Rebecca Boddington - SLT Services

05/11/2025

Tomorrow is our final café of the pilot!

We'll be talking about advance care planning and how speech and language therapy can help.

The ever important tea, coffee and biscuits will be there!

There will also be opportunity to feedback on your experience of the café, what you have found useful and what we could do differently.

Thank you so much to everyone who has attended and even if you haven't been before, you are very welcome to attend for the first time tomorrow if this topic is of interest to you.

If you haven't attended one of my groups at Parkinson's UK Leeds Branch, we'd be very happy to have you tomorrow afternoon!

We've spent the last 6 weeks talking about communication.

Tomorrow, we will shift focus to start talking about eating, drinking, swallowing and saliva.

If you're thinking "What has speech therapy got to do with swallowing?" or have questions about eating and drinking, come along to find out more.

As usual we will have:
- a warm welcome
- hot drinks
- biscuits
- lots of friendly chat

Sessions are free and open to anyone who is living with Parkinson's and their family/friends or anyone around them who would benefit from learning more.

Look forward to seeing you there!

04/11/2025

I’m back at the MS society coffee morning in Harrogate today. It was snow and ice when I last attended in January!

Looking forward to seeing you there and chatting all things SLT!

28/10/2025

It's nearly the end of October and nearly a whole year of working independently.

I'm working hard, learning and improving all the time.

I've had the privilege of working with some amazing people.

May the next year of independent practice be filled with even more!

Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far.

25/10/2025

Reminder! The clocks go back this weekend ⏰

Changing the clocks can be confusing for all of us – but for someone living with dementia it can be particularly disorientating and even distressing.

Thankfully there are a few easy things we can do to help minimise any disruption.

Consider having dinner and going to bed an hour earlier on Saturday, so that the person you’re caring for still gets enough sleep and can wake up at their usual time on Sunday.

Keep to a regular routine during the day and at bedtime. Doing regular activities at the same time each day – for example, going for a walk after breakfast – can help a person with dementia make sense of the time.

Gentle exercise outdoors can help the person feel sleepier during the evening. If this isn’t an option, keeping them active during the day can have a similar effect.

Use blackout curtains to reduce sunlight in the evening to help with body clock regulation.

Invest in an auto-setting clock for them. Reading a clock face can be tricky for some people with dementia, so often digital clocks are easier. You can also get clocks that show the day of the week and date as well as the time, and for some people a day/night clock can help them distinguish what time of day it is.

23/10/2025

We are looking forward to welcoming you at the Clarke Foley THIS EVENING, for the legal advice session.

👥 The event is a collaboration by Chadwick Lawrence, Bradford Dementia Hub, Ilkley Good Neighbours, and Clarke Foley.

The event is FREE and open to all - no need to book.

🕖 The start time of the short presentation is 5.30pm, this will be followed by plenty of time to ask questions.

⚖️ This is a great opportunity to learn more about topics including power of attorney and capacity assessments.

22/10/2025

If you haven't attended one of my groups at Parkinson's UK Leeds Branch, we'd be very happy to have you tomorrow afternoon!

We've spent the last 6 weeks talking about communication.

Tomorrow, we will shift focus to start talking about eating, drinking, swallowing and saliva.

If you're thinking "What has speech therapy got to do with swallowing?" or have questions about eating and drinking, come along to find out more.

As usual we will have:
- a warm welcome
- hot drinks
- biscuits
- lots of friendly chat

Sessions are free and open to anyone who is living with Parkinson's and their family/friends or anyone around them who would benefit from learning more.

Look forward to seeing you there!

22/10/2025

😀One of the things I enjoy most about working independently is having time for this things which are important to me as an individual and clinician.

🤩Voluntary roles are so important in enabling people to access reliable support and information. Whilst also embedding compassionate values in our society more widely.

🥳I feel very lucky to have an ongoing role as an association visitor with MND Association. Not only am I privileged to offer time and listening for people living with MND, but I also have the pleasure of supporting them to access some of the incredible grants which enhance quality of life.

🫶Over the summer I had the opportunity to volunteer my time to write a Q&A about swallowing difficulties for Parkinson's UK and they have very kindly been in touch again asking for my input to review some of their information on supporting communication in daily living.

🥰These volunteering opportunities help keep my practice focussed on the real people and everyday lives clinical work brings me into, ensuring work is meaningful and personalised.

15/10/2025

One of the things I find so interesting about my work is that food and drink serve so many different functions and the significance can vary so greatly from person to person. Learning about what is important to the individual is fascinating but also allows me to deliver the best support.

To nourish
To heal
To comfort
To connect
To celebrate
To respect ritual and tradition
To express identity and culture
To mark time and routine
And so much more …

Eating, drinking and swallowing is a really interesting part of speech and language therapy because it is so much more than the biomechanics of the swallow.

This is on my mind not only because of my clinical dysphagia work, but this week is the last of the Parkinson’s UK Leeds branch communication sessions, we’ve got 2 weeks of eating, drinking and swallowing after tomorrow and it is exactly these things we will explore.

# dysphagia care

14/10/2025

🗣Therapy is a non-linear process.

🥳There are weeks when everything clicks and others when things seem to slow down… or even take a step backwards.

💪This can be challenging, but it means the brain is learning.
Change happens over time and skills consolidate quietly in between sessions.

🙌As therapists, we look for the bigger picture, not the momentary perfections.

🌈Plateaus, dips, and pauses are part of the journey but persistence is key.

09/10/2025

It’s been a great group so far and only 2 weeks left of the communication portion!

This week we’re looking at language changes.

Looking forward to seeing those who can make it!

No commitment, just come when you can.

Happening this Thursday!