Final IJSLP meeting with informahealthcare

I have been the editor of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology for 9 years. While I was offered the opportunity to continue for another 3 years, I declined. The journal is in a great position, and it is time for someone else to have a vision for the journal. A/Professor Kirrie Ballard has been appointed the new editor of IJSLP and we have begun the handover process, to conclude on 31 December, 2013. Last night was my final meeting with informahealthcare. Hakan Parap (publisher, Sweden), Gail Mulcair (CEO, Speech Pathology Australia), Kirrie and I met via teleconference to discuss the journal.
Here are some of the current statistics:

• ISI impact factor: 1.176 (2012), 1.000 (2011), 1.120 (2010)
• Abstract views: 62,231 (2013, Jan-Sept), 71,902 (2012)
• Full text downloads: 32,971 (2013, Jan-Sept), 33,315 (2012)

I am working on the first 3 issues for 2014 at the moment, then Kirrie will be in charge for subsequent issues. It has been such a privilege to work with so many outstanding authors, reviewers, editorial board members, and people within informahealthcare and Speech Pathology Australia.

Kate's PhD is finished!

There are so many stages to the completion of a PhD. On Monday I received copies of Kate Crowe's bound thesis to be submitted to the CSU Library and research office. We also uploaded .pdf versions of her PhD to CSU's repository of  publications. These are the last two steps before Kate's graduation on 19th December.

Sound Start data analysis

On Monday I traveled to Sydney to work with Kate Crowe, Sarah Masso, and Elise Baker on data analysis for the Sound Start project. We have completed the following assessessments:

• Stage 1 screening (parent and teacher report): 270 children
• Stage 2 screening assessment: 57 children
• Stage 3 comprehensive assessment: 21 children
• Stage 4 randomization of participants in the intervention or control conditions: 20 children

Once the intervention is over, all 20 children will be assessed twice to determine the outcome of intervention.
We will repeat this process in 2014 and 2015 with more children.

Kate and Sarah with some of the data they have collected

Book review: Multilingual aspects of speech sound disorders in children

The following review was published recently
Wren, Y. (2013). Book review: McLeod S and Goldstein BA (2012) Multilingual aspects of speech sound disorders in children. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 29(3), 373-374. doi: 10.1177/0265659013502883
The review concludes with the following sentences

There is still much to be learned with regard to meeting the needs of our multilingual clients, but this text can make a substantial contribution to our practice based on the knowledge available today. Not all languages commonly spoken by multilingual children are covered but details on some of the most frequently occurring are addressed while the general principles are relevant to all. In combination with The international guide to speech acquisition (McLeod, 2007), which provides information on the sound systems of a range of the world’s languages, this text is a must-read for all those clinicians working with multilingual children.

CSU presentation

Today I gave a Brown Bag Seminar to my colleagues in the School of Teacher Education at Charles Sturt University outlining some of the research from my ARC Future Fellowship. It was titled "Supporting multilingual children's speech and language acquisition" and here is the abstract:

Almost 7000 languages are spoken throughout the world and 23.2% of Australians over 5 years speak a language other than English at home (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). Additionally, 21.9% of preschool children in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children are regularly spoken to in a language other than English and 12.2% speak languages other than English, commonly: Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Greek, and Mandarin. Approximately a quarter of Indigenous preschool children in the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children speak an Indigenous language and are supported by family and community members. Educators and speech pathologists have critical roles to play in supporting children to be competent communicators in the languages of their communities. Recent international collaborations undertaken as part of Sharynne McLeod’s ARC Future Fellowship have resulted in the development of practical and accessible resources for working with multilingual children. For example, the Multilingual Children’s Speech website www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech provides resources and information regarding over 30 languages. These international collaborations have been established with the goal of enhancing multilingual children’s participation in society.

Bon voyage Sarah #2

During 2013 Sarah Verdon is collecting data for her PhD in sites across the world. She completed data collection in South America and Europe in July/August and has been back in Bathurst during September and October. While in Bathurst we have been working on revisions to the following manuscripts, as well as finalising new papers:

1.   McLeod, S., Verdon, S., & Bennetts Kneebone, L. - Celebrating Indigenous Australian children’s speech and language competence.

2.   McLeod, S. & Verdon, S. - A review of speech sound assessments in 18 languages other than English.

3.   Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & McDonald, S. - A geographical analysis of speech-language pathology services to support multilingual children.

4.   Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Winsler, A. - Language maintenance and loss in a population study of young Australian children.

5.   Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Wong, S. - Reconceptualising practice with multilingual children with speech sound disorders: People, practicalities, and policy.

She is looking forward to attending 2 conferences and collecting data in Asia and North America over the next 2 months.

Sarah Verdon (R) discussing her research with
Priscilla Maihame (L) and Lucia A'latri (centre) at the IALP conference in Turin

RIPPLE Symposium in Wagga Wagga

This week I attended the RIPPLE (Research Institute of Professional Practice, Learning and Education) symposium in Wagga Wagga. While on my Future Fellowship RIPPLE  has been my base. Most of the RIPPLE staff are in Wagga Wagga, so it is good to visit them to discuss issues and celebrate accomplishments face-to-face.

The RIPPLE team: Jo Masters, Andrew Stockman, Kim Woodland,
Michelle Wilkinson, Vanessa McFarland

Murrumbidgee River in Wagga Wagga

Enjoying music

I took some leave over the long weekend - and snapped this photo while enjoying music in the sun.

Hannah's honours

Today Hannah Wilkin gave me a copy of her bound honours thesis. Finishing a thesis has many stages, and it is very exciting to see her thesis in this final format. Hannah achieved first class honours for her thesis and will graduate on 19th December.

Hannah's first class honours thesis