Update: I was delighted when Julie Carr asked to use my Giving Voice ukulele song as the soundtrack for the event she organised on the Millennium Bridge over the Tyne in November 2011.
I thought about all the times I have been asked what a Speech and Language Therapist does and this song came to me.
It is desperately sad that there are so many people needing Speech and Language Therapy and at the same time there are so few jobs for newly qualified therapists. It is shocking that there are over 300 members of the Facebook Support Group for unemployed newly SLTs, some of whom qualified over a year ago.
I very much hope that the Giving Voice Campaign can succeed in getting adequate funding for SLT services across the UK.
I love the videos here: http://www.rcslt.org/rcslt_video_gallery/list
For more information about the Giving Voice campaign:
http://www.givingvoiceuk.org/
“Giving Voice” Lyrics and Chords:
{t:Giving Voice}
{st:Liz Panton}
{Key: C}
{footer:Created with Songsheet Generator by Liz Panton © Words and music Sept 2011}
[C] [F] [G7] [C]
{c:VERSE 1:}
[C]Stranger at the [F]bus stop, we got [C]talking, me and [F]you
[C]All about the [F]weather, then you [C]asked me what I [F]do.
Communication [C]help, is the [F]name of the [C]game
[F]Speech and Language [C]Therapy, from [F]cra-[G7]dle to [C]grave.
{c:VERSE 2:}
[C]Some babies need help [F]sucklin’, from [C]bottle or [F]breast,
[C]Children with cleft [F]palate, we [C]help to speak their [F]best,
Kids with lisps and [C]stammers, au-[F]tistic spectrum [C]too,
It’ll [F]take a while if [C]I Give Voice to [F]every-[G7]thing we [C]do.
{c:VERSE 3:}
[C]Youths with language [F]problems, or “aph-[C]asia”, they [F]say,
[C]Bullied and troubled [F]with the law can [C]kind’a lose their [F]way,
And you know that Stephen [C]Hawking, with his [F]fancy talking [C]box?
[F]Communication [C]aids, [F]that stuff [G7]really [C]rocks!
{c:VERSE 4:}
[C]Maybe you’ve got no [F]larynx, cos of [C]cancer of the [F]throat,
Or [C]you can’t find the [F]words you want, [C]after a [F]stroke?
We help to find new [C]ways to get [F]thoughts and views [C]across,
[F]It’s not just King’s need [C]help with speech and [F]communi-[G7]cation [C]loss.
{np}
{c:VERSE 5:}
[C]Dyslexia, [F]literacy and Sure [C]Start, swallowing [F]too,
[C]Dysphagia’s the [F]fancy name for what [C]we bite off and [F]chew!
Brain injury, cerebral [C]palsy, M-[F]S and MN-[C]D,
[F]Parkinson’s and [C]Downs, Locked In [F]Syndrome, [G7]E-N-[C]T.
{c:VERSE 6:}
[C]An occupational [F]hazard in call [C]centres, courts and [F]schools
Is [C]hurt and pain when [F]talking that we [C]cure with new voice [F]rules.
We keep you in your [C]job and [F]get you back to [C]earning,
Help [F]families to [C]play and [F]children [G7]with their [C]learning.
{c:VERSE 7:}
[C]Problems talking [F]face to face or [C]speaking on the [F]’phone,
When [C]preaching, singing, [F]teaching take their [C]toll, you’re not al-[F]one.
Symbols, email and the [C]internet, [F]we’ve got apps for [C]that!
And it’s [F]on the NH-[C]S, if the [F]funding’s [G7]not been [C]slashed.
{c:VERSE 8:}
We can transform [F]lives, and it’s a [C]cost effective [F]role,
We [C]want to do our [F]jobs, but there’s [C]hundreds on the [F]dole,
You say that makes no [C]sense to you? Well, it [F]makes no sense to [C]me,
So [F]let’s Give Voice and [C]save Speech & [F]Language [G7]Thera-[C]py!
[F]Let’s Give Voice and [C]save [F]Speech & Language [G7]Thera-[C]py!
Download pdf: Giving Voice ukulele song sheet – no chord diagrams
Ukes4Fun 