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Profile – Oliver Sawyer

Name:

Oliver Sawyer (Olly)

Job Title:

Student Speech and Language Therapist

Place of work / study:

University College London

Area of Research:

Better Conversations with Primary Progressive Aphasia (BCPPA) as part of my MSc in Speech and Language Sciences at UCL.

Tell us a little about yourself:

I am a student Speech and Language Therapist studying for my MSc at UCL. I am one of four student SLTs working with Anna Volkmer and completing our research on the BCPPA project. I completed an undergraduate degree in Linguistics at UCL and completed modules in neurolinguistics and neurogenic communication difficulties. The combination of my academic and work backgrounds meant that the BCPPA project sounded best for me.

Outside of academia though, I enjoy red wine, cocktails, cooking and inviting friends round for dinner, walking and cycling around London and escaping back up North whenever I get a chance to.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself:

I enjoy making my own sourdough in my spare time, as well as spending time at the lido in the sun.

Why did you choose to work in dementia:

Prior to my training at UCL I worked as a Rehab Assistant at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square. Whilst there I worked with patients with a range of neurological conditions, both in the Neuro Rehab Unit and across acute neurology wards. During my time working with SLTs on the acute wards I encountered lots of people with progressive and degenerative diseases, admittedly not many with Dementia. I acquired a real interest for working with people with progressive illnesses and those with communication and swallowing difficulties.

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