I was delighted to receive the Robin Tavistock Award 2016 and I am most grateful to the Tavistock Trust for Aphasia for their recognition of my contribution to aphasia research. Aphasia was one of the key reasons I became a speech and language therapist all those years ago and I am delighted that I can continue to contribute to the recovery and rehabilitation of people with aphasia within my current research activities.
Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programmes
Are you a practising Speech and Language Therapist, interested in Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programmes (ICAPs)?
Madeleine Pritchard and Madeline Cruice will be running a focus group to gather SLTs’ views on implementation of ICAPs in the UK. The focus group will take place at City, University of London, on Friday 11th August 2017, 2-5pm.
Please r more information, or to register your interest. Data collected will contribute to an international research project with the University of Queensland (Megan Trebilcock & Prof. Linda Worrall).
Initiatives in Aphasia Seed Feed
Each year the British Aphasiology Society funds ‘Initiatives in Aphasia’ – a scheme that aims to support UK based activities that involve and benefit people with aphasia and their family members/carers. These activities may be led by or organised with the involvement of people with aphasia. Seed funding of up to £1000 is available per application, and can be used to supplement other research/knowledge exchange funding that the applicants have already secured.
For more information about the BAS Seed Fund, including previously funded projects and how to apply, please clickhere.Deadline for applications is27 October 2017 at 5pm
News from the Tavistock Trust for Aphasia
Coordinator for TheTavistock Trust for Aphasia
We are looking for a part-time coordinator to join our small team to carry out a range of administrative duties for the charity from our office in Woburn, Bedfordshire. This is a 2-3 days a week position with flexible hours. Excellent communication and administrative skills needed along with sound knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel. An understanding of aphasia useful but not essential. Salary commensurate with experience.
Please apply in your own handwriting along with fully detailed CV to:
Henrietta, Duchess of Bedford, The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia, 15 George Street, Woburn, Bedfordshire, MK17 9PX.
Closing date Friday 21stJuly 2017
Do you need funding to attend conferences or other events?
The BAS Conference Support Fund offerstwo types of support:
BAS Events Grants: Applicants to this fund do not have to be BAS members at the time of application, butwill be required to joinas part of the process of registering for the event.
Non-BAS Events Grants: Applicants to this fundmust have been BAS members for at least 1 yearat the time of application.
Student members of BAS are eligible to apply. Overseas members may only apply to attend UK conferences.
Clickhere to find out more information.
(Please note that if you are successful in gaining funding from BAS to attend an event, the funds need to be claimed within one month of attending the event).
Reminder to BAS Members
A reminder for members who have not yet updated their subscription payments.Please note the new rates as shown below!Many members have updatedtheir subscriptions. This is a plea to those whohave not done so toact now!We also now have a new bank account with online facilities. The change in payment thereforealso entails changing the account into which the money is paid.
We have been making efforts to contact members to request new standing orders for membership, and cancellation of existing ones, but this is often not easy as people's details frequently change.This is another call to members to update their subscription payments to the new rates:
Standard Rate for UK members:
· Standing order - £18
· Cheque or other one-off payment - £24
Concessionary rate for people with aphasia, students and non-UK based members:
· Standing order - £12
· Cheque or other one-off payment - £15
To access the membership form, and the new standing order form please clickhere
Please also ensure that you cancel your existing standing order to avoid further payments at the old rate into our old bank account and to ensure that existing standing orders do not prevent us from setting up new ones.
Read previous newsletters and find out more about the British Aphasiology Society at
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