Kirsty Harris

What are you doing now?

I’m a Speech and Language Therapist currently working at a special school for children with autism. My work focuses on language and social communication; I help the children to communicate with each other, make friends, understand other people’s emotions, and how people might react to their behaviour.

What were you doing before pursuing postgraduate study?

Before coming to City, I studied an undergraduate degree in Psychology, but I wasn’t really sure which career path I wanted to pursue within this subject because it’s such an open field. I always knew I wanted to work with children in a caring capacity, so when I saw the Speech and Language Therapy MSc I thought it sounded like the perfect career for me because it’s so varied.

During my undergraduate studies, I also did an internship at a children’s charity and found very inspiring seeing how children grow and develop with your support. I was working with children who struggled to communicate or didn’t have a voice, but still had other ways to get their message across by signing or passing over a symbol.

I thought it was really rewarding to be able to give children a method to communicate, if they struggled verbally, because our voice is the most powerful thing we have.

Why did you choose to study at City?

I chose to study at City because I had attended an Open Evening, researched the course and found out that the lecturers on the course are really knowledgeable and experienced. Many lecturers are also clinicians, so they have up-to-date experience of what it’s like to be a Speech and Language Therapist. As a City student, I thought I would benefit from its central London location as it’s easy to access the rest of the UK, or go abroad.

What did you enjoy most about your course?

I really enjoyed my time at City, I met some amazing people and great lecturers. I am still in contact with my classmates - we all work together as a network, we help each other out as we’re all working in full-time jobs now. The lecturers have so much knowledge - they work closely with external organisations to give us placements with both children and adults, which is very beneficial.

The course has a nice split between lectures and placements, so you get to hear about the theory, in addition to going out in the community to meet people that you’ll be working with in the future and practice all the skills you’ve learnt.

We had a module specifically about autism on the course, which has been very useful to me in my current job working with autistic children. We had lecturers who were working in the field of autism, who were up to date with all the latest research and had plenty of prior experience that we could learn from.

How did the placements benefit you?

The placements are so valuable when studying Speech and Language Therapy because you can’t learn everything in the classroom. It’s so important to go out and meet people you’ll be working with and practice your technique. There are some medical things for which you’ll need to be in a ward.

Every case you work on is so different. What works for one child may not work for another, so it’s important to have the opportunity to work with a range of people and be able to trial different practices.

Did you take part in any activities outside of your course?

I joined a couple of societies, one being a sports society called Kayak Polo, which is a really interesting water sport – it’s a bit like basketball because you need to throw the ball across and score goals. It was a nice way to socialise because they would usually put on events afterwards like having a group dinner or going to the pub.

What was it like studying London?

I’m originally from a small town in Sussex, which is very different to this big city. I loved studying in London! It made it so easy to travel to so many destinations across the UK or abroad in my free time. It meant that my family could easily visit me, or I could go home to them, or even have friends come and stay. London is a great city to be a part of because it’s so varied and there’s always something to do.

What areas does your degree allow you to work in?

As a Speech and Language Therapist, you can go in so many directions, from working with newborn babies all the way up to old adults. There are so many areas you can go into such as brain injuries and strokes, swallowing, or working with children and adults with learning disabilities as the field spans across the whole spectrum.

I have a lot of colleagues who work with swallowing, they help older adults eat following a stroke and improve their quality of life. You could also work in a variety of settings, such as hospitals or schools.

What do you enjoy about your current role?

I enjoy getting to know the children, forming relationships with them, gaining their trust and then seeing them develop over the academic year. I get to see how they’ve changed from being someone who’s quite shy and struggling to communicate and make friends, to then having a lovely group of friends who they’re going on trip with by the end of the year.

As I stay in one school, I work with the same set of children every week at intervention sessions, so I can see how they change. From week to week, the change can be quite small, but when you look back at the end of the year, it really surprises you how much they’ve progressed and blossomed.

How has City helped you get to where you are today?

I’m happy I chose to do a master’s at City as it’s set me up for an amazing career that I’m only just beginning. I’m really excited to see what the future hold for me as a Speech and Language Therapist. My time at City has really shaped my career, in terms of my confidence and the network I’ve been able to create from my time at the University.

I wasn’t very sure what I wanted to do before I started my master’s, and I’ve now been able to build a strong career that I love and believe I’ll stay in for decades.