Welcome to episode 1 of Beneath the Armour! I'm excited to bring you a conversation with my old friend Amanda Thompson, a speech and language therapist from the UK (this translates to 'speech pathologist' in other parts of the world!)

Amanda talks to us about her journey to becoming a clinical team lead for autism within a county wide speech and language therapy service. She talks about her professional journey, beginning with a degree in psychology and after later experiences whilst travelling the world, realised she wanted to help people with autism.

We talk about the value in being honest with colleagues and families, and how saying "I don't know" can actually build further trust.

She talks about how her experience of working from the ground up had led her to feel more effective in her senior role due to understanding the challenges faced by the implementers of plans.

I ask her about the emotional load of the work, and she talks about aspects such as delivering bad news and tough conversations with parents; and provides some wisdom on the importance of empathy and listening.

Something that really shines through in this conversation is Amanda's positive mindset towards her work, which helps protect against the high stress endured when working in this area. She talks about this, and also how she has learned the ability to remain calm in her own life, and how the work has allowed her to shift her perspective on life and not let things get her down. 

I hope you enjoy the episode and don't forget to subscribe to have the next podcast waiting for you in two weeks.

To check out the podcast webpage and subscribe to receive updates and new content via email, head over to: http://nathanillman.com/index.php/beneath-the-armour-podcast/