Meet the expert: Dr Suzanne Beeke

Dr Suzanne Beeke is Associate Professor in the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences and Fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

What attracted you to the area of conversation and communication disability?

When I was considering going to university, which no-one in my family had done, I visited the local hospital pharmacy department – I was studying chemistry and really loved it. After a day there I was not so keen! But I discovered the speech and language therapy department.

I’d always loved languages and words, and was intrigued to know what speech and language therapists did. There I met and talked to a man who had had a stroke. I could see he had difficulties with finding his words, but he was clearly an intelligent and sociable man who wanted to tell me about himself. Somehow, despite his linguistic limitations, and my general ignorance of aphasia, we had a fantastic conversation that we both really enjoyed.

I realised that if I trained as a speech and language therapist, I could support people who had lost the very thing we all value and take for granted – the ability to say whatever you want with ease, and know others will understand you.

You research a condition known as aphasia – can you explain what this is and what your research investigates?

Aphasia is a communication difficulty that is most commonly caused by stroke. One in three people who have a stroke will have aphasia. It affects speaking, understanding, reading and writing. Some people with aphasia may experience occasional word finding difficulties, others may have severe problems with accessing nouns and verbs and constructing sentences, meaning their speech is very limited.

Aphasia can also make it difficult to understand what people say to you. Aphasia is a life-long disability, few individuals are able to return to work, and families feel the impact too. Speech and language therapists work with people with aphasia, their families and friends, and healthcare professionals, to find new ways to communicate successfully despite aphasia.

My research investigates how people with aphasia and their family and friends continue to have conversations. Using language to have conversations is a vital life skill for maintaining relationships and influencing our life worlds. I’m interested in the strategies that individuals spontaneously develop and the ongoing challenges they experience. I use a qualitative research method called Conversation Analysis, which is a systematic way of investigating the unconscious structures and rules of conversational interaction.

What is the UCL Better Conversations Lab?

Better Conversations is a scientific approach to the study of conversation in communication difficulties, and a growing suite of intervention programmes pioneered at UCL including for aphasia and dementia. Currently the Better Conversations Lab has about 30 members, ranging from Masters students through PhD, early career researchers and professors. We meet regularly for talks, seminars and networking.

We organise a conference every two years to bring together speech and language therapists, people with communication difficulties and their families, and researchers. We offer regular training courses for speech and language therapists, and free clinical resources and downloads. We promote our research and make it accessible to stakeholders, including internationally through collaborations to translate and adapt our intervention programmes.

What aspect of your work most excites you and why?

Rethinking what we understand about communication difficulties, moving away from a medical model focus on impairments and deficits to a strengths-based approach. Conversation analysis spotlights how individuals show their competence in interaction despite having a communication difficulty, and how well-meaning conversation partners can unwittingly cause interactional difficulties.

Better Conversations therapy harnesses people’s conversational strengths and adaptations to improve their lives, and the way they feel about talking. I am excited for our new research areas such as Developmental Language Disorder (which affects approx. two children in a school class of 30) and Parkinson’s.

What would you say to someone who is considering whether to study language and cognition at UCL?

If you’re interested in how children learn to talk, language and the brain, and health conditions and learning differences that influence language, cognition and communication, then studying in the Department of Language and Cognition at UCL is for you.

We have two highly rated programmes, the BSc/MSci Psychology and Language Sciences, and the MSc Speech and Language Therapy, a two year pre-registration professional training. Both give you the opportunity to complete a research project, and as a research-intensive university we can offer you amazing opportunities to get involved in world-class research.

What’s the best advice you would give your younger self?

Follow your interests and be brave. Don’t listen to the doubts in your head, if you’ve got an idea then go for it! Always remember that individuals with lived experience of a condition are the experts in what they experience and need. If you involve stakeholders in your research you are more likely to achieve research impact, and do good in the world.