Visiting the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service (OAMS)

Yesterday Cathie Matthews, Sarah Bartlett (online) and I had the opportunity to visit the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service to discuss indigenous children's speech,  language and hearing. We learned about the HEALS program and their use of the PLUM and HATS screening checklists

PLUM and HATS: https://plumandhats.nal.gov.au/

Hearing Australia: "The PLUM (Parent-evaluated Listening & Understanding Measure) has 10 questions and screens for listening problems. The HATS (Hearing and Talking Scale) has 5 questions and screens for communication problems."

We also discussed the ELIM program currently being undertaken as part of Cathie Matthews' research with 2-year-olds in Orange and Sarah Bartlett discussed the Hanen program. We are planning our next meeting with more of the OAMS team to discuss future collaborations.

Chloe Thompson, Sharynne McLeod, Anne-Marie McPham, Taylor Clark, Cathie Matthews

Ching, T. Y., Saetre-Turner, M., Harkus, S., Martin, L., Ward, M., Marnane, V., … & Kong, K. (2020). The Hearing and Talking Scale (HATS): Development and validation with young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in urban and remote settings in Australia. Deafness & Education International, 22(4), 305-324. 

Ching, T. Y., Hou, S., Seeto, M., Harkus, S., Ward, M., Marnane, V., & Kong, K. (2020). The Parents’ evaluation of Listening and Understanding Measure (PLUM): Development and normative data on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children below 6 years of age. Deafness & Education International, 22(4), 288-304.

Directory of Open Access Journals

Here is the link to the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

https://doaj.org/

Book chapter: SDG18: Communication for all – Including people with a communication disability, children, and people who do not speak dominant languages

The following book chapter was published on 25th March 

McLeod, S., Verdon, S. & Crowe, K. (2023). SDG18: Communication for all – Including people with a communication disability, children, and people who do not speak dominant languages. In J. Servaes & M. J. Yusha’u (Eds.). SDG18 Communication for All, Volume 2: Regional perspectives & special cases. Sustainable Development Goals Series (pp. 175–199). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19459-7_7 

Here is the abstract 

Everyone has the right to communicate; however, not everyone can communicate in the same way. If SDG18 truly stands for “Communication for All”, then we must listen to and advocate for people whose voices are rarely heard despite their right to “freedom of opinion and expression” being articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent conventions and declarations. This chapter focuses on three groups of people whose voices are particularly marginalized: (1) people with communication disabilities, (2) children, and (3) people who do not speak/understand/read/write the dominant language of their community. These three groups make up a large portion of the world’s population but are unheard due to their invisible disability. The intersectionality between these three groups is a particular focus of this chapter leading to a call for multilingual children with communication disability to be supported to take their place as communicators in society, to fulfill their potential as multilingual speakers, and to realize their communication rights.

"Human Library - Un-judge a Book"

This weekend Bathurst library hosted "Human Library - Un-judge a Book" for Harmony Week. People could "borrow a human book a discover their unique and intriguing life stories"

 

Congratulations Belinda on your PhD submission

Today Belinda Downey submitted her PhD. Hooray!

Her primary supervisor was A/Prof Will Letts and her co-supervisors over her candidature have been Dr Leanne Gibbs, Dr Tamara Cumming, Dr Doreen Rorison and myself.

It was a joyful celebration with some of Belinda's "village" who walked with her as she undertook her PhD.

Some of Belinda's village

Belinda with her co-supervisors:
Prof Sharynne McLeod, Dr Tamara Cumming, Dr Leanne Gibbs

Hooray - it's submitted!

Belinda with her proud supervisors:
Dr Leanne Gibbs, A/Prof Will Letts, Prof Sharynne McLeod

 

Here is her abstract:

Retention of early childhood educators (ECEs) has become a wicked problem with estimates of more than 39,000 ECEs currently required to meet workforce demands and projections that an additional 24,000 ECEs may be needed by 2025. Attrition of ECEs can negatively impact upon the relationships held with children and families, the quality of care and education, and workload of educators. Although wages and working conditions have been identified as one concern, there are additional complex issues impacting retention including professional recognition of the early childhood education and care (ECEC) field, administrative and regulatory burden, and the intensity of the ECE role. While high attrition can have compounding effects, such as job dissatisfaction and burnout, increased educator wellbeing, supportive leadership, and professional development have been found to support the retention of ECEs. Retention in ECEC specifically focused on the Northern Territory of Australia provides a unique perspective regarding complex issues impacting retention in the ECEC sector. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate factors that enabled or constrained ECEs’ retention in the Northern Territory. 

Participants were recruited through purposive random sampling, across the ‘top end’ of the Northern Territory in Australia. Yarning sessions (cf. focus groups) were undertaken, discussing the ECEC profession, national sector reforms, and retention. A constructivist grounded theory approach was used, and a constant comparative analysis of the data was undertaken. Through the constructed grounded theory methodology, a substantiative grounded theory was generated to explain attrition and retention in the ECEC field. The generated theory supported the concept that connection within the ECEC field fostered retention resulting in the substantive grounded theory, building connection builds retention. The connections that were identified as supporting retention in this research were the relationships educators built with the children, families, colleagues, their wider professional networks, and to their profession. 

The research findings generated one core category, adjusting practices and accommodating values, as the overarching main concern for participants. The core category was central to all of the data categories and held a traceable connection to them. The core category had two properties, struggle and hope: (a) Hopeful educators felt connected to their role, their ECEC service and the policy and legislation of ECEC, (b) Struggling educators felt disconnected from either their role, their ECEC service, the policy, and legislation of ECEC or all three. A basic social process of attrition and retention was identified which formed a three-stage process and became the basis of this thesis. The first stage, becoming a professional, the second, belonging in an organisation, and the third stage, engaging with policy and legislation, participants either found hope in the connections developed through these stages and were retained or they struggled to build connection through these stages leading to turnover or attrition. Participants ability to find connection depended on their ability to find hope in adjusting their practices and accommodating their educational values. 

The findings identified that when becoming a professional the participants who struggled most were those who had limited support and access to resources (both social and material). Belonging in an organisation created struggle for those participants who were experiencing resistance or horizontal violence due to a misalignment of educational practices with their colleagues. Participants who were studying also identified struggle through increased stress and personal time pressures. When engaging with policy and legislation participants’ feelings of being undervalued in their role, and financial insecurity due to the low wages, combined with the onerous position of the requirement to transition to multiple polices and legislation at once decreased their job satisfaction and wellbeing, which increased their risk of turnover or attrition. 

In comparison this research found that ECEC retention could be supported when becoming a professional through the development of trusted, collaborative relationships, practice-level mentors and scaffolded examples of documentation and assessment. Similarly, belonging in an organisation was fostered through leadership that encouraged and supported inclusive practices and values-based approaches through robust conversations that encouraged professional autonomy and agency building participants’ confidence, knowledge and skills. Participants who engaged with the policy and legislation found that the Australian Government’s Early Years Learning Framework supported their understandings around practice and provided them with the terminology they needed to advocate for their profession. Participants’ ability to articulate what they did as an educator provided visibility for the professional nature of the role in the wider community. 

The impacts that increased ECEs’ attrition or turnover was a lack of support or knowledge around building relationships and connections. Conversely, ECEs’ retention was enabled through the connections these ECEs developed, which increased their motivation to ensure high quality care and education and the probability of their retention. These findings supported the substantive grounded theory that building connection builds retention, which provides a possible solution moving into the future, to the ECEC fields’ wicked problem of retention.

Saving Democracy

I am really looking forward to reading Saving Democracy - written by Charles Sturt University's Deputy Vice Chancellor - Research Mark Evans.

https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/saving-democracy-9781350328242/

Planning Marie's exegesis and submission

It is always good to meet with my PhD student Marie - and at this time of the year it is fun juggling the US/Australian timezones as each country changes to/from daylight saving on different weeks. This week we have been planning her exegesis, PhD submission, and abstract submission for the upcoming ASHA convention.

Using researcher profiles to promote research

The CSU Library team (Lauren Brumby and Arif Khan) ran a very useful session titled "Use CRO, ORCiD and reesearcher profiles to promote your research". Many of our ECIR team attended - or have signed up to watch the recorded session. 

• Here is my CRO entry: https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/persons/smcleodcsueduau 
• Here is my ORCiD entry: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7279-7851 
• Here is my SCOPUS entry: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=7005764153 
• Here is my ResearcherID entry: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/I-8088-2014 
• Here is my Publons entry: https://publons.com/researcher/1409507/sharynne-mcleod/ 
• Here is my Google Scholar entry: https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?hl=en&user=_-wFFqoAAAAJ

Multilingual speech acquisition by Vietnamese-English-speaking children and adult family members

We are excited to announce that the following manuscript has been accepted for publication: 

McLeod, S., Verdon, S., Tran, V. H., Margetson, K., Wang, C., Phạm, B., To, L., & Huynh, K. (2023, in press March). Multilingual speech acquisition by Vietnamese-English-speaking children and adult family members. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research.

The final manuscript is 110 pages long (including supplemental appendices). It has been a huge effort. This is our most comprehensive paper written as part of the 4-year VietSpeech study funded by the prestigious Australian Research Council Discovery Award: https://www.csu.edu.au/research/vietspeech/overview We believe that this paper will change how SLPs undertake multilingual assessments and analyses across the world – and provides the evidence and process (in Appendix A) for how to do this using theVietSpeech Multilingual Assessment Protocol

Here is the abstract

Purpose: This paper presents a large-scale example of culturally-responsive assessment and analysis of multilingual Vietnamese-English-speaking children and their family members using the VietSpeech Protocol involving: (a) examining all spoken languages, (b) comparing ambient phonology produced by family members, (c) including dialectal variants in the definition of accuracy, and (d) clustering participants with similar language experience. 

Method: The VietSpeech sample (N=154) consisted of 69 children (2;0–8;10yrs) and 85 adult family members with Vietnamese heritage living in Australia. Speech was sampled using the Vietnamese Speech Assessment (Vietnamese) and Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (English). 

Results: Children’s Vietnamese consonant accuracy was significantly higher when dialectal variants were accepted (PCC-D M=87.76, SD=8.18), compared to when only Standard Vietnamese was accepted as the correct production (PCC-S M=70.34 SD=8.78), Cohen’s d=3.55 (large effect). Vietnamese voiced plosives, nasals, semivowels, vowels and tones were more often correct than voiceless plosives and fricatives. Children’s Standard Australian English consonant accuracy (PCC-S) was 82.51 (SD=15.57). English plosives, nasals, glides and vowels were more often correct than fricatives and affricates. Vietnamese word-initial consonants had lower accuracy than word-final consonants; whereas, English consonant accuracy was rarely influenced by word position. Consonant accuracy and intelligibility was highest for children with high proficiency in both Vietnamese and English. Children’s consonant productions were most similar to their mothers’, than other adults or siblings’ productions. Adults’ Vietnamese consonants, vowels and tones were more likely to match Vietnamese targets than their children’s productions. Adults’ pronunciation was influenced by dialectal and cross-linguistic factors. 

Conclusion: Children’s speech acquisition was influenced by cross-linguistic, dialectal, maturational, language experience, and environmental (ambient phonology) factors. This study highlights the importance of including all spoken languages, adult family members, dialectal variants, and language proficiency to inform differential diagnosis of speech sound disorders and identify clinical markers in multilingual populations.

Professorial Representative on Faculty Board

Recently I have stepped down from being the Professorial Representative on Faculty Board for the Faculty of Arts and Education. I received this email today from Professor John McDonald, Executive Dean, Faculty of Arts and Education 

Thanks for letting me know about your decision to step down from your position on the Faculty Board due to other commitments. I have really appreciated your considered and informed contributions at the meetings, and especially your advocacy for our research. You have also championed our HDR students and early – and mid-career researchers. 

Thanks and best wishes, John

Data collection finished

Congratulations to Caitlin Hurley who has finished collecting data for her Doctorate in Clinical Dentistry. Ten children have received dental surgery (teeth extractions) and have had their speech tested before and after surgery. Perceptual data also have been collected from families and children. Now for data analysis.

Caitlin Hurley with her supervisors Sharynne and Robert

Special issue: Communication, Swallowing and the Sustainable Development Goals

The special issue of International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology has just been published
Title: Communication, Swallowing and the Sustainable Development Goals 

Guest Editors: Sharynne McLeod and Julie Marshall 

Each article is free to access (for 1 year).

Armstrong, E., McAllister, M., Coffin, J., Robinson, M., Thompson, S., Katzenellenbogen, J., Colegate, K., Papertalk, L., Hersh, D., Ciccone, N., & White, J. (2023). Communication services for First Nations peoples after stroke and traumatic brain injury: Alignment of Sustainable Development Goals 3, 16 and 17. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 147-151. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2145356

Atherton, M., McAllister, L., Luong Thi Cam, V., & Hoang Thi Huyen, T. (2023). Community-based rehabilitation workers in Vietnam need assistance to support communication and swallowing: Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, 8, 10, 17. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 107-111. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2132292

Baker, E., Li, W., Hodges, R., Masso, S., Jones, C., Guo, Y., Alt, M., Antoniou, M., Afshar, S., Tosi, K., & Munro, N. (2023). Harnessing automatic speech recognition to realise Sustainable Development Goals 3, 9, and 17 through interdisciplinary partnerships for children with communication disability. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 125-129. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2146194

Barrett, H., & Marshall, J. (2023). Participation, equality, and justice in Rwanda for people who experience communication disability: Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 16. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 136-140. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2140828

Bryce, R., Easton, C., Bong, D., Net, C., Chan, S., & Knight, J. (2023). Building the speech-language pathology workforce in Cambodia through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 112-118. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2146192

Camarata, S., Liu, X. L., Lee, W., Li, T., Jiang, F., & Simms, M. (2023). Adapting the UNICEF/WHO Nurturing Care Framework for speech-language pathologists to support Sustainable Development Goal 4. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 82-86. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2141327

Carroll, C., Fitzgibbon, I., & Caulfield, M. (2023). Community and university partnerships: Integrating Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, 10, 11, and 17. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 102-106. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2154081

Chen, L., Debono, D., & Hemsley, B. (2023). A bite closer: Using 3D food printing to achieve Sustainable Development Goals 2, 3, 9 and 17. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 58-61. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2132290

Crowe, K., Másdóttir, T., & Volhardt, M. D. S. (2023). Maximise your impact: Sustainable Development Goals-Focussed content in communication intervention and teaching. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 188-192. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2153165

Dada, S., Tönsing, K., Bornman, J., Samuels, A., Johnson, E., & Morwane, R. (2023). The Sustainable Development Goals: A framework for addressing participation of persons with complex communication needs in South Africa. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 47-51. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2143566

Dada, S., Wylie, K., Marshall, J., Rochus, D., & Bampoe, J. O. (2023). The importance of SDG 17 and equitable partnerships in maximising participation of persons with communication disabilities and their families. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 183-187. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2150310

Freeman, L., Staley, B., & Wigglesworth, G. (2023). Assessment equity for remote multilingual Australian Aboriginal students through the lens of Sustainable Development Goals. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 157-161. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2129788

Freeman-Sanderson, A., Hammond, N. E., Brodsky, M. B., Thompson, K., & Hemsley, B. (2023). Sepsis, critical illness, communication, swallowing and Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, 10. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 68-71. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2132291

Gillett-Swan, J. K., & Burton, L. O. (2023). Amplifying children’s voices: Sustainable Development Goals and inclusive design for education and health architecture. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 87-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2148742

Given, F., Allan, M., McCarthy, S., & Hemsley, B. (2023). Digital health autonomy for people with communication or swallowing disability and the Sustainable Development Goal 10 of reducing inequalities and Goal 3 of good health and well-being. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 72-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2092212

Hamill, L., Kearns, A., Doig, L., Hesse, M., Frederick, D., Purcell, A., & Woolfenden, S. (2023). Screening for unmet social needs in paediatric speech-language pathology to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 77-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2134456

Hemsley, B., Darcy, S., Given, F., Murray, B. R., & Balandin, S. (2023). Going thirsty for the turtles: Plastic straw bans, people with swallowing disability, and Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 15-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2127900

Isaksen, J., Beeke, S., Pais, A., Efstratiadou, E.-A., Pauranik, A., Revkin, S. K., Vandana, V. P., Valencia, F., Vuksanović, J., & Jagoe, C. (2023). Communication partner training for healthcare workers engaging with people with aphasia: Enacting Sustainable Development Goal 17 in Austria, Egypt, Greece, India and Serbia. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 172-177. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2145355

Jagoe, C., O’Reilly, C. F., Gunnell, H., Tirzi, K., Lancaster, C., & Brahmbhatt, K. (2023). Communicating accessible messages for food insecure communities in Northern Mozambique: Supporting Sustainable Development Goal 2. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 62-67. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2140829

Jagoe, C., O’Reilly, C. F., James, L. E., Khaled, E., Alazzawi, H., & Enright, T. (2023). Interpersonal violence experienced by people with communication disabilities in Iraq: Sustainable Development Goals 16 and 5. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 130-135. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2146193

Kearns, Á., Clarke, D., Cusack, A., Gallagher, A., Humphreys, J., Kedge, S., & McKee, A. (2023). Intermediaries in the justice system for people with communication disability: Enacting Sustainable Development Goal 16 in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and New Zealand. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 141-146. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2134457

Khattab, G., Abdelwahab, A. G. S., Al-Shdifat, K., Alsiddiqi, Z., Floccia, C., Kouba Hreich, E., McKean, C., Messarra, C. M., Odeh, T., & Trebacz, A. (2023). Promoting early language development in the Arab world and Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, 10 and 17. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 96-101. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2134459

McGill, N., Verdon, S., Curtin, M., Crockett, J., Parnell, T., & Hodgins, G. (2023). The impact of climate-related disasters on children’s communication and wellbeing: Addressing Sustainable Development Goals. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 20-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2156613

McLeod, S., & Marshall, J. (2023). Communication for all and the Sustainable Development Goals. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2160494

Nancarrow, S., McGill, N., Baldac, S., Lewis, T., Moran, A., Harris, N., Johnson, T., & Mulcair, G. (2023). Diversity in the Australian speech-language pathology workforce: Addressing Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, 8, and 10. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 119-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2023.2165149

Pillay, M., Quigan, E., & Kathard, H. (2023). Questions of suitability: The Sustainable Development Goals. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 162-166. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2160013

Salins, A., Nash, K., Macniven, R., Halvorsen, L., Lumby, N., & McMahon, C. (2023). Culturally safe speech-language supports for First Nations children: Achieving Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, 8 and 10. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 152-156. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2143565

Sherratt, S. (2023). Ameliorating poverty-related communication and swallowing disabilities: Sustainable Development Goal 1. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 32-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2134458

Snoddon, K., & Murray, J. J. (2023). Supporting deaf learners in Nepal via Sustainable Development Goal 4: Inclusive and equitable quality education in sign languages. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 92-95. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2141325

Sommer, C. L., Crowley, C. J., Moya-Galé, G., Adjassin, E., Caceres, E., Yu, V., Coseteng-Flaviano, K., Obi, N., Sheeran, P., Bukari, B., Musasizi, D., & Baigorri, M. (2023). Global partnerships to create communication resources addressing Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, 8, 10, and 17. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 167-171. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2130430

Sowden, R., Wekhoola, A., & Musasizi, D. (2023). Partnerships between Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda and the United Kingdom to address Sustainable Development Goal 17 for people with communication disability. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 178-182. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2143564

Wailes, E., & Mackenzie, F. (2023). Protecting people with communication disability from modern slavery: Supporting Sustainable Development Goals 8 and 16. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 42-46. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2150309

Wallis, A. K., Westerveld, M. F., & Burton, P. (2023). Ensuring communication-friendly green and public spaces for sustainable cities: Sustainable Development Goal 11. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 27-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2138544

Weir, S., Arstein-Kerslake, A., Eadie, T., & McVilly, K. (2023). Realising economic and social rights for children with communication and swallowing disability: Sustainable Development Goals 1, 8 and 10. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 37-41. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2153166

Zahir, M. Z., Miles, A., Hand, L., & Ward, E. C. (2023). Designing equitable speech-language pathology services in the Maldives to achieve Sustainable Development Goals 10 and 4. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 52-57. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2150308

Zoneff, E. R., Gao, D. X., Nisbet, D. R., Grayden, D. B., & Clark, G. M. (2023). Restoration of the senses and human communication: Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 9. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 9-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2142290 

Visiting Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research (ECIR) Sturt Scheme colleagues in Albury

On Thursday and Friday I had the opportunity to visit Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research (ECIR) Sturt Scheme colleagues in Albury and discuss research plans for 2023. I spoke with:

• A/Prof Sarah Verdon
• Dr Jessamy Davis
• Dr Lysa Dealtry
• Josephine Bampoe
• Sarah Piper

and drove from Albury to Bathurst with 

• Prof Julian Grant

Sharynne, Jessamy Davis, Lysa Dealtry, Julian Grant

Sharynne, Josephine Bampoe, Lysa Dealtry, Jessamy Davis

Prof Sharynne McLeod, Dr Lysa Dealtry, Prof Stan Grant, Dr Jessamy Davis

 

Sharynne and Sarah Verdon

Gulbali Day

I was honoured to attend Gulbali Day in Albury on Friday.

Here is the description of the event

Please join the Gulbali Research Institute for Agriculture, Water and Environment for Gulbali Day. Gulbali Day will take place at The Gums Café, Albury on Friday 17 March from 9am – 4pm. The event will be facilitated by Bundyi Girri Consulting and involve leading researchers across the Gulbali research programs. The aim of Gulbali Day is to establish ethical sharing practices around the use of First Nations knowledge in our four key program areas. This is a key step towards establishing the principles of “equity” and “trust” and learning how we, as researchers, can embody the principle of First Nations sovereignty and ways of knowing and being into our daily activities and lives. Gulbali Day will consist of a series of guest speakers, break-out groups and discussions with researchers. The event will be facilitated by Bundyi Girri and Professor Stan Grant from Charles Sturt. The event will be followed by a Workshop Outcome Report written by Bundyi Girri Consulting which can lay the foundations for long-term attitudinal, behavioural and professional transformation through trusting and equitable knowledge-sharing relationships across our four research programs. This workshop will be an essential first step in the evolution of the Gulbali research approach and further development of the values we co-designed throughout 2022.

Gulbali Day in Albury

Prof Stan Grant presenting at Gulbali Day

 

Welcome Ruby to the Speech-Language-Multilingualism team

I had the great privilege to welcome little Ruby to the Speech-Langauge-Multilingualism team on Thursday in Albury when I was visiting her mum Sarah.

Welcome Sarah B as you begin your research journey at CSU

Today Sarah Bartlett begins her research journey at Charles Sturt University. I am really excited to be working with her following her passsion to support young children's speech and langauge skills using the Hanen program and other evidence-based interventions that work with families.

Sharynne and Sarah meeting in Bathurst on 8th March

(I need to use initials as Sarah is a popular name in our Speech-Language-Multilingualism team: A/Prof Sarah Verdon, Dr Sarah Masso, Sarah Faulks, and Sarah Bartlett!)

Holly's PhD confirmation of candidature

Today is Holly McAlister's confirmation of candidature (endorsement). 

Her proposed title is "Experiences of communication and speech-language pathology for children and families with Pacific Islander heritage". 

In her documentation she has written: 

"This research aims to build on the PhD student’s prior research about multilingual Fijian children (McAlister, 2020) to understand the experiences of children and families with Pacific Island heritage and the SLPs who provide services to them. The outcomes of this program of research will provide culturally responsive recommendations for communication specialists, communities, and families to support speech and language development of children with Pacific Island heritage."

Holly has published two papers from her honours thesis that was also supervised by Dr Suzanne Hopf with myself as co-supervisor. We are so pleased to be continuing to work with Holly as she undertakes her PhD. 

• McAlister, H., Hopf, S. C., & McLeod, S. (2022). Effect of dialect on identification and severity of speech sound disorder in Fijian children. Speech, Language and Hearing, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/2050571X.2022.2052506 
• McAlister, H., McLeod, S., & Hopf, S. C. (2022, 2022/05/04). Fijian school students’ Fiji English speech sound acquisition. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 24(3), 260-270. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2044905

Holly McAlister, Sharynne McLeod, Suzanne Hopf

PhD support crew - including Merlin

Maps for The Oxford Handbook of Speech Development in Languages of the World

Today I met with Craig Poynter from the Spatial Analysis Network at Charles Sturt University to discuss the creation of maps for The Oxford Handbook of Speech Development in Languages of the World. There are ~80 chapters/languages so I am really pleased that we have such expertise available. I'm also pleased that Dr Carolyn Gregoric will be providing support for this task.

Craig Poynter and Carolyn Gregoric on MS Teams

We have beren discussing using the Equal Earth projection: https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/arcuser/equal-earth/

We met again on 24th March - and decided that this format was what we were going to go with (Equal Area projection - Winkel Tripel).

Draft map for Afrikaans - Equal Area projection - Winkel Tripel

 

Learning the carillon

I have just been accepted as a candidate for the Bathurst Carillon Training Program. I will learn to play the Bathurst Carillon (there are onty 3 in Australia). 

I will be taught by: Lyn Fuller, OAM Lead Carillonist National Carillon Canberra A. Mus.A, L. Mus.A, T. Mus.A.,  President Carillon Society of Australia, Executive Board of World Carillon Federation CSA Website: www.carillon.org.au 

This is  exciting. 

Here is information about the Bathurst Festival of the Bells in April: https://www.bathurstregion.com.au/festival-of-bells/

Here is information about the Bathurst Carillon: https://www.bathurstregion.com.au/contact-the-visitor-information-centre/in-the-news/discover-the-bathurst-carillon/

Planning future research

I was privileged to spend time with DVC-Research Mark Evans, Emeritus Professor Robert Clancy, and Sarah Bartlett yesterday. We spent a number of hours thinking about how to support children and families in rural and regional Australia (as well as non-metropolitan areas around the world), how to undertake high quality research, how to support future researchers (including HDR students) and how to translate research into policy and practice. What an inspiring day.

DVC(Research) Prof Mark Evans, Sarah Bartlett, Emeritus Professor Robert Clancy, Prof Sharynne McLeod

 

Early Childhood Voices book - Editorial meeting

The editorial team for Early Childhood Voices met for the first time in 2023. The book is due in June 2023. We have chapters from across the world - and almost all have been reviewed and many have been returned after review. It is going to be a great book.

Editors: Linda Mahony, Sharynne McLeod, Jenny Dwyer, Andi Salamon

Summary of research during 2022

Over the past year the research of Professor Sharynne McLeod and her team received a number of awards and opportunities to share the findings with professionals and families across the world. 

The Australian Newspaper named Professor McLeod as Australia’s Research Field Leader in Audiology, Speech and Language Pathology and “best in the world based on the quality, volume and impact of work”. 

Additionally she was awarded: 

• Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences of Australia 
• Fellow of the American Board of Child Language and Language Disorders 
• Charles Sturt University Researcher/Research Team of the Year Award (Faculty of Arts and Education) 
• Charles Sturt University Research Excellence through Partnership Award 

Dr Van Tran (supervised by Prof McLeod and A/prof Sarah Verdon) was awarded Charles Sturt University Higher Degree by Research Thesis of the Year Award 

Professor McLeod gave invited addresses to: 

• American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation Inaugural International Symposium in New Orleans, USA, 
• European Speech and Language Therapy Association (ESLA) Congress in Salzburg, Austria (online), 
• Third Iranian Conference on Developmental Language Disorder (online), 
• Autumn Lecture for the journal Advances in Communication and Swallowing (online), 
• Vietnamese Speech Therapy Education - Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy, Viet Nam (online)(pictured) 

Additionally, she was an invited representative on 

• Federal Government's Education Disability Loading Review Expert Panel 
• 73rd session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific on behalf of International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP). 

During 2022 the Multilingual Children's Speech website (https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech) was popular with 82,764 views. 

Finally, she co-edited a special issue of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (Q1) with Prof Julie Marshall titled "Communication, swallowing and the Sustainable Development Goals". The special issue included an introduction advocating for Communication for all as SDG 18 an invited paper by Professor Graeme Clark who invented the cochlear implant. 

 

Little Multilingual Minds - Collaborationn discussions

This morning we had a very productive discussion with Professor Paola Escudero Neyra and Gloria Pino Escobar from Western Sydney University about their Little Multilingual Minds program (https://littlemultilingualminds.com/) and previous funding from an ARC Future Fellowship and ARC Linkage grant. There is so much overlap with our ARC Discovery VietSpeech grant. We are planning exciting future collaborations.

Penultimate PhD draft cake

Today we celebrated Belinda Downey's penultimate PhD draft with cake. She will submit on 24th March. Hooray Belinda!

My mother's sponge cake recipe

Supervisory team: Will Letts, Belinda Downey, Sharynne, Leanne Gibbs

Friends from the School of Education cheering Belinda on

CSU Town Hall and campus morning tea

This morning CSU held a Town Hall (online) to update staff across the university. This was followed by a morning tea on campus held simultaneously on the Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Canberra, Dubbo, Orange, Wagga Wagga and Port Macquarie campuses as well as another one online. It was a lovely opportunity to connect with colleagues.

School of Education colleagues at the CSU morning tea on the Bathurst campus