February 24, 2022

Visiting Professor Sheena Reilly

While attending the Aphasia Camp on the Gold Coast I was so pleased to have the opportunity to visit Professor Sheena Reilly at Griffith University. She is currently the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research). We have worked in parallel with one another for over two decades with Sheena focussing on children's language and me focussing on children's speech.

Most recently, I have written a chapter in a book that Sheena and colleagues have been editing:

McLeod, S., McCormack, J., & Blake, H. L. (2019, in press December). Communication, participation and cohort studies. In J. Law, S. Reilly & C. McKean (Eds.). Language development: Individual differences in a social context.  Cambridge University Press.

I really enjoyed our conversation about the past, present, and future.


 

February 23, 2022

Aphasia Camp

Over the past three days I have had the pleasure of attending the Aphasia Camp on the Gold Coast in Queensland. I attended to gain ideas about how this model can inform services for children with speech sound disorders. The Aphasia Camp was attended by people with aphasia and their caregivers, volunteer speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and volunteer SLP students. It was coordinated by researchers from The University of Queensland - Professor Linda Worrall, Dr Megan Trebilcock and Dr Kim Garden. 

The camp  received a generous grant from the James Frizelle Charitable Foundation to run for three years, and a number of the participants had attended last year. I was so impressed that James Frizelle came to the final session of the day to listen to the participants presenting at the microphone about what skills had improved over the three days.

Here are a few great resources I learned more about over the three days:

 
Prof Linda Worrall, James Frizelle, Kim Garden, Megan Trebilcock


Meeting speech pathologists and students at the Aphasia Camp

One of the joys of attending the Aphasia Camp was meeting the students and speech pathologists who volunteered their time to support the people with aphasia. At the end of the camp each student was presented with a certificate by one of the participants. One participant's partner was so appreciative that they asked if they could "take the student home with them". 

Here are a few of the great people I met during the camp who have given permission for their photos to be on my blog.

Wanwan and May volunteered at the Aphasia Camp
and also gave me a tour of Griffith University

Naomi is a speech pathologist and also Erin Holliday's sister.
Erin was my honours student at CSU - so I am waving to Erin in this photo!


February 22, 2022

Supporting development and participation for children on the autism spectrum

Today I met with A/Prof David Trembath at Griffith University. David is working on the National Practice Guidelines for supporting development and participation for children on the autism spectrum. This is the culmination of the 6-year Autism CRC. 

A recent important paper that he has written is: Trembath, D., Waddington, H., Sulek, R., Varcin, K., Bent, C., Ashburner, J., Eapen, V., Goodall, E., Hudry, K., Silove, N., & Whitehouse, A. (2021). An evidence-based framework for determining the optimal amount of intervention for autistic children. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 5(12), 896-904. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(21)00285-6

The provision of timely, effective, and socially valid non-pharmacological intervention is at the core of efforts to support the development of young autistic children. These efforts are intended to support children to develop skills, empower their caregivers, and lay the foundation for optimal choice, independence, and quality of life into adulthood. But what is the optimal amount of intervention? In this Viewpoint, we review current guidelines and consider evidence from an umbrella review of non-pharmacological interventions for autistic children aged up to 12 years. We show the lack of consensus on the issue, identify factors that might be relevant to consider, and present an evidence-based framework for determining the optimal amount of intervention for each child, along with recommendations for future research.

We discussed person first language (children on the autism spectrum) and identity first language (autistic children).

We also discussed the first paper to describe children with autism:

Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 217–250. 



February 18, 2022

The [Oxford] Handbook of Speech Development in Languages of the World

I have been thrilled with the enthusiasm from colleagues from across the world who will be writing chapters in The [Oxford] Handbook of Speech Development in Languages of the World. At this stage, we should be profiling languages and dialects in over 80 chapters! I am currently finalising the chapter template and author guidelines with Oxford University Press. Today I met with authors to discuss chapters on Korean and Greek Speech Development. Talking with colleagues from across the world is the next best thing to travelling around the world.
Dr Elena Babatsouli
Dr Jae-Huyn Kim

February 17, 2022

IALP Child Speech Committee Online Panel Series3: SSD and Cleft Palate

Tonight, the third IALP Child Speech Committee Online Panel Series 2021-2022 was held online. The topic was: SSD and Cleft Palate - How differences in anatomy and physiology affect the way we label and describe SSD in children? 

There were 176 watching 

The Panel speakers were: 

  • Dr Valerie Pereira, Chinese University of Hong Kong 
  • Dr Lucy Southby, Cleft.NET.East, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust & University of Bristol, UK 
  • Associate Professor Yvonne Wren, Chair, IALP Child Speech Committee & Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit 

About this event (from IALP)

For many years we have debated terminology for describing the needs of children with communication impairment across the globe. Researchers, specialists, clinicians, parents and individuals with lived experience of the conditions have contributed to these discussions. The IALP Child Speech Committee have organised a series of panel meetings to discuss the overlap and distinctions between the label ‘Speech Sound Disorder’ and other closely related conditions. These meetings consist of short presentations by key figures in the field.  The meetings  take place virtually in October and December 2021 and February and April 2022. In this third panel meeting, invited speakers Dr Valerie Pereira and Dr Lucy Southby will discuss how differences in anatomy and physiology affect how we label SSD, which in turn affects our management. Twitter #SSDCP @IALP_Global 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgAleRDG9zs

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ialp-child-speech-committee-panel-series-2021-2022-panel-3-ssd-and-cleft-tickets-238335486857

 (I am the Deputy Chair of the  IALP Child Speech Committee)






Fijian school students’ Fiji English speech sound acquisition

The following manuscript has just been accepted for publication: McAlister, H., McLeod, S., & Hopf, S. C. (in press). Fijian school students’ Fiji English speech sound acquisition. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology

It is the first publication from Holly McAlister's honours thesis. Congratulations Holly! 

Here is the abstract: 

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate Fijian students’ acquisition of Fiji English speech sounds. 

Method: Participants were 72 multilingual students (5-10 years) living in Fiji who spoke the Fijian or Fiji Hindi dialects of Fiji English. The students’ productions of single words from the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology were analysed according to dialect using the Children’s Independent and Relational Phonological Analysis (CHIRPA) (Baker, 2017). 

Result: Most English consonants were acquired by 6;0. English consonants that were not in the inventories of Fijian or Fiji Hindi were the last acquired, while those that were common between English and the two languages were some of the earlier acquired consonants. Percentage of consonants correct for Fiji English was significantly lower for Grade 1 students (M = 93.01, SD = 0.07) in comparison to Grade 4 students (M = 99.03, SD = 0.01). Plosive and nasal sounds were acquired by 90% of the students earlier than fricative, approximant and affricate sounds, though acquisition of some plosive and fricative sounds varied between Fiji English dialects. All word-initial consonant clusters were acquired by 90% of the students by 9;6, with r-clusters tending to be the latest acquired. The acquisition of word-final consonant clusters was highly variable as students often produced appropriate dialectal variants. 

Conclusion: Multilingual Fijian children may acquire English specific sounds later than their monolingual English-speaking peers. Consideration of the language environment and analysis of the speech sample with reference to the child’s dominant English dialect is imperative for valid identification of SSD in children who speak different dialects of English.

Mentoring conversations

I really enjoy my role as research mentor of colleagues within my School, Faculty and University. This week I have had a number of mentoring conversations with staff who are new to CSU as well as with some  I have mentored for a long time. The topics we cover are broad ranging - but always inspiring.

Sharynne and Heather Boetto

February 15, 2022

"Environmental changes associated COVID-19 pandemic is significantly and negatively affecting infant and child development"

The findings of this study are concerning 

Deoni, S. C., Beauchemin, J., Volpe, A., D’Sa, V., & Consortium, t. R. (2021). Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Early Child Cognitive Development: Initial Findings in a Longitudinal Observational Study of Child Health. medRxiv, 2021.2008.2010.21261846. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.10.21261846

"Leveraging a large on-going longitudinal study of child neurodevelopment, we examined general childhood cognitive scores in 2020 and 2021 vs. the preceding decade, 2011-2019. We find that children born during the pandemic have significantly reduced verbal, motor, and overall cognitive performance compared to children born pre-pandemic. Moreover, we find that males and children in lower socioeconomic families have been most affected. Results highlight that even in the absence of direct SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 illness, the environmental changes associated COVID-19 pandemic is significantly and negatively affecting infant and child development."

Page proofs

We have had a number of papers accepted for publication recently - so now we are enjoying checking the page proofs. I really enjoy having to sit and read our work carefully from cover to cover after time away from the paper. I am frequently surprised by the quality and quantity of work reported within an individual paper - and am proud of our team for their rigour and committment to making a difference in children's lives.

We have checked, or have been told the proofs will be coming soon for:

  1. McLeod, S., Verdon, S., Tran, V. H., Margetson, K., & Wang, C., (2022). SuperSpeech: Multilingual speech and language maintenance intervention for Vietnamese-Australian children and families via telepractice. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00146 
  2. Tran, V. H., Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Wang, C. (2022). Family language policies of Vietnamese-Australian families. Journal of Child Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0042-1743490 
  3. McCormack, J., McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J. & Holliday, E. L. (2021, in press December). Drawing talking: Listening to children with speech sound disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
  4. To, C. K. S., McLeod, S., Law, T. & Sam, K. L. (2022, in press January). Predicting who will normalize without intervention for speech sound disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

February 14, 2022

Say Bananas research day

Friday 11 February 2022 was a fantastic day - it was the first day for a very long time that I was on campus due to CSU COVID-19 restrictions. It was the first day for a very long time that I worked face-to-face with people.

Prof Kirrie Ballard travelled from The University of Sydney to analyse data and write up the Say Bananas research with Grace Kelly and myself. It was such a productive day!

Prof Kirrie Ballard, Grace Kelly, Prof Sharynne McLeod


February 10, 2022

University of Bristol Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professorship

I was delighted to receive the University of Bristol Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professorship in 2019 for travel in 2020 – and at that time we had no idea what the following years would bring. Since 2020, I have been able to have a productive online relationship with Dr Wren and her team that has included: 

  1. Keynote address to the Craniofacial Society of Great Britain and Ireland Virtual Conference 
  2. Writing and publication of the following paper:
    Seifert, M., Davies, A., Harding, S., McLeod, S., & Wren, Y. (2021). Intelligibility in 3-year-olds with cleft lip and/or palate using the Intelligibility in Context Scale: Findings from the Cleft Collective Cohort Study. The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal, https://doi.org/10.1177/1055665620985747 
  3. Presentation of conference papers based on the paper above. 

Today I had to reliquish this Visiting Professorship as it had to be undertaken prior to the end of July 2022, which is not allowed within the current COVID-19 travel arrangements for Charles Sturt University. I look forward to the opportunity visit The University of Bristol and any opportunity to take up elements of the Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professorship in the future.

SAHESS Research Symposium session "Getting Started in Research"

Today I was a guest panellist on the SAHESS Research Symposium (School of Allied Health, Exercise and Sport Sciences) session titled Getting Started in Research. When I was invited, I was informed that "the purpose of this session is to support our staff to feel empowered to set up a strong research trajectory regardless of their starting point or current position in academia." The session had three parts:

  1. A/Prof Sarah Verdon -  how to get engaged in research in achievable ways. 
  2. Panel discussion - showcase of different researchers and how they have made a successful pathway in research. 
  3. Workshop - supporting staff to apply advice they heard from the panel to a research idea of their own that they would like to achieve in 2022 and build upon into the future. 

I learned a lot from the day and enjoyed discussing my research journey and learning from the other panellists Prof Rylee Dionigi (exercise and sport science), Michelle Kersten (occupational therapy) and Dr Kirsty Robson (podiatry). There were 53 people online, and it was recorded for others who were unable to attend.

A/Prof Sarah Verdon's Research Rainbow

I provided the following editorial as an example of my philosophy on research: 

McLeod, S. (2014). Undertaking and writing research that is important, targeted, and the best you can do. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16(2), 95–97. https://doi.org/10.3109/17549507.2014.896106

February 9, 2022

Welcome to Bathurst

Dr Nicola Ivory worked with us on our Waiting for Speech Pathology grant as well as in the establishment of the Early Childhood Research Group and Early Childhood Voices 2020 conference. She has just commenced a new full time permanent role as a lecturer in psychology at Charles Sturt University on the Bathurst campus. I am so pleased. We had a lovely time discussing her new role, research plans, and enjoying Machattie Park in her new home town. Welcome Nicola!

Sharynne and Nicola in Machattie Park

February 7, 2022

Thank you Dr Tamara Cumming

Last week I had the chance to formally thank Dr Tamara Cumming for her incredible contribution to early childhood reserach at Charles Sturt University. Here is what I sent to my colleagues at the time she moved from CSU to commence working at Macquarie University: 

Since we are not together to farewell Tamara, I wanted to echo our Head of School's “tribute to Tamara’s many contributions to the life of our School, Faculty and university, and her many achievements”. I agree that “She’s had a stellar run here at CSU.” 

Many of you will know of Tamara’s efforts in keeping us connected through our regular morning teas (her annual goal on her EDRS). I hope that someone is able to take on this important role. However, not everyone will know of Tamara’s significant leadership of early childhood research across the university. 

A number of years ago Tamara initiated the development of the Early Childhood Research Group as a result of her strong personal research in the field and also her significant mentoring and connections throughout the university and world. At the time, the rules were that she was not allowed to lead the group because she was not a professor. I was honoured that she asked me to walk alongside her in this role as well as during resulting exciting opportunities (including the Early Childhood Voices 2020 conference, Sturt Scheme success etc.). Tamara also has competently nurtured many new researchers as HDR coordinator for the School. She has been “professorial” in her many leadership roles over the past 8 years. I certainly will miss her, but know that her legacy will continue. Thank you Tamara and best wishes for your exciting future. We look forward to ongoing collaborations and connections.


February 4, 2022

International Scientific Committee

I serve on a number of scientific committees for conferences. Today I was reminded of my recent work on the International Symposium on Monolingual and Bilingual Speech (ISMBS) International Scientific Committee: https://speechandlanguage.louisiana.edu/international-symposium-monolingual-and-bilingual-speech-ismbs/ismbs-international-scientific

Special issue of International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology on Sustainable Development Goals

Professor Julie Marshall and I are co-editing a special issue of International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology on Communication, Swallowing and the Sustainable Development Goals. We met last night to finalise the expressions of interest that will be accepted and our author guidlines. 

This morning I was able to meet with a wonderful team who will be writing a manuscript about their work with the Leaders Project in countries including Ghana, Peru, Kenya, Benin, Philippines and Nigeria focussing on SDGs 3 and 17.

Dr. Chelsea Sommer, Sharynne, Dr. Miriam Baigorri and Dr. Cate Crowley

Recently (March 2022) I met with Stephanie Weir who will be writing about economic and social disadvantage. What a broad-reaching and fascinating discussion we had.

Stephanie Weir and Sharynne

February 3, 2022

PhD and research students in 2022

I am very fortunate to be working with a cadre of wonderful research students in 2022:

  • Van Tran - CSU (PhD)
  • Marie Ireland - CSU (PhD)
  • Kate Margetson - CSU (PhD)
  • Belinda Downey - CSU (PhD)
  • Holly McAlister - CSU (PhD)
  • Sarah Faulks - CSU (Honours)
  • Anniek van Doornik - Utrecht University, The Netherlands (PhD)
  • Caitlin Hurley - University of Western Australia (DClinDent)
  • Nguyá»…n Thị Anh Thủ - Hanoi National University of Education, Viet Nam (PhD)

Belinda Downey (CSU). Supervisors A/Prof Will Letts and Sharynne

Caitlin Hurley (UWA). Supervisors A/Prof Robert Anthonappa and Sharynne

Kate Margetson (CSU). Supervisors Sharynne and A/Prof Sarah Verdon

Marie Ireland (CSU). Supervisors Sharynne and A/Prof Sarah Verdon

Dr Van Tran (CSU). Supervisors Sharynne and A/Prof Sarah Verdon




Sarah Faulks (CSU). Supervisors A/Prof Sarah Verdon, Dr Van Tran and Sharynne




Holly McAlister (CSU). Supervisors Dr Suzanne Hopf and Sharynne

Nguyễn Thị Anh Thủ (HNUE). Supervisors Dr Ben Pham and Sharynne

New books for 2022

Today I recieved my copy of the ninth edition of Speech Sound Disorders in Children: Articulation and Phonological Disorders edited by John Bernthal, Nicolas Bankson and Peter Flipen Jnr. I wrote chapter 3 titled "Speech sound acquisition" (pp. 57-108). It was bittersweet, because while I wrote chapter 3, I was in regular contact with John Bernthal, and since that time John has passed away. It is nice to hold his legacy in my hand. It is rare for a book in our profession to make it to the ninth edition.

Today I also received an email from Dee Fish and Amy Meredith who wrote:

Dee and I just submitted our draft to Plural for the 3rd edition of "Here's How to Treat Childhood Apraxia of Speech." ... Throughout this process, we have read your research and reached out to many of you for additional information. This has been a humbling and rewarding process. ... You have all done amazing work for the benefit of these children we all care so deeply about.

February 2, 2022

Early Childhood Research Group - First meeting for 2022

Our Early Childhood Research Group met for the first time in 2022. It was lovely to meet new staff at CSU who are considering joining our group and to catch up with continuing members. We talked about the legacy of Dr Tamara Cumming on the creation of the group - and will miss her as she is at Macquarie University.

February 1, 2022

Waiting for Speech Pathology website - January data

We just received data for our Waiting for Speech Pathology website (https://wnswlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/our-services/speech-pathology) for January (while Australia is on summer holidays). The most popular page was: https://wnswlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/our-services/speech-pathology/childrens-speech

There was still quite a lot of access:

  • 920 hits
  • 548 page views
  • 131 new users
  • 258 users
  • 144 downloads of resources
  • States accessing the site: Capital Region, South Australia, County Dublin, Tasmania, Missouri, Victoria, Northern Territory, Western, Australia, Maharashtra, New South Wales, Queensland, Australian Capital Territory, Alberta, Zurich, Connecticut, Nova Scotia, Ontario, England, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Bay of Plenty, California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Canterbury, Telangana, Western Region, Casablanca-Settat