Child Language Teaching and Therapy Special Issue (2026) is finished

Child Language Teaching and Therapy Special Issue (2026)
Listening to Children with Diverse Communication Abilities
Guest editors: Sharynne McLeod and Holly McAlister, Children’s Voices Centre, Charles Sturt University, Australia
CLTT Editors: Judy Clegg and Victoria Joffe

1. Cologon, K. (2026). From space and voice to audience and influence: Methodological approaches to inclusive co-research with young children. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication.  
2. Deehan, H., McLeod, S., & Harrison, L. J. (2026). “Oh! I forgot the voice”: Comparing drawings of talking by children with and without speech sound disorder. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261433348
3. Devane K., O’Malley-Keighran M., & Carroll, C. (2026). ‘Irish... It’s the native language...It representes who you are in a way’: Understanding the lives of Irish-English speaking children in Ireland. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261460261
4. Doherty, G., O’Malley-Keighran, M., & Carroll, C. (2026). An exploratory study of the school experiences of multilingual children in an English monolingual primary school in Ireland. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261461427
5. Esbensen, A., Pilesjö, M. S., &., & Clausen, M. C. (2026). “I’m a man of few words”: Children’s perspectives on living with developmental language disorder. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261428941
6. Furlong, L., Clendon, S., Gillon, G. & McNeill, B. (2026). Children’s perspectives on structured literacy teaching and their emerging perceptions of themselves as readers and writers. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication.
7. Gregoric, C., McLeod, S., Hopf, S. C., Downey, B., Rahman, A., Sikder, S., Zischke, C., Tran, V. H., Murray, E., McAlister, H., Ivory, N., Delli-Pizzi, L., Elwick, S., Dealtry, L., &., & Davies, J. (2026). Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals by listening to children’s voices across the globe. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590251406102
8. Harasym, J. A., Gross, D. P., MacLeod, A. A., &., & Phelan, S. K. (2026). They smirk ‘but you’re not dying’ and other (mis)understandings about communication and concussion navigated by youth: An arts-based reflexive collective case study. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261424124
9. Harding, S., Burr, S., Cleland, J., Stringer, H., & Wren, Y. (2026). Understanding the experiences of children with speech sound disorder in speech and language therapy using emotional mapping. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261444674
10. McAlister, H., McLeod, S., & Hopf, S. C. (2026). Ladders, trees and matrixes: Child-focused participatory action research frameworks in speech-language pathology. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261455298
11. McCormack J., Cronin A., McLeod S., Ireland M., Wang C., & Tiong C (2026). Children’s drawing of intervention for childhood apraxia of speech (CAS): Place, people, activity and emotion. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590251375340
12. McLeod, S. (2026). Large listening ears are not enough: How can we mature in our practices to listen to children? Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication.
13. Miletic, K., Choi, L. D., Biggs, K., Bazzocchi, N. B., & Washington, K. N. (2026). Listening to Jamaican preschoolers’ voices: Exploring relationships between child- and proxy-based measures of communication experiences. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261461429
14.  Shelton, N., Munro, N., Starling, J., Tieu, L., Sutherland, R., &., & Keep, M. (2026). Social media experiences of adolescents with communication disability: A structured interview pilot study. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261432879
15. Spencer, S., Roberts, V., Schroeter, K., &., & Clegg, J. (2026). Being understood: Neurodivergent care leavers’ perspectives on their own communication skills. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590251411749
16. Tiong, C., McCormack, J., & Cronin, A. (2026). What is a good outcome in speech and language therapy and how can this be achieved? Exploring the views of school-aged children and parents. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication.
17. Weir, S., Forster, S., &., & Clendon, S. (2026). Exploring voice and participatory processes for children who communicate in unconventional ways. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261422660

CVC2026 and SDGs

We calculated today that the CVC2026 papers cover all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) apart from 2, 6, and 7. What a comprehensive program!

CeTasSSD exciting numbers

Screening was attempted with the 1203 Kinder student cohort using the Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS), a parent and educator (ICSE) report tool. Speech pathologists also screened speech using the International Speech Screener (ISS). The Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP) was administered as a benchmark. Speech Pathology contractors completed diagnostic assessments as usual practice. Data collection was embedded within existing school processes, modified collaboratively with teaching colleagues. Ethics approval was granted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) Human Research Ethics Committee (approval 25025). 

Speech was screened with the ICS with 929 students and with 895 of these using the ISS also.  Some students were identified for additional assessment using ICS and/or teacher “worry” about students’ ability to pronounce speech sounds (n = 526). The DEAP Diagnostic Screen was completed on 219 students and the Phonology subtest on 119 students. Diagnostic speech assessments were completed on 497 students who did not pass screening.

Emma Scanlon has entered 529 ISS forms into Phon still a few hundred to go - but this is a big number. Thanks Emma and Felicity

Large listening ears are not enough: How can we mature in our practices to listen to children?

The following article has just been accepted for publication after peer review: 

McLeod, S. (2026, in press). Large listening ears are not enough: How can we mature in our practices to listen to children? Child Language Teaching and Therapy. 

Here is the abstract:

Communication is a human right for all; including children with speech, language, and communication needs and those who speak/sign non-dominant languages. Communication specialists enhance the “voice” of children in two ways. We support children’s physical and cognitive abilities to talk as well as enabling children the “right to freedom of expression… regardless of frontiers” (Article 13 Convention on the Rights of the Child, United Nations, 1989). We have creatively engaged in child-friendly methods to provide children space and voice – and children frequently depict their supportive communicative partners with “large listening ears”. As communication specialists, we also have the power to assist others to listen, giving children audience and influence (Lundy, 2007). This paper provides examples of listening to children with diverse communication abilities, is based on the Child Language Teaching and Therapy (CLTT) 2024 Summer Lecture, and has been updated by integrating papers from the CLTT special issue published in 2026. As we become accustomed to including children’s perspectives in our professional practice, this paper encourages us to reflect on whether we listen to children superficially or use our large listening ears to provide children the opportunity for action based on their insights. How can we mature in our practices to enhance all children’s participation within democratic processes in their families, schools, communities, and society? Our challenge is to have large listening ears; employ a variety of sources (Mosaic approach); involve children’s participation throughout the research process, and facilitate their capacity to influence the world.   

The manuscript was written based on my invited lecture and forms the first article of the special issue of CLTT titled "Listening to Children with Diverse Communication Abilities". 

You can watch the Child Language Teaching and Therapy Summer Lecture 2024 here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iajSaUyEuOw

Summer Lecture Abstract:

Communication is a human right for all; and ALL includes children with speech, language, and communication needs, including those who speak/sign non-dominant languages (McLeod, 2018). Aligning with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989) we have given attention to the “voice” of children. For example, we have creatively engaged in child-friendly arts-based methods to provide children with the “right to freedom of expression… regardless of frontiers” as outlined in Article 13. However, do we REALLY listen to children? As we become more accustomed to including children’s perspectives in our professional practices, it is time to reflect on whether some of our inclusion of children’s voices could be perceived as “tokenistic” (Hart, 1992). As communication specialists, we have the power to support children’s voice and to assist others to listen. How can we mature in our practices to enhance children’s participation within democratic processes in their families, schools, communities, and society?

Emma day

Two Emmas worked with me at the Children's Voices Centre today :)

Emma Hayes: CVC Senior Adminstration Officer 

Emma Scanlon: CeTasSSD Research Assistant

Sharynne, Emma H and Emma S

Emma S working in The Nest

 

It takes a villiage to submit a grant

Thanks to everyone who has supported me to get my latest grant application completed including DVC-R Neena Mitter, PVCI Michael Friend/Jason White, Lisa Limbrick, Sharon Geltch, Annette Harris, Lee Williamson, Helen L. Blake, Stefania Graham (who clicked submit) and Emma Hayes and Emma Scanlon who celebrated submission 

Learning from Lee on Sunday evening!

Support from Helen on Wednesday

CSU Research Office - Stefania Graham

Celebrating submission with Emma S at The Treehouse

ASSA Panel D (Education, Psychology & Public Health) committee meeting

This morning we held a short meeting of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Panel D Committee (Education, Psychology & Public Health) 

• Professor Don Byrne Chair (Psychology) ACT, ANU 
• Professor Henry Jackson 2021 Deputy Chair (Psychology) VIC, UoM
• Professor Anne Castles Member (Psychology) NSW, MQ 
• Professor Kim Cornish Member (Psychology) VIC, Monash 
• Professor Russell Tytler Member (Education) VIC, Deakin 
• Professor Jenny Gore Member (Education) NSW, Newcastle 
• Professor Sharynne McLeod Member (Health Sciences) NSW, CSU 
• Professor Julie McLeod Member (Education) VIC, UoM 
• Professor Peng Bi Member (Health Sciences) 
• Zoe Perry 2026 2028 Manager – Fellowship, Governance & Awards

Special issues

I am currently co-editing two special issues: 

1. Listening to children with diverse communication abilities | Guest Editors: Sharynne McLeod and Holly McAlister with Journal Editors: Judy Clegg and Victoria Joffe | Child Language Teaching and Therapy, in process to appear 2026 |  https://journals.sagepub.com/home/CLT | Call for papers: https://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/cmscontent/CLT/CLTT-Call%20for%20Papers-ListeningTo%20Children-FINAL-1733118416.pdf
2. Children’s communication and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) | Guest Editors: Sharynne McLeod, Helen L. Blake and Kathy Cologon  | Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, in process to appear 2027 | https://pubs.asha.org/journal/lshss | Call for papers: https://academy.pubs.asha.org/call-for-papers/childrens-communication-and-the-united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-crc/

I have been guest editor of some other special issues that have had a lot of international interest:

1. Communication is a human right: Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights | Guest Editor: Sharynne McLeod  | International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 2018, 20(1)  | https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/iasl20/20/1 | Downloads: 47,1297 Citations: 661 Altmetrics: 1,256 (July 2026)
2. Communication, swallowing and the Sustainable Development Goals | Guest Editor: Sharynne McLeod and Julie Marshall | International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology  2023, 25(1) | https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/iasl20/25/1

 

International Speech Screener (ISS)

The International Speech Screener (ISS, McLeod, 2013) is a 50-item picture-naming task that samples all English consonants and six English consonant clusters on two occasions in word-initial position. Words vary in length and stress. The ISS was designed to ensure that there were two examples of each word-initial consonant. Most pairs of words for each word-initial consonant contained a monosyllabic word and a bisyllabic or polysyllabic word (e.g., dog, dinosaur). Within these words most English vowels, within-word consonants, word-final consonants, and some word-final consonant clusters are sampled. The ISS is presented via PowerpointTM with one picture per slide. An audio-voice recording of the target word is available on each slide and played during the imitation condition. 

More information about its development: 

McLeod, S., & Masso, S. (2019). Screening children's speech: The impact of imitated elicitation and word position. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 50(1), 71–82. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_LSHSS-17-0141

Writing the final chapter of your PhD

Today Sarah Bartlett, Holly McAlister and I spent an hour looking at the formula for writing their final PhD chapters (then they write their first PhD chapter).

I always ask my students to print the work they have written and read it in hard copy before summarizing it in their final chapter. We were very impressed with Sarah's large pile of double-sided printing!

CSU Foundation Day: Blast from the past!

CSU's Foundation Day social media includes a photo of my son and I in 2001 advertising the new speech pathology course at CSU! (Thanks Holly for finding this).

ASHA Alfred K. Kawana Award for Lifetime Achievement in Publications

What an honour!

https://academy.pubs.asha.org/2026/07/2026-asha-journals-awards/

July 17, 2026
We’re pleased to announce the 2026 ASHA Journals Awards! As we have in the past, we’re announcing awardees in two categories: (1) The Alfred K. Kawana Award for Lifetime Achievement in Publications and (2) the Editor’s Awards. You can find more information on the ASHA Journals Awards, including present and past recipients, on the ASHA Journals Awards page on ASHAWire.

The Alfred K. Kawana Award for Lifetime Achievement in Publications
This award, named in memory of former Director of ASHA Publications Alfred K. Kawana, recognizes an ongoing history of exemplary publications. Awardees have authored articles in ASHA Journals with significant educational, scientific, or clinical value over a period of at least 10 years. For information on the Kawana Award, including present and past recipients, see the Kawana Award page on ASHAWire.

 

2026 Kawana Awardee: Sharynne McLeod, PhD

Dr. Sharynne McLeod is a Distinguished Professor of Speech and Language Acquisition at Charles Sturt University in Australia. She has received honors from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and served six times on the ASHA Convention Program Committee. She served as an editorial board member ASHA Journals, was the lead author on articles that received ASHA Journals Editor’s Awards in 2018 and 2019, and has received worldwide acclaim for transformative research on communication rights.

She has authored or co-authored 50 articles in ASHA Journals, dating back to 1994. Together, these articles have amassed more than 2,800 citations and have been read more than 700,000 times.

One article, “Children’s English Consonant Acquisition in the United States: A Review,” which she co-authored with Dr. Kathryn Crowe and published in American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (AJSLP) in 2020, has recently surpassed 300,000 downloads, and “Children’s Consonant Acquisition in 27 Languages: A Cross-Linguistic Review,” co-authored with Dr. Kathryn Crowe and published in the November 2018 issue of AJSLP) has surpassed the 200,000-download mark. These are two of the most downloaded papers from ASHA journals.

Alfred K. Kawana Award for Lifetime Achievement in Publications

https://pubs.asha.org/journals/Alfred_K_Kawana_Award_for_Lifetime_Achievement_in_Publications 

About the Award
Alfred K. KawanaThe Alfred K. Kawana Award for Lifetime Achievement in Publications is reserved for outstanding researchers/scholars who have a sustained history of exemplary publications in ASHA journals. Over a period of at least 10 years, recipients shall have authored ASHA journal articles that are meritorious in terms of educational, scientific, or clinical value, and thus contributed significantly to the discipline. This award is named in memory of the late Alfred K. Kawana (pictured), former director of ASHA publications.

Candidates for this award may be nominated by any member of the Journals Board, which discusses and selects recipients annually. This award is presented at the Researcher-Academic Town Meeting (RATM) of the ASHA Convention, and awardees are acknowledged during the Awards Ceremony.

There have been 25 Awardees (1989–2024) including Ray Kent, Laurence B. Leonard, Lawrence D. Shriberg, Mabel L. Rice, J. Bruce Tomblin, Marc E. Fey, Mark Onslow and Ann Packman, Karla K. McGregor

Article about the Intelligibility in Context Scale wins JSLHR editor's award!

Congratulations to the team from Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Waisman Center,  University of Wisconsin–Madison who have won the Journal of Speech, Language, Hearing - Speech Editor's Award for the following paper:

Soriano, J. U., Mahr, T. J., Rathouz, P. J., & Hustad, K. C. (2025). Characterizing the relationship between the Intelligibility in Context Scale and transcription intelligibility in typically developing English-speaking children between ages 2;6 and 9;11.  American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 34(5), 2877-2892. https://doi.org/doi:10.1044/2025_AJSLP-24-00530  

The award was announced here: https://academy.pubs.asha.org/2026/07/2026-asha-journals-awards/

We are thrilled to see the rigor of our Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS) being applied in such a robust way.

• ICS: https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/speech-assessments/ics
• Original manuscript: McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., & McCormack, J. (2012). Intelligibility in Context Scale: Validity and reliability of a subjective rating measure. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 55, 648–656. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2011/10-0130) 

 

CeTasSSD first CONSORT diagram

Today Felicity and I worked out the first version of the 2026 CeTasSSD CONSORT diagram

https://cdn-links.lww.com/permalink/phm/a/phm_00_00_2018_03_14_wu_ajpmr-d-17-00294_sdc1.pdf 

 

CVC2026: 145 abstracts accepted from 35 countries

We have just finalised the following details for the CVC2026 conferece. Thank you Carolyn for your oversight.

I am excited to share that we have accepted 145 submissions to present at CVC2026 from 35 countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Fiji, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam 
The final number may change as 8 authors are still yet to revise their abstract. It is going to be an awesome conference. 
Dr Carolyn Gregoric Research Manager, CVC2026 Conference Secretary 
Children’s Voices Centre

CVC visiting scholar Dr Zinnia Mevawalla: Kangaroos and sunsets

Our visiting scholar Dr Zinnia Mevawalla, joined A/Prof Kathy Cologon and myself to meet the CSU kangaroos and enjoy the sunset over Bathurst. It was a perfect rural Australian moment during her visit.

There were too many kangaroos to count!

We saw the rare albino kangaroo on Mt Panorama!

 

Welcome to our CVC Adjuncts

CVC is honoured to have adjunct researchers and professors join us from across the world. Today we welcomed some of our new adjuncts this morning:

Welcome to Prof Karla Washington (Canada/Jamaica), Dr Jinjin (Helen) Lu (China), Dr Josephine Bampoe (Ghana), Matthew Stapleton, Dr Amanda Niland, Dr Olivia Karaolis

Dr Zinnia Mevawalla, Prof Sharynne  McLeod, A/Prof Kathy Cologon and some of our new CVC adjuncts

 

CVC visiting scholar: Dr Zinnia Mevawalla: Presentation

We are delighted to welcome Dr Zinnia Mevawalla to the Children's Voices Centre as our visiting scholar. Dr Mevawalla is a Senior Lecturer in Early Years Education at the University of Strathclyde  in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. https://www.strath.ac.uk/staff/mevawallazinniadr/

 Here are her presentation details at The Treehouse on Thursday 16 July at 12:00 pm.

Tak tent o sma things - coming together through relational curiosity to change hearts and minds for inclusive education in the early years.

Leadership is essential to actualising the inclusive cause, however access to professional learning opportunities, especially in the Scottish early years workforce have been limited.
The perceived divide between theory and practice related to inclusion has also highlighted discourses such as those echoed in Scottish newspapers - “if inclusion only works in theory, it doesn’t work at all” (McEnaney, 2025). This perceived divide emphasises the importance of grounding any professional learning in a deep understanding of the local intricacies and nuances of “real world” leadership and education practices.
The changing hearts and minds programme (CHAMP) was rooted in the bringing together of leaders from within one local authority, and researches in Scottish and Australian universities. In this paper we report on the “how”, “what” and “so what?” of the CHAMP project, emphasising how we (leaders, parents, practitioners, and researchers) came together, what happened (the key findings and significance) and where we plan to go from here.
This presentation offers a wonderful opportunity to engage with Dr Mevawalla’s work, hear about her current research, and connect with colleagues across the Children’s Voices Centre and wider affiliate network.

People are very welcome to attend either in person at The Treehouse, Building 1451, Bathurst Campus, or online via Zoom: https://charlessturt.zoom.us/j/66761820743
 

 

Children's advisory group at The Treehouse and CSU TV studio

This week members of our CVC Children's Advisory Group came to The Treehouse to create artwork representing their ideal hospital for our advice to the World Health Organization.

Next, they went to the CSU TV studio and recorded their insights about the Disability Discrimination Act and Children Draw Health that will be presented at the CVC2026 conference in September.

It's such a joy to have the children visiting.

 

Welcome Amy Whitfield: CVC Online Content Creator

Welcome to our newest staff member, Amy Whitfield who is our CVC Online Content Creator. Amy has a communications degree from Charles Sturt University and has spent time in Building 1451 before it was The Treehouse. Her main role is to support the CVC2026 conference, but she also will support CVC to profile its impactful work. We are so excited to have you join us Amy.

Carolyn Gregoric, Sharynne  McLeod, Amy Whitfield