Get to Know Me
See below for my background and experience within my Speech and Language Therapy career and before.
Kate Mills:
Background
I gained a 2:1 in my BA (Hons) in Childhood Studies from Sheffield Hallam University, before working as Nursery Teacher for 2 years in which I discovered my fascination for Speech and Language Therapy.
I then went on to study my MSc in Speech and Language Therapy at City, University of London, from 2018-2020, obtaining a distinction.
Since graduating, I have been working within the NHS progressing from a Newly Qualified SLT to a Highly Specialist SLT. Within this time, I have been working in the Mainstream Schools, Community & Clinics, Early Help and Resource base teams. I am currently in a specialist nursery (with a resource base for children with social communication and language needs), Early Help Team (supporting children under 2;6 years old) and Community & Clinics teams (early years for all needs and primary ages for speech and stammering).
Within this time, my experience includes working a wide rage of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCNs) such as; language disorders, speech sound disorders, social communication differences, selective mutism and complex needs (Global Developmental Delay, Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy etc.). My specialism is early years social communication / Autism and I also have an interest in; bilingualism, language and speech.
Experience
Paid Employment & Voluntary Work
Employment
Oct 2022 - Present
St George's NHS Foundation Trust - I started working here, as a specialist SLT (10 months) with 3 days in Community & Clinics (early years for all needs and primary age for speech and stammering) and 2 days in Mainstream Primary Schools as a Specialist SLT. I started my role as a Highly Specialist SLT in August 2023, where I work 2 days in a specialist nursery with a resource base for children with social communication and language differences, 2 days in the Early Help team (supporting children under 2;6 years old) and 1 day in Community & Clinics teams (as above).
Employment
Sept 2020 - Oct 2022
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust - Working as a Newly Qualified SLT (1yr) and then a specialist SLT (1yr) within Mainstream Primary and Secondary schools in Ealing. Seeing children with a range of needs including: Language needs, Speech Sound Disorders, Social Communication Needs (including Autism), Selective Mutism and many more.
Student Placements (MSc SLT)
Sept 2018 - July 2020
Homerton NHS Foundation Trust- Teletherapy placement, working with secondary school age students up to college age students supporting those with language disorders, learning disabilities and social communication difficulties
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust - Working within an Additional Resourced Provision (ARP) in a Mainstream Primary School with children with EHCPs and diagnoses of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and Speech Sound Disorders (SSD)
Central London Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - Working within Early Years (pre-school) Clinics providing groups and 1:1 therapy sessions as well as running Initial assessment clinics.
Central London Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - Working with adults with learning disabilities, support their communication needs as well as swallowing (Dysphagia) under supervision.
Pre-SLT experience
Pre-Sept 2018
Nursery Teacher (2yrs), Observations in SLT clinics (x2), TA duties in Primary Schools (2x Mainstream, 1x SEN) as part of BA (Hons)
Training, Continued Professional Development & Achievements
June 2023
Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) Clinical Excellence Network (CEN) Meeting
A CEN is an opportunity for SLTs to come together and information share about a specific area of interest of expertise. Within this national SSD CEN, we discussed current evidence base around SSDs including; terminology, assessment interventions and outcome measures.
June 2023
Joint Award for 'Children's Diversity Champions'
As part of my role at St Georges, my colleague and I won a joint award as part of the St George's Children's Therapy awards, for all the work we had been completing in the bilingualism working party including; training the team on bilingual assessment and therapy, re-writing care pathways, making culturally appropriate bilingual resources and supporting the team with cases.
Introduction to sensory integration difficulties Sensory Integration Education (4 hrs)
I self-funded this course to give me a better understanding of sensory needs; all our sense, what sensory differences and sensory difficulties are and how they impact pupils.
March 2023
June 2022
Speech: Assessment and Therapy in Practice (1 day)
June 2023
Sensory Masterclass for SLPs & SLPAs
In this course I learnt how to recognise sensory differences in neurodivergent populations across all ages. And learnt some tips and strategies on how to support these these pupils to get the best outcomes during therapy sessions
May 2023
Essentials for Management
(1 day)
In this course, I learnt about management skills to best support supervisees and colleagues at work.
Michael Palin Centre Stammering Training 8-14 year olds Michael Palin Centre
(1 day)
In this course, I learnt about how to appropriate take case histories from families for the stammering population between the ages of 8-14 yrs old and how to appropriate assess the child.
June 2022
In this course, I learnt about how to appropriately diagnose a child's speech skills and how to choose appropriate interventions to suit the child's diagnoses
June 2021
Solution Focused Brief Therapy (1 day)
In this course, I learnt about Solution Focus Brief Therapy and how to use this to support children and families to joint target set/gain best hopes for therapy.
June 2021
Online Training in the use of the Early Sociocognitive Battery (ESB) (1 day)
The ESB is a fairly new early years assessment that helps diagnose social communication differences as opposed to langauge needs.
2021
Communication Access Training (1 day)
This training supported myself and my team at CNWL to use the Communication Access Symbol to demonstrate that we are able to communicate with all people we interact with that have communication difficulties in an effective way.
2020
Born at the right time (1 day)
This training taught me to create a world where families of people with complex disabilities are valued and supported to thrive in a community where they belong. I learnt the importance of co-productively working with families and professionals, and I learnt from a parents person journey, how to ensure that parents feel valued, understood and respected.