Speech Pathology Newsletter - Edith Cowan University · November 2017 Speech Pathology Newsletter Page 2 Research team ECU Speech Pathology team, as well as a large multidisciplinary

November 2017 Speech Pathology Newsletter Page 1

Speech Pathology Newsletter November 2017

Course Coordinator’s Report

Welcome to the 2017 edition of our ECU Speech Pathology newsletter! It has been yet another jam-packed year for all here at ECU.

First and foremost, it is my pleasure to announce that we have received reaccreditation of our programs by Speech Pathology Australia: Bachelor of Speech Pathology and Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours) for the 5 year period (2017-2021). We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone, in particular the students, graduates and speech pathologists who volunteered their time to meet and speak with the accreditation panel (all the way back to May 2017!). Your assistance with the accreditation process is much appreciated.

The panel commended ECU on the following points:

The course strengths evident throughout the documentation and information obtained on the site visit included: robust processes in place to monitor quality of teaching and learning, cohesive and stable teaching team, well supported clinical educators, and clinical tutorials for fourth year students and the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander and cultural competency curriculum. The panel also commend the strength of the research profiles and unique leadership in relation to research related to speech pathology practice with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The panel were impressed by the innovative design and comprehensive processes surrounding the e-portfolio.

What a successful and productive year! The newsletter speaks to this! I would like to personally thank all the speech pathology staff for their commitment and passion! Thank you also to our sessional staff members who contributed to our program in 2017: Katy Stewart, Ann Jacobs, Susan Booth and Amy Mayer.

Happy reading!

Dr Charn Nang Speech Pathology Course Coordinator

NHMRC Partnership Project

Enhancing rehabilitation services for Aboriginal Australians after brain injury.

Following on from the Missing Voices project, Professor Beth Armstrong is now leading another project surrounding services for Aboriginal brain injury survivors that commenced in 2017. The project is funded through the NHMRC as well as receiving both cash and in-kind support from a variety of partners across WA and beyond.

The Missing Voices project revealed poor access to care, rehabilitation and support following an acute brain injury. In order to address this, and based on results from the Missing Voices study, the proposed project will trial an intervention package with the following aims:

1. to improve access to inter-disciplinary and culturally appropriate rehabilitation services for Aboriginal people following brain injury (stroke and traumatic brain injury) in Western Australia.

2. to improve medical, functional and psycho-social outcomes for the above population 3. to establish a costing model for the above which will contribute to service sustainability and

planning of future services.


Research team

ECU Speech Pathology team, as well as a large multidisciplinary group of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal research collaborators from ECU, UWA, Notre Dame University, Monash University, University of Technology Sydney, and Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service.

Partners

WA Department of Health, the Royal Perth Hospital Medical Research Foundation, the Neurological Council of WA, the Stroke Foundation, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Royal Perth Hospital, St John of God Midland Hospital, Fiona Stanley Hospital, WACHS (for sites in Broome, Kalgoorlie, Geraldton, and Port Hedland), Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service, Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council, Bega Garnbirringu Health Services, Wirraka Maya Aboriginal Health Corporation.

The NHMRC funded Partnership project (2017-2021) Enhancing Rehabilitation Services for Aboriginal Australians after Brain Injury will start recruiting people around February. We aim to recruit 312 participants from across WA. The project aims to improve services and hence increase quality of life for Aboriginal people after stroke and traumatic brain injury. The intervention consists of cultural security training surrounding brain injury for hospital staff and the employment of Aboriginal Brain Injury Coordinators across the state to assist the brain injury survivor and their family for up to six months after injury in terms of support, advocacy and educational resources.

For further information please go to the following link: http://www.ecu.edu.au/schools/medical-and-health-sciences/our-research/communication-disorders-research-group/projects/brain-injury-in-aboriginal-populations/enhancing-rehabilitation-services-for-aboriginal-australians-after-brain-injury.

The Wangi project The Wangi (talking) project: a feasibility study of a culturally sensitive rehabilitation model for

Aboriginal people post stroke.

Aboriginal Australians experience stroke up to 3 times more frequently than non-Aboriginal Australians.

However they are under-represented in rehabilitation services and culturally sensitive rehabilitation

treatment protocols aren’t currently available. Health service providers also report a lack of confidence in

providing services to Aboriginal people who have had a stroke. Through this project we tested the

feasibility and acceptability of the first culturally tailored intervention protocol for use with Aboriginal

people with acquired communication disorders (ACD) post stroke.

Eight Aboriginal people with ACD post stroke were recruited to the study. The intervention involved 16 x

1hr treatment sessions provided twice weekly. It utilised collaborative planning, integrated a ‘yarning’

framework, and was provided by a speech pathologist and Aboriginal co-worker at a mutually agreed

location. Participant acceptability was measured through an analysis of participant attendance and

participant satisfaction questionnaires. Improvement in

participant communication skills was measured through

change in verbal output in everyday conversation. Results

suggest the treatment is acceptable with a high level of

participant attendance. Participants noted improvements in

communication and reported key components of the program,

such as working with an Aboriginal co-worker and yarning

based therapy tasks, were helpful.

Associate Professor Natalie Ciccone, Professor Beth

Armstrong and Associate Professor Deborah Hersh

http://www.ecu.edu.au/schools/medical-and-health-sciences/our-research/communication-disorders-research-group/projects/brain-injury-in-aboriginal-populations/enhancing-rehabilitation-services-for-aboriginal-australians-after-brain-injury




Introducing Rimke

Dr Rimke Groenewold from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, is undertaking a postdoctoral fellowship at ECU for 2017 – 2018. She is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) to collaborate with Professor Armstrong and the speech pathology team on a project entitled ‘The use of direct speech as a compensatory device in aphasic interaction’.

Research: People with aphasia, a language disorder due to brain damage, have difficulty constructing sentences because of grammatical problems. Some people with aphasia are argued to ‘communicate better than they talk’. In order to get

their message across, they develop communication strategies, which allow them to exploit resources that are still relatively intact, such as pragmatic, prosodic and non-verbal skills.

The research focuses on one of these possible strategies, namely the increased use of direct speech constructions (e.g., John said: “Great!”) by aphasic speakers that has been observed in previous studies. To what extent the use of direct speech by aphasic speakers deviates from that by healthy speakers - and therefore whether it can be considered a compensatory device - remains unclear. Where in healthy language direct speech has been studied extensively, in aphasic interaction it has received little attention.

This project cross-linguistically investigates whether problems with grammar can be compensated by the deviating use of prosody accompanying direct speech. The approach of this research is novel because it combines two research disciplines - neurolinguistics and discourse analysis - it contributes to both theoretical insights and implications for clinical practice; depending on the outcomes, recommendations for speech therapy will be developed.

WA: And while we’re here anyway, we might as well take advantage and see as much as possible of beautiful WA. We visited Margaret River and Busselton, and for a longer holiday we went up north to see Broome and drive all the way back to Perth, visiting Exmouth, Coral Bay, Shark Bay, Kalbarri and Cervantes on the way. It was stunning!

Dr Rimke Groenewold

Visiting student from University of Hong Kong

My name is Christine and I am a final year speech pathology student of the University of Hong Kong. Thanks to a special collaboration between the two universities, I visited ECU for three weeks in late July for my dissertation research project and it has been a truly wonderful experience.

A popular saying in Hong Kong goes ‘it’s the people that make up the most beautiful scenery’ and I think this sums up my trip perfectly. When I first arrived in Perth, I was really anxious that I could not do my job well. Fortunately, the speech pathology team was helpful in every way. They quickly helped me settle in and offered all the resources I need. Most importantly, they spared no effort in recruiting test subjects and making sure that my research could run smoothly. I also appreciate how the parents were supportive and brought in their child despite their hectic schedule. The children were also lovely, which was a great relief since this was my first time working with English-speaking children. It was simply enjoyable working with the team, which just felt like a close-knit family infused with passion and determination (A big thank you to the whole team, especially Natalie, Charn, Victoria, and Catherine at Vario Clinic!)


I also participated in one of Speak Easy Association's maintenance session, where I got to meet adults with fluency problems. This was my first time interacting with adults who stutter and it gave me a glimpse of how the communication disorder actually shapes the life experience of an individual. I was simply amazed how the participants did not let their communication problem define who they are but went on to pursue their dreams. It also raised my interest in studying more about stuttering and how to help affected individuals.

Finally, one cannot leave Perth without doing some sightseeing. A big thank you to Charn and Jing (second year speech pathology student), who took me to Fremantle, Perth Zoo and Swan Valley and more. I absolutely loved the scenery, the history, and of course, the great food here!

Thank you everybody at ECU for giving me such lovely memories. I look forward to visiting ECU and Perth again someday.

Christine Ng

Speech Pathology Student, University of Hong Kong

New Grant

Deborah Hersh is part of a team recently awarded a UK grant to develop a novel discourse therapy:

Cruice, M., Dipper, L., Marshall, J., Botting, N., Boyle, M., Hersh, D. (2018). Linguistic Underpinnings of Narrative in Aphasia (LUNA): A proof-of-concept study of a novel discourse treatment for aphasia using personal narratives. UK Stroke Association Project Grant, Ref: TSA 2017/01, 2018-2021: £205, 257.

This research is about developing a new language therapy for people with chronic aphasia which combines work at word and sentence level with a new discourse therapy (structuring a story based on personal narratives). Information from speech therapists across the UK will be gathered to explore their opinions of their knowledge and skills in discourse assessment and therapy in aphasia. This will

help plan the training programme, and use it to ensure the new therapy is practical enough to be provided in the NHS by speech therapists. This project already rests on extensive pilot data and will be evaluated in a range of ways, but with particular focus on improved outcomes for everyday talk.

Associate Professor Deborah Hersh

Professional Identity Development

I am embarking on my PhD looking at how professional identity develops in speech pathology students. Professional identity is an important aspect of becoming a speech pathologist and a strong sense of professional identity helps with study as well as with getting jobs! My project will use both in-depth interviews and questionnaires together with analyses of student ePortfolios and the structure of the curriculum. The collection of both qualitative and quantitative data allows a rich source of data and triangulation of findings. Results will hopefully a) reveal the development of professional identity in speech pathology students; b) identify the factors that influence the development of professional identity; and c) enable the identification of strategies to enhance professional identity development and therefore employability in the future. Watch this space!

Abigail Lewis

Clinical Coordinator/Lecturer. Supervisors: Professor Dawn Bennett (Curtin University), Dr Cindy Smith (Curtin University) and Associate Professor Denise Jackson (ECU)


Stuttering Conferences 2017

I had the pleasure of attending two stuttering conferences in the span of about 1 month between September and October 2017.

The first of which was the 11th Oxford Dysfluency Conference (ODC) hosted in the UK. ODC has a reputation as one of the leading international scientific conferences in the field of dysfluency. The conference brings together researchers and clinicians, providing a showcase and forum for discussion and collegial debate about the most current and innovative research and clinical practices. The conference program was carefully thought out and there was something for everyone! It was great to meet other people working in the area of fluency from all over the world.

The conference’s topics included:

• New perspectives on assessment and therapy in children,

adolescents and adults who stutter

• Issues, variables, and controversies in assessment and outcomes

• Supporting the next generation of clinicians and researcher

• Evidence in practice

• Neurological foundations

I presented a paper at the conference titled “The impact of stuttering on development of self-identity, relationships and quality of life in women who stutter” (C. Nang, K. Milton, D. Hersh, S.R. Lau). I would like to thank Edith Cowan University for the Travel Subsidy I received as part of the Athena SWAN Advancement Scheme. This subsidy supported my attendance at this conference and supported my husband and 16-month old daughter to accompany me all the way to the other side of the world!

Shortly after I arrived home from Oxford, the Australian Speak Easy Association National Convention was held in Perth. I was part of the conference planning committee led by Mr. Peter Dhu. I presented two presentations at this conference: “Key Learnings from Oxford Dysfluency Conference” and “Stuttering Research Outcomes from Edith Cowan University: The importance of telling your story” (Co-authored with Deborah Hersh). We also had 3rd year speech pathology students attend and facilitate a maintenance session with conference delegates.

3rd Year ECU students facilitating a fluency maintenance session at the Australian Speak Easy Conference, October 22, 2017


As part of this conference, we obtained some funds from Lotterywest and Perth Convention Bureau to bring Professor Scott Yaruss (Michigan State University) to Perth to present. Scott is the author of a quality of life tool for stuttering named “Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES)”. Along with Speak Easy and Curtin University (Janet Beilby), we hosted a post-conference seminar by Scott titled “Early Childhood Stuttering Therapy; Direct or indirect? Both or neither?” at ECU, Mount Lawley. This seminar was a sold out event at a lecture theatre with 262 capacity! What a fantastic speaker and what a fantastic presentation.

I feel privileged to have attended these two conferences and be surrounded by others with an interest in stuttering.

If you are interested in any of the items that I have mentioned in this article and you would like handouts/materials/recordings of the presentations, please email me: Charn Nang [email protected]

Dr Charn Nang

New PhD Study

I have been working with children from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds as a school-based Clinical Educator for ECU for several years. The challenges of diagnosing language disorders in children new to English has prompted me to join the Integrated PhD program at ECU. I will be focusing on early identification of language disorders in children that speak more than one language, considering the factors that Teacher and Speech Pathologists take into account in making referral decisions and evaluation of appropriate assessment tools.

Emily Hunt – PhD student, Supervisors: Beth Armstrong, Suzanne Meldrum, Charn Nang.

(Editor’s note: an integrated PhD includes research coursework to support you in the development of your research topic. It is an ideal pathway for those who do not have an Honours Degree or who have not studied for some time and would like to refresh their research knowledge and skills. See the ECU website for more information).

Treatment Fidelity in Very Early Rehabilitation in SpeEch (VERSE)

What works in Aphasia therapy? Aphasia, or language problems after brain injury, affects about one third of stroke survivors. It can result in difficulty speaking, understanding language, reading and/or writing. Speech therapists work with stroke survivors and their families to reduce the impact of this condition on their everyday life. Therapists have difficulty making sense of research and making decisions about treatment. Language therapy and how it works, is a complex area for research. Completing research by investigating and reporting thoroughly is time consuming and costly. And so, there is data associated with research trials that is never fully analysed. My project is investigating what affects treatment in an aphasia trial currently being completed at Edith Cowan University.

Very Early Rehabilitation in SpEech (VERSE) is a study funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council underway at Edith Cowan University. It is investigating whether a specific speech therapy offered in a high dose after a stroke is more beneficial than what is normally done. Some of the data gathered is being used in this PhD. Therapists film their sessions and it is these videos that I am transcribing and coding to allow calculation of measures related to protocol adherence, treatment differentiation, therapy dose and response to therapy. As aphasia therapists are faced with a scarcity of evidence to draw on when making clinical decisions I hope that this study provides valuable evidence for clinicians to guide clinical decision making and enhance patient outcomes.

Emily Riseley, PhD Project, Supervisors: Erin Godecke, Natalie Ciccone.

Scott Yaruss presenting at ECU, Mount

Lawley post conference, October 23, 2017


VERSE concludes

The VERSE project – the largest international aphasia Randomised Control Trial to date – is about to recruit our final participant in December 2017. The project began in 2013 and will have recruited 246 people with aphasia across 17 sites in Australia and New Zealand. We will answer questions about aphasia therapy intensity and type in the acute stages following stroke. It is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Tavistock Trust, UK. Erin Godecke and the VERSE team would like to especially thank WA hospital sites for their invaluable participation in the study over the last several years and their commitment to improving stroke services nationally. 2018 will see presentation of the much awaited results at national and international conferences and through a variety of publications. Watch this space!

Improving knowledge of how to best support language devlopment for children in out-of-home care.

My honours project aims to investigate how effective brief speech pathology workshops are in supporting carers of children in out-of-home care to facilitate communication development. The 2-hour speech pathology workshop was designed in collaboration with the Department of Child Protection and Family Support and was presented to 13 carers in the Perth and Peel districts. As children in out-of-home care face compounding risk factors for speech and language difficulties, the workshops included information around the effects of trauma and neglect on communication development, milestones up to 6 years of age and strategies to promote communication development. Data has been collected with surveys and reflection diaries made 3 weeks after the workshop, looking to gain insight into any perceived changes in how carers support communication in their everyday home lives. Hopefully the project will assist in further advocacy for the need of improved access to speech pathology services in this particularly vulnerable population. "

Kaysie Hilton – 4th year honours student, Supervisors: Deborah Hersh, Charn Nang, Michelle O’Donnell


Interprofessional simulation with Dietetics and Occupational Therapy

In August this year, our 3rd year students participated in our inaugural interprofessional simulation experience with Occupational Therapy and Dietetics students. Allied Health course coordinators, lecturers, simulation and research staff from within the School of Medical and Health Sciences created a unique interprofessional learning initiative which was embedded within the curriculum for occupational therapy, speech pathology and dietetic students and implemented in semester two, 2017. Development of a suite of interprofessional simulation-based scenarios centred around a stroke patient allowed students, from the three disciplines, to work in interprofessional teams to solve dynamic and evolving patient care issues while learning from each other. In addition to the teaching and learning aspect, a research component was attached to this initiative. Utilisation of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) Questionnaire and a series a focus groups will allow for assessment of the participant’s value and understanding of the importance of interprofessional work and how this translates to patient outcomes. The results are still being analysed but we are positive that the students found it to be a positive learning experience.

Dr Charn Nang and Associate Professor Deborah Hersh

Collaborative Speech Pathology/Dietetics Workshop

This year was the second time that the third year ECU Speech Pathology students joined the ECU Masters of Dietetics students in a collaborative workshop. This year, a new student workbook was created with relevant pre-reading to assist the workshop. First, the 34 students discussed the role of the dietitian and the speech pathologist. Then they listened to guest speakers from Nestle discuss the WA Tender process and the different types of enteral feeding pumps. Finally, the students participated in mixed groups of SP and DT. This allowed the students to work collaboratively to discuss and problem solve case scenarios.

The students moved across three different stations which included practice with thickening powders and mixing different beverages, taste testing different supplements, pre-thickened fluids and puddings. The final station involved the students preparing suitable supplemented, texture modified meals for a case scenario taking into account dysphagia assessment results, dietary requirements and weight loss information.

Students left the workshop with greater practical experience in the preparation of modified texture diet and knowing how to work effectively with dietitians in the workplace and on practicum.

Mrs Katy Stewart.

Team building exercise with speech pathology, occupational therapy and dietetics students.


Study tour to China

In December 2016, Pat Chan and I travelled to China as part of a School based study tour. We were based out of Tianjin Medical University and were put up in a very nice international hotel. The staff at TMU were incredibly warm and helpful. During most days we would have lectures ranging from Chinese culture, the Chinese medical system and traditional Chinese medicine. During the evenings we would meet students from TMU, for most of these students we were the first westerners that they had ever met, so it was just as much an experience for them as it was for us. They were very direct and their English was quite good! Given my height, I in particular had to pose for lots of photos, it was quite the ego boost as I was told how handsome I was and that I looked like Hugh Jackman! (Mum found this funny for some reason...). They live in stark contrast to our university life. Each student lives in a 6-person dormitory of which they have to clock in and clock out whenever they leave/enter. All lectures are compulsory and they have compulsory PE and study sessions. There's no tavern or gym! But they are very much there to learn as the government heavily subsidies their courses and living expenses.

Day trips included trips to hospitals (traditional and western) as well as the department of emergency headquarters. Some of these trips were confronting, as we were taken through ICU and some very overcrowded hospital conditions. I was incredibly surprised at the openness of them to show us absolutely everything. Doctors were pulled away from their work to show us around and answer questions and we met some very powerful people, including the director of both hospitals and the director of emergency for Tianjin (with a population of 12 000 000).

We also had a weekend in Beijing to see the wall, Tiananmen Square and the lost city. Which were simply all unbelievable!

As you all probably know, Speech Pathology as a profession doesn't really exist in China. While I wasn't able to observe any early child language development, I was given a bit of an insight into the hospital setting. There was an OT ward, with patients doing exercises for injury rehabilitation. Interestingly there is no system for feeding patients. This is all done by the families of the patients (including in ICU). I can't imagine that post stroke patients being fed thickened liquids to aid swallowing.

Pat and I were able to give our presentation twice at different campuses of TMU. Pat kept very quiet about the fact that she could speak Mandarin! I was able to persuade her to do some of our presentation in mandarin, so I think that the people we presented to were able to get a bit out of it. The students I was paired with told me they understood what I was studying after we did our presentation.

Overall, it was a truly unique and fantastic experience. It was an invaluable and eye opening experience and a magnificent way to finish off the year. One that will not leave me quickly and that I would highly recommend any future students to nominate for.

Alex Beilby 4th year student


Communication for Everyday Living Clinic

The Communication for Everyday Living Clinic is an outpatient speech therapy clinic based at Joondalup Clinical School within Joondalup Hospital. The purpose of the clinic is to provide speech therapy to adult clients whilst providing 3rd year speech therapy students with experience in assessment and treatment of speech and language disorders. The clinic runs for two 12 week blocks during the year as is supervised by clinical educators. Some clients have experienced a stroke, dementia, brain tumour or degenerative disease such as motor neurone disease. Referrals are taken from health professionals in the community and a broad range of evidence based treatment options are offered. Most clients present with ‘aphasia’ or difficulty using language after brain injury. Treatment is personalised and focuses on the client’s goals. Students consistently report the clinic as a valuable learning experience and that it provides a stepping stone into fourth year clinical placements.

This year, the clinic has helped over 30 adults improve their quality of life through speech therapy. The clinic has run group therapy sessions focusing on supporting conversation between stroke survivors. These sessions are a highlight for students and clients alike as they encourage social participation through sharing of experiences and facilitation of communication. For the first time this year, clients with more severe difficulties have been offered multiple sessions a week with some attending two days a week. The clinic will commence again in March 2018.

Emily Riseley

Clinical placement at Katherine, NT

For my paediatric practicum, I was lucky enough to venture into the middle of the Australian outback. I spent 7 weeks in Katherine in the Northern Territory. I was placed primarily at a full-service school and worked with an Indigenous caseload. My caseload was varied with every child presenting with varied and complex issues. Despite this challenge I got to work with some incredible young people who I will remember for the rest of my life.

Katherine is a town of 10,000, surrounded by dozens of Aboriginal communities. It’s a tiny town with minimal services. Despite this the town makes a huge effort to support and care for one another. There are some strange things about working in rural Australia. My supervisor for one had a pet crocodile named ‘Louis Vuitton’!

Community visit was one of the best days of my life! I cannot stress enough my thanks to the people of Binjari for letting us into their home. The community of Katherine was amazing and the school staff in particular made sure that I got the most of the town including taking me on a cruise through Katherine Gorge and presenting me with a painting by one of their local artists.

I cannot stress enough the challenge of working in a community which is so under resourced (as are a lot of rural communities), however this experience has forced me to become a much better future clinician than I would have ever been without these challenges. There’s a lot of ups and downs in working so far away from the city, but knowing you can support and create change for kids like this is an amazing feeling. I would advise anybody studying speech pathology to jump at the opportunity to see this country. Not only will you grow professionally, but you will be given a unique opportunity to grow personally.

Annie Heneghan 4th year student


Joondalup district office talks to 2 and 4 year olds

Each semester two ECU speech pathology students complete a 13-week placement at the Joondalup district office. This semester students Louse Macrae and Holly Flockhart completed assessments in Speech Therapy Services with the support of Clinical Supervisor Michelle O’Donnell.

Speech Therapy Services focus on early intervention and can help bridge the gap until a child can access a child development centre.

On May 24 Louise and Holly presented to Joondalup district carers and case managers. The presentation focused on 2 and 4 year olds; what children at these ages are able to do, potential developmental problems they might experience, and how even small changes can make a huge impact. The presentation was well received by staff and carers and provided an opportunity for an open discussion around supporting speech development.

Speech Pathology Week

St John of God Midland Hospital

This year, Speech Pathology Week focussed on communication access. The theme centres around the importance of each individual being able to get his/her message across, no matter what level of communication they have. It looked at Speech Pathology's role in improving speech, language, fluency and voice but also strategies for successful communication and alternative communication that can be used by anyone. Our prac group set up a morning tea in the Allied Health lunch room at St John of God Midland Hospital. We put lollies and home-made cakes on the table. We wanted to bring light to other professions we work closely with about Speech Pathology and the importance of communication access for all patients while also celebrating our profession with other Speech Pathologists. The aim was to advocate not only for our profession but for our patients too and show that even simple methods can help someone feel understood, less vulnerable and give them the ability to express their needs, wants and thoughts and feelings. All the allied health teams had a look at the display and learned something new about SPA week and communication. It was a great success as all the treats were gone by the end of the day!

Michelle Dearle, Louise Macrae and Georgiana Warne-Trevor

Landsdale Primary School

To celebrate Speech Pathology week at Landsdale Primary School, the third year Speech Pathology students produced a brochure. The brochure was distributed to the Early Years Faculty in the staff room along with Speech Pathology week promotional materials. Staff were asked to issue the brochure to parents for the purpose of parent education as the brochure described school-age milestones relating to communication and literacy. The brochure was well received by staff who considered it to be a useful tool for raising parent awareness and informing them of Speech Pathology services.

Becky Balchin and Siobhan Kavanagh – 3rd year students

L-R Louise Macrae, Michelle Dearle, Georgiana Warne-Trevor


Tuart Hill Primary

For Speech Pathology Week, my clinical supervisor and I came up with the concept 'Take a Break to Talk About Your Day'. We made a communication board game to encourage parents to talk to their children about their day and a poster with some SP facts about communication access. This information was attached to a tea bag and given to teachers during their tea break as well as to parents at the Tuart Hill Primary School Open Night.

Carmi Louw – 3rd year student

Sausage Sizzle ECU campus

We had lots of fun taking part in ECU's Speech Pathology Week sausage sizzle, helping to raise funds for the Speak Easy stuttering support groups. It was a great to see customers curious about speech pathology and to teach them more about what our job involves; it was also nice to work alongside and get to know some of the other students in our course.

Stephanie Apelgren – 3rd year student

Rivervale Primary

Our display took place in the Rivervale Primary Schools staff room. Our aim was to provide the teacher and staff with the best knowledge about what communication access is and its importance in the primary school environment. As the school already provides different types of communication access for their students, such one of the kindergartens using a PECS AAC device, we were able to use this as an example to promoted how the alternative communication device ensure the student is able to communicate his wants and needs effectively.

Nicola Dayman and Giordarna Rigoli – 3rd year students

West Greenwood Primary

At West Greenwood Primary School, Sineada and I promoted SP week by handing out a quiz on communication access at the beginning of the week and drawing a winner at the end of the week who won chocolates and other delicious treats. We treated the staff to cupcakes for speech pathology week awareness and went around to classrooms and the staff room where we stuck communication access magnets on the whiteboards. We also sent home a handout on age-appropriate developmental milestones to the Kindy students who we are currently working with to promote the speech pathology occupation.

Shelby Aylett and Sineada Daka

L-R Mitchell Walley, Amy Parsons, Michelle Dearle, Jeni Brennan, Mel Cuthel, Teagan Nickels, Rachel Reardon, Courtney Balaam, Yolande Holland, Holly Flockhart, Stephanie Apelgren 3rd year students


Recent Awards

Australian Stroke Champion (2017) Award – Erin Godecke

At the recent Stroke Society of Australasia Annual Scientific Meeting (Queenstown, New Zealand) Associate Professor Erin Godecke was presented with the Australian Stroke Champion (2017) Award for her work in aphasia recovery after stroke. This award recognises inspirational and outstanding Australians dedicated to treating, supporting and advocating for stroke survivors and the broader stroke community. Erin was nominated by Speech Pathology Australia and would like to formally acknowledge the team she works with and the speech pathologists across Australia who are supporting VERSE and the clinical stroke guidelines working group for their dedicated work in stroke recovery. Congratulations Erin

Mark Longworth Innovation Award – Professor Beth Armstrong and the Missing Voices team

At the Smart Strokes Conference at the Gold Coast, Professor Beth Armstrong and the Missing Voices team won the Mark Longworth Innovation Award for their paper entitled “Missing Voices: Aboriginal stories of stroke and traumatic brain injury” – one of the outputs from the NHMRC funded Missing Voices project 2013-2016. Well done Beth.

The Australian Voice Association Student Encouragement Award – Shannon Marshall

Shannon Marshall (4th year student) was a recipient of the Australian Voice Association Student Encouragement Award for 2017. Shannon received the award for outstanding performance while studying the field of voice and thereby promoting the value and excellence of the human voice. Congratulations Shannon!

Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning – Abigail Lewis

Abigail Lewis received a 2017 Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. The citations are awarded annually through the Australian Awards for University Teaching and highlight individuals who innovate and inspire students to learn. Abigail’s Citation was for her work in ‘the development and implementation of an innovative clinical practicum program in speech pathology, using reflective practice to optimise the development of students’ clinical skills’.

Athena Swan Travel Subsidy

The Edith Cowan Athena SWAN Advancement Scheme celebrates and recognises the contributions and achievements of staff of all genders and support those with parenting or caring roles facing career disadvantage, who improve gender parity in academia and who are champions of gender equality at ECU.

Charn Nang was a recipient of a travel subsidy to support her in attending the Oxford Dysfluency Conference.

L-R: Professor Steve Chapman, Dr Charn Nang, Dr Carolyn McIntyre, Dr David Rhodes and Professor Cobie Rudd


Publications

Armstrong, E. (2017). The challenges of consensus and validity in establishing core outcome sets, Aphasiology, DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2017.1398804

Armstrong, E., Ciccone, N., Hersh, D., Katzenellenbogen, J., Coffin, J., Thompson, S., Flicker, L., Hayward, C., Woods, D., & McAllister, M. (2017). Development of the Aboriginal Communication Assessment after Brain Injury (ACAABI): a screening tool for identifying acquired communication disorders in Aboriginal Australians. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 19(3), 297-308. doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2017.1290136

Armstrong, E., McKay, G., Hersh, D. (2017). Assessment and treatment of aphasia in Aboriginal Australians: Linguistic considerations and broader implications for cross-cultural practice. Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology, 19(1), 4-11.

Bernhardt, J., Godecke, E., Johnson, L., Langhorne, P., Early rehabilitation after stroke. Current Opinion in Neurology. 2017,30:48-54. DOI: 10.1097/WCO.0000000000000404.

Hennessey, N. W, Fisher, G. & Ciccone, N. (2017). Developmental changes in pharyngeal swallowing acoustics: a comparison of adults and children. Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, DOI: 10.1080/14015439.2017.1326526

Hersh, D. (in press). From Individual to Global: Human Rights and Aphasia. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

Hersh, D., Wood, P., & Armstrong, E. (2017). Informal aphasia assessment, interaction and the development of the therapeutic relationship in the early period after stroke. Aphasiology DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2017.1381878

Katzenellenbogen, J., Atkins, E., Hersh, D., … (in press) Missing Voices: Profile and extent of non-fatal traumatic brain injury in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal adults in Western Australia using linked administrative records. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation.

Lewis, A. and MacDonald, J. (2017). Supervision: vital for speech-language pathology. Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech Language Pathology 19(2), 88-92.

Lewis, A., Rudd, C. & Mills, B. (in press). Working with children with autism: an interprofessional simulation-based tutorial for speech pathology and occupational therapy students. Journal of Interprofessional Care.

Penn, C., Armstrong, E., Brewer, K., Purves, B., McAllister, M., Hersh, D., Godecke, E., Ciccone, N., Lewis, A. De-colonizing Speech-Language Pathology practice in acquired neurogenic disorders. SIG 2 Perspectives on Neurophysiology and Neurogenic Speech and Language Disorders, 2(3), 91-99.

Unwin, L., Bruz, I., Mayberry, M. T., Reynolds, V., Ciccone, N., Dissanayake, C., Hickey, M., & Whitehouse, A. J. O. (2017). Acoustic properties of cries in 12- month old infants at high-risk of autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Development Disorders, 47(7), 2108- 2119.

Urbanowicz, A., Ciccone, N., Girdler, S., Leonard, H., & Downs, J. (2017). Choice making in Rett syndrome: A descriptive study using video data. Disability and Rehabilitation, DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2016.1277392.


Presentations

Armstrong, E., Hersh, D., Ciccone, N., McAllister, M., Katzenellenbogen, J., Thompson, S., Coffin, J., Flicker, L., Hayward, C., & Woods, D. (2017, August). Missing Voices: Aboriginal stories of stroke and traumatic brain injury. Paper presented at the Smart Strokes Conference, Gold Coast, Australia.

Armstrong, E., Hersh, D., Ciccone, N., McAllister, M., Katzenellenbogen, K., Thompson, S., Coffin, J., Flicker, L., Hayward., C, & Woods, D. (2017, November). Missing Voices: Stories informing services for Aboriginal Australians after brain injury. Paper presented at 6th Annual NHMRC Symposium on Research Translation, Brisbane.

Armstrong, E., Hersh, D., Ciccone, N., McAllister, M., Katzenellenbogen, K., Thompson, S., Coffin, J., Flicker, L., Hayward., C, Woods, D., & Dowell, C. (2017, November).Missing Voices: stories of Aboriginal people informing brain injury rehabilitation services. Paper presented at the IAHA Conference, Perth.

Armstrong, E., Hersh, D., Katzenellengbogen, J., Thompson, S., Ciccone, N., Flicker, L., Coffin, J., Rai, T., Cadilhac, D., & Godecke, E., (2017, August). Enhancing rehabilitation services for Aboriginal Australians after brain injury. SSA Rehabilitation Workshop, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Ciccone, N., Armstrong, E., Hersh, D., Adams, M., & McAllister, M. (2017, August). The Wangi (talking) project: a feasibility study of a culturally sensitive rehabilitation model for Aboriginal people with acquired communication disorders after stroke. Paper presented at the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Stroke Society of Australasia, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Ciccone, Armstrong, E., Hersh, D., Adams, M., McAllister, M., & Timmins, C. (2017, November) The Wangi (talking) project: an acceptability study of a culturally sensitive rehabilitation model for Aboriginal people with acquired communication disorders after stroke. Paper presented at the National Indigenous Allied Health Australia, Perth, Australia.

D’Souza S., Janssen, H., Ciccone, N., Hersh, D., Armstrong, B., Godecke, E. (2017, August). Stroke in-patient activity early after stroke: Individual and environmental barriers and facilitators to communication. 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Stroke Society of Australasia, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Godecke, E., Armstrong, E., Middleton, S., Rai, T., Ciccone, N., Holland, A., Whitworth, A., Rose, M., Ellery, F., Cadilhac, D. A., Hankey, G. J., and Bernhardt, J. (2017, May). Trial progress and therapy fidelity monitoring in the Very Early Rehabilitation in SpEech (VERSE) after stroke study. 3rd European Stroke Organisation Conference, Prague, Czech Republic.

Godecke, E., Armstrong, E., Middleton, S., Rai, T., Ciccone, N., Holland, A., Whitworth, A., Rose, M., Ellery, F., Cadilhac, D. A., Hankey, G. J., and Bernhardt, J. (2017, August). Therapy fidelity and trial progress in the Very Early Rehabilitation in SpEech (VERSE) trial. 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Stroke Society of Australasia, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Lewis, A. (2017, October). ePortfolios for Employability. Pebblepad User Group, Perth, Australia.

Lewis, A. (2017, February). Mindfulness with a Health and Wellness plan to reduce stress in Speech Pathology students. Paper presented at Teaching and Learning Forum, Perth, Australia.

Nang, C., Milton, K., Hersh, D., & Lau, S, R. (2017, September). The impact of stuttering on development of self-identity, relationships and quality of life in women who stutter. 11th Oxford Dysfluency Conference, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Nang, C. & Hersh, D. (2017, October). Stuttering Research Outcomes from Edith Cowan University: The importance of telling your story. Australian Speak Easy Association National Conference, Perth, Western Australia.

Rose M, Foster A, Copland D, Nickels L, Togher L, Meinzer M, Rai T, Hurley M, Godecke E. (2017, May). Embedding measures of therapy fidelity in “COMPARE”: a RCT of complex behavioural interventions for post-stroke aphasia. 3rd European Stroke Organisation Conference, Prague, Czech Republic.

Rohde A, Worrall L, O’Halloran R, Godecke E, Farrell A. (2017). Brisbane Evidence-Based Language Test, Brisbane EBLT: A new diagnostic test for the identification of acute post-stroke language disorders. 5th International Society for Evidence-Based Healthcare Congress, Kish Island.

Documents

Speech Pathology Newsletter - Edith Cowan University · November 2017 Speech Pathology Newsletter Page 2 Research team ECU Speech Pathology team, as well as a large multidisciplinary