Meet Our People: Patty

For the first in our Meet Our People series, we’re starting with Patty Govender, Director and Clinical Lead at STAR Space, speech-language therapist, enthusiastic photo-taker, library visitor, lover of long drives and someone who believes deeply in the importance of connection.

But rather than giving you the formal bio, we thought we’d let Patty introduce herself.

1. How did you end up becoming a speech-language therapist?

By accident, actually!

My best friend was applying to study speech-language therapy. I had absolutely no idea what it was, but I thought, “Well, I’ll do that too!”

I imagined we would go off to university together and stay connected.

This was well before mobile phones, so when I arrived and couldn’t find her, it took me about 10 days of investigating to discover that she had changed her mind and was studying something completely different at another university!

So I accidentally found speech-language therapy because I was trying to stay connected to a friend.

Looking back now, that feels rather fitting, because connection has ended up being at the heart of the work I’ve spent my life doing.

2. What do you do at STAR Space?

I’m the Director and Clinical Lead at STAR Space, and I’m also a practising speech-language therapist.

At STAR Space, our team provides a range of services for adults and children. My own clinical work focuses mainly on adults with communication difficulties, particularly those associated with neurological conditions such as stroke and brain injury. Much of my work involves supporting people living with aphasia, apraxia and cognitive-communication difficulties.

What I especially love is helping people reconnect with conversations, relationships, activities, communities and the parts of life that matter to them.

3. What do you love most about your work?

The people.

I love the moments when someone begins reconnecting with something that matters to them, joining a conversation, telling a story, making someone laugh, getting back into an activity they enjoy, or simply feeling more like themselves again.

Some of my favourite moments happen in groups, bringing people together, and witnessing people start encouraging, supporting and learning from each other.

4. What is one thing you wish more people understood about communication difficulties?

Having difficulty communicating doesn’t mean you have nothing to say.

Communication difficulties can look different for everyone, and no two people’s experiences are the same. When communication becomes difficult, it can affect so much more than our ability to express ourselves. It can impact our confidence, our sense of identity and our feeling of belonging.

One condition I particularly wish more people knew about is aphasia. Aphasia is a language difficulty caused by damage to the language areas and networks of the brain, often following a stroke or brain injury. It can affect a person’s ability to speak, understand, read or write, but it doesn’t take away who that person is.

A person living with aphasia, like others with communication difficulties, still has their knowledge, humour, opinions, memories, relationships, experiences and personality. What may have changed is how easily they can express or share these parts of themselves with others.

I think awareness really matters. The more people understand, the more opportunities we create for people living with communication difficulties to access support, participate in their communities and feel included in everyday life.

Sometimes that starts with something very simple: slowing down, listening differently and creating enough time and space for someone to take part.

5. Library, museum or bookshop?

Libraries and museums! I love visiting them when I travel.

Funny enough, it was only recently, while looking through my photos, that I realised what draws me to these places. It’s the open spaces, the quiet, and the opportunity to wander, observe and reconnect with myself.

One of my most memorable visits was to the Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Odense, Denmark. I was fascinated by the way the beautiful  words, illustrations and stories were brought together. I found myself photographing the messages and artwork on the walls rather than taking the usual tourist photos.

There’s something special about places that give you the freedom to simply be, reflect and discover something unexpected.

6. Céline Dion or Adele?

That is far too difficult!

Both, preferably on a long drive with the music turned up.

A long drive, good music and a little time to myself is one of my favourite ways to reset.

7. Coffee or tea?

A cocktail! 🍹

8. What is something your family might tease you about?

Taking photos. Lots of photos.

I love selfies and photos of the people in my life, and my family definitely know that if we’re together, at some point I’m going to say, “Wait, let’s take a photo!”

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realised how powerful photographs are. One little photo can bring an entire moment back, where you were, who was there and how you felt.

So I’m quite unapologetic about it now.

9. Sunrise or sunset?

Both, as long as I’m near the water.

There’s something about watching the sky change over the sea that instantly makes me slow down and smile.

Takapuna Beach is one of my favourite places for that.

10. Finish this sentence: “Connection is…”

Being known, included and understood.

I think we sometimes imagine connection as something that happens in big, meaningful moments. But it can also be found in the smallest, most ordinary things, sharing a joke, telling someone about your day, making a choice, ordering a coffee or simply being part of a conversation.

These everyday moments can mean so much. They help us feel like ourselves, remind us that we matter and give us a sense of belonging.

 

And now you know more about Patty - a speech-language therapist by accident, connector of people by choice, collector of library photos, enthusiastic selfie-taker, and happiest somewhere near the water with Céline Dion or Adele playing in the background.

Over the coming weeks, Meet Our People will introduce more of the people who make up the STAR Space community, the people who work here, the people we work alongside and, where appropriate, some of the people we have the privilege of supporting.