Nick Behn is a Speech and Language Therapy Lecturer and Admissions Tutor for the MSc Speech and Language Therapy course. He studied in Australia before moving to the UK to work in a range of settings managing the swallowing and communication needs of adults, and has specialised in supporting people with traumatic brain injury.
Discovering Speech and Language Therapy
I had always been interested in communication and how people interact, and wanted to do a profession that helped others. I was not familiar with Speech and Language Therapy and came across it in my final years at school. Initially, my motivation for doing the course was in working with children however, as the course unfolded, I began to understand the diversity of the profession in working with the swallowing and communication needs of both children and adults.
The career offers many opportunities that are both rewarding and satisfying as you help people communicate better and more successfully. I always knew as a student that I wanted to lecture in the future but also knew that I wanted to work in the field and first gain research and clinical experience of the people who need Speech and Language Therapy.
Becoming a Speech and Language Therapist
I studied Speech and Language Therapy at The University of Sydney in Australia. My first few jobs involved working with younger children before I moved to hospital settings and working with people with neurological conditions, including traumatic brain injury. I moved to the UK where I worked in a range of inpatient, community and residential settings managing the swallowing and communication needs of adults and specialising further in neurorehabilitation.
During this time, I would take on many students during placement and worked with students on research ideas I was developing at the time for people with traumatic brain injury. I found this experience rewarding and not only enjoyed imparting my knowledge and contributing to student learning but also listening and learning from the students themselves about what helped them learn.
Lecturing at City
I have lectured students and worked in research at City for many years. I am extremely satisfied in working with students either lecturing or on research projects. It is incredibly rewarding as a lecturer to see students understand a concept or make sense of something I have said. To be able to teach the next generation of therapists and influence how people with communication difficulties will be assessed and treated in the future is a humbling experience. I also enjoy bringing people with brain injury to the university to share their experiences with students so that they can better understand the impact a therapist can have.
My specialism is in brain injury and understanding the nature of communication problems following a brain injury, approaches to the remediation of these problems and how to measure changes in communicative ability and quality of life post-treatment. I am interested in how to design and implement complex behavioural treatments, showing whether the treatment works or not and how to set goals with people who have had a brain injury. I have strong international links with other researchers in the US, Canada and Australia and enjoy collaborating on ideas that serve to help improve the lives of people with brain injury.
The student experience
Studying Speech and Language Therapy is intense and challenging. Students gain knowledge and experience in working with children and adults, with a range of swallowing and communication problems, in a range of settings including hospital, community and residential. Students are supported by a strong collaborative team at City, which I am fortunate be part of, and are taught by lecturers with decades of clinical experience and some of the leading researchers in the field. We also provide the necessary support and guidance to progress and complete the course. For me, I am committed to supporting students to becoming qualified Speech and Language Therapists and practicing a career that is not only rewarding and satisfying but which can also make a real difference in people’s lives.
