International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) Child Speech Committee

Tonight we had a meeting of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) Child Speech Committee. Members are from Malta, Hungary, Hong Kong SAR China, Iceland, Germany, Canada, Scotland UK, and Australia. I was the Chair of this committee during 2023, and now am a consultant on the committee. Prof Helen Grech is now the Chair. We are continuing the a focus on multilingual children's speech in our presentations and projects as we prepare for the centenary celebrations of IALP. 

https://ialp-org.com/child-speech/

Appointment to Charles Sturt University Distinguished Professor

I just received the following news:

"On behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, it is my pleasure to advise that your nomination for Charles Sturt University Distinguished Professor has been approved. The appointment as a Charles Sturt University Distinguished Professor is a highly prestigious appointment and I congratulate you on being recognised for your outstanding contributions."

Nominations for Charles Sturt University Distinguished Professor are considered with reference to the following criteria:

• An international reputation for exceptional research and scholarship
• Professional peer recognition of significant achievements at a state, national and international level
• Research/research team leadership
• Outstanding community engagement

I am grateful for the support and encouragement of CSU during my 25+ years of employment and am so pleased that I have been able to work with many great students and colleagues to make a difference in children’s lives throughout the world.

ECIR colleagues surprising me with flowers to celebrate the announcement

Rural Health Research Institute Grant research team meeting to discuss ethics

Today we had a CSU Rural Health Research Institute Grant team meeting to discuss our ethics application that was submitted last week - and how we can ensure that we undertake respectful research where we support staff, children, families and one another.

Helen Blake, Emily-Jane Woodhead, Sharynne, Kate Margetson, Sarah Bartlett

The World Atlas of Language Structures Online (WALS)

Kate Margetson just showed me The World Atlas of Language Structures Online (WALS): https://wals.info/. This resource is useful as we are considering how to compare languages.  For example, it has a number of variables for comparing the phonology of a language.

ECV2024 Children’s Voices Committee - ready for children's input

The ECV2024 Children’s Voices Committee had a very productive and creative meeting today. We are planning to have two child-focussed tasks at ECV2024. We are asking children to test these ideas/questions for our upcoming conference. Then we will invite the world's children to participate:

ECV2024 Children's Voices Committee - 27 Feb 2024

1. CHILDREN PLAYING (for all children) 

Draw (make/create) yourself playing 

Tell me about your picture … 

1. What are you doing in the picture? • What are you playing? • What are you playing with? 
2. Where are you playing? 
3. Are you playing with someone? yes/no • Who are you playing with? • Are you talking? • What are you talking about? 
4. Which one are you?
5. How do you feel about playing?
6. How is playing good for the world? 

2. CHILDREN’S SOLULTIONS (for older children) 

How would you make the world a better place? Pitch your solution by writing a story or making a presentation (e.g., PowerPoint) 

THANK YOU FROM THE ECV2024 CHILDREN’S VOICES COMMITTEE

Development of children's speech assessments

I have just been invited to advise someone internationally about her development of a speech assessment. Here are a few of our published resources I have just sent: 

Appendix C of this paper is designed to support people’s test development: 

• McLeod, S., & Crowe, K. (2018). Children’s consonant acquisition in 27 languages: A cross-linguistic review. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 27(4), 1546–1571. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_AJSLP-17-0100 1. 

Here are some general papers - with assessments available on the Multilingual Children's Speech website: https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/speech-assessments

• McLeod, S. (2012). Multilingual speech assessment. In S. McLeod & B. A. Goldstein (Eds.), Multilingual aspects of speech sound disorders in children (pp. 113–143). Multilingual Matters. 
• McLeod, S. (2012). Translation to practice: Creating sampling tools to assess multilingual children’s speech. In S. McLeod & B. A. Goldstein (Eds.), Multilingual aspects of speech sound disorders in children (pp. 144–153). Multilingual Matters. 
• McLeod, S., & Verdon, S. (2014). A review of 30 speech assessments in 19 languages other than English. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 23(4), 708–723. https://doi.org/10.1044/2014_AJSLP-13-0066 

A few years ago I worked with Dr Ben Pham and Xuan Le to create a speech test for Vietnam - and Ben's subsequent papers show how well her test development worked: 

• Phạm, B., McLeod, S., & Le, X. T. T. (2016). Development of the Vietnamese Speech Assessment. Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology, 18(3), 126–130. 
• Phạm, B., & McLeod, S. (2016). Consonants, vowels and tones across Vietnamese dialects. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 18(2), 122–134. https://doi.org/10.3109/17549507.2015.1101162
• Phạm, B., McLeod, S., & Harrison, L. J. (2017). Validation and norming of the Intelligibility in Context Scale in Northern Viet Nam. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 31(7-9), 665–681. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699206.2017.1306110
• Phạm, B., & McLeod, S. (2019). Vietnamese-speaking children's acquisition of consonants, semivowels, vowels, and tones in Northern Viet Nam. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62(8), 2645–2670. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_JSLHR-S-17-0405 
  
• Phạm, B., & McLeod, S. (2023). Considerations of dialect on the identification of speech sound disorder in Vietnamese-speaking children. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12992
• McLeod, S., Margetson, K., Wang, C., Tran, V. H., Verdon, S., White, K., & Phạm, B. (2022). Speech acquisition within a 3-generation Vietnamese-English family: The influence of maturation and ambient phonology. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 36(4-5), 470-493. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699206.2020.1862915 

We also have a lot of papers outlining the development of the ICS. Here are two:

• 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) 
• McLeod, S. (2020). Intelligibility in Context Scale: Cross-linguistic use, validity, and reliability. Speech, Language and Hearing, 23(1), 9–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/2050571X.2020.1718837

Visiting RHRI CSU and OAMS in Orange

Today was Emily-Jane Woodhead's first visit to the Rural Health Research Institute (RHRI) at Charles Sturt University in Orange and the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service. We were made to feel so welcome in both locations. It was great to meet with Dr Hazel Dalton and Dr Liz Pressick at RHRI. They then accompanied us to OAMS where we were welcomed by Jamie Newman (CEO), Sarah Griffiths-Lanser (Medical Administration Lead) and Ebony Hay (Child Health Navigator).

Charles Sturt University Orange Campus

Sharynne McLeod, Jamie Newman, Hazel Dalton, Liz Pressick, Emily-Jane Woodhead, Sarah Griffiths-Lanser, Ebony Hay

CSU RHRI: Liz, Sharynne, Hazel and Emily-Jane

Invited Nancy McKinley Lecture - Supporting Monolingual and Multilingual Children’s Phonological Development

This morning I was honoured to present (online) the 2024 Nancy McKinley Lecture organised by the American Board of Child Language & Language Disorders that was attended by 711 people across the USA.

https://www.speechpathology.com/slp-ceus/nancy-mckinley-lecture-series/

 Supporting Monolingual and Multilingual Children’s Phonological Development 

By age 5, most children worldwide have acquired most consonants, vowels (and tones), and are intelligible. Respectful assessments that analyze children’s speech in all thei r home languages, and consider standard and dialect forms relevant to the child’s family, are described in this course. Free, evidence-based resources to support SLPs working with monolingual and multilingual children are also shared.

https://www.speechpathology.com/slp-ceus/course/supporting-monolingual-and-multilingual-children-10849

 

https://www.childlanguagespecialist.org/specialist/sharynne-mcleod/

Arabic pronunciation

 

Over the past few days I have had some fascinating conversations with Arabic speakers. First with Sara Kablaoui, who is undertaking her PhD with Dr Suzanne Hopf and Dr Helen Blake, and second with Dr Catherine Weiss who is a new French-Arabic-English-speaking staff member at CSU.

PhD by Publication (or prior publication) workshop for supervisors and candidates

I have been invited to present a seminar during the 1-day workshop at CSU in Canberra

PhD by Publication (or prior publication) workshop for supervisors and candidates

Organising committee: Dr Donna Bridges and Dr Monica Short

Abstract: Due to the success of our inaugural workshop FoAE Research Café Seminar “PhD (with Publication) & PhD by Prior Publication” and the frequent questions and requests for a follow-up event, we are holding a full-day information and discussion workshop for supervisors and candidates on the topic. 

• 10 am Morning tea and arrival 
• 10.30 am Prof Mark Evans presenting on: “The Philosophy of the PhD by publication – Why it is the way of the future”. 
• 11 am Prof Sarah O’Shea presenting on: “Phd by Publication: Pitfalls and Potentials” 
• Noon Workshop - TBA Workshop facilitators: Dr Emma Rush, Rohena Duncombe. Dr Donna Bridges, Dr Monica Short 
• 1 pm Lunch 
• 1.30 Prof Sharynne McLeod presenting on: “Getting publications when you are supervising or a student in a PhD for Publication program - how does it work, who does what, what are the timelines?” 
• 2.00 Professor Inger Mewburn (The Thesis Whisper) from ANU on: “Be visible or vanish” 
• 3.00 Workshop - TBA Workshop facilitators: Dr Emma Rush, Rohena Duncombe. Dr Donna Bridges, Dr Monica Short 
•  4 pm Close

Prof Inger Mewburn with the organising committee

Mason, S., & Merga, M. (2018). A current view of the thesis by publication in the humanities and social sciences. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 13, 139-154. 

Professor Sharynne McLeod’s PhD students’ theses 

https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/persons/smcleodcsueduau/supervised/ 

Some of my PhD students' theses that I shared today

PhD by prior publication: 

1. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/evaluation-and-eligibility-of-students-with-communication-disorde 

PhD with publications:  

1. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/home-language-maintenance-among-vietnamese-australian-families 
2. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/toddlers-with-cleft-palate-enhancing-communication-through-holist  
3. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/wait-lifting-active-waiting-for-speech-and-language-services-by-c 
4. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/english-proficiency-intelligibility-and-participation-of-multilin 
5. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/childrens-acquisition-of-consonants-semivowels-vowels-and-tones-i 
6. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/supporting-fijian-childrens-communication 
7. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/polysyllable-maturity-of-preschool-children-with-speech-sound-dis-3 
8. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/embracing-diversity-creating-equality-supporting-the-speech-langu-3 
9. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/multilingual-children-with-hearing-loss-communication-and-choice 
10. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/the-extent-and-experience-of-childhood-speech-impairment-3

CONGRATULATIONS KATE M - PhD submission today

Congratulations to Kate Margetson who submitted her PhD today. 

Her PhD is titled: "Moving Beyond Monolingual Practices with Multilingual Children: Learning from Vietnamese-English–Speaking Children, Families, and Professionals"

Congratulations Kate!

A/Prof Sarah Verdon and I have been very honoured to be Kate's supervisors for her PhD. Kate started working with us when she joined our VietSpeech (ARC Discovery Grant https://www.csu.edu.au/research/vietspeech/overview) research team as our Project Office. Once the grant finished, Kate re-analysed some of the very rich VietSpeech data to answer new questions for her PhD. 

Kate's family and our Speech-Language-Multilingualism team joined to support Kate from across Australia and Ben joined from Viet Nam!

 

Here is Kate's PhD abstract:

Multilingual children’s speech assessment and differential diagnosis of speech sound disorders can be challenging for speech-language pathologists (SLPs), especially if they do not speak the same language as the children they are working with. While best practice recommendations include assessing children in all the languages that they speak, in many English-dominant contexts SLPs often rely on English assessments for diagnostic decision-making. There are few guidelines for how SLPs can assess, transcribe, and analyse speech in children’s home languages. This doctoral research aimed to explore assessment, transcription, speech analysis, and diagnosis of speech sound disorders in multilingual children involving direct speech assessment of children’s home languages. Vietnamese-English–speaking children and their families were the focus of this research.

The thesis contained four parts, which included five publications. Part One, Monolingual Speech-Language Pathologists in Multilingual Contexts (Chapter 1), included an orientation to the thesis, situated the researcher, presented a literature review, and outlined methodology. Linguistic multicompetence (Cook, 2016) and the emergence approach (Davis & Bedore, 2013) were presented as the theoretical frameworks underpinning the research.

Part Two, Vietnamese-English–speaking Children’s Speech described similarities and differences between Vietnamese and English phonology, Vietnamese-English–speaking children’s speech acquisition, and current resources available to SLPs for assessment and intervention with Vietnamese-English–speaking children (Chapter 2). The interaction between Vietnamese and English phonology was explored in a cross-sectional study (n = 149) of Vietnamese-English–speaking children’s and adult family members’ speech in Vietnamese and English (Chapter 3) and found that direction of cross-linguistic transfer in children’s speech was significantly associated with children’s age and language proficiency. 

Part Three, Diagnosis of Speech Sound Disorders in Vietnamese-English–speaking Children presented in-depth case studies of Vietnamese-English–speaking children’s speech. Case studies of four children considered the impact of assessing both languages on differential diagnosis (Chapter 4). All four children appeared to have speech sound disorder based on English assessment only, but analysis of children’s speech in both languages revealed that only two children had a speech sound disorder. A longitudinal case study explored four influences on a Vietnamese-English–speaking child’s speech over time (Chapter 5) and found that most speech mismatches could be explained by development, dialect, cross-linguistic transfer, and ambient phonology, and that cross-linguistic transfer reduced over time.

Part Four, Moving Beyond Monolingual Speech-Language Pathology Practices with Multilingual Children presented an evidence-based research protocol, the VietSpeech Multilingual Transcription Protocol, for assessing and transcribing multilingual children’s and adults’ speech, that ensured consistent and reliable transcription (Chapter 6). A clinical protocol, the Speech Assessment of Children’s Home Languages, was proposed, for SLPs to assess, transcribe, and analyse multilingual children’s speech, to account for the idiolects of children, their families, and their SLPs (Chapter 7). The Speech Assessment of Children’s Home Languages will enable SLPs to collaborate with family members and interpreters to assess speech in children’s home languages, providing opportunities to consider children’s entire phonological repertoires during diagnostic decision-making. Finally, conclusions, contributions of the doctoral research, limitations, and future directions were presented (Chapter 8).

This doctoral research sought to bridge a gap between research and practice in multilingual children’s speech assessment by demonstrating the importance of speech assessment of home languages, describing ways of analysing multilingual children’s speech to identify four potential mismatches (development, dialect, cross-linguistic transfer, ambient phonology), and outlining how SLPs move beyond monolingual practices in the way they assess, transcribe, and analyse multilingual children’s speech using the VietSpeech Multilingual Transcription Protocol and the Speech Assessment of Children’s Home Languages.

 

Congratulations Kate on your important work - and the huge impact that it is already having on professional practice. We are excited that you will continue working with us to translate this work for rural speech pathology practice during your postdoc.

Here are Kate's PhD publications to date (more to come):

1. Margetson, K., McLeod, S., Verdon, S., Tran, V. H., & Phạm, B. (in press). English + Vietnamese speech development. In S. McLeod (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of speech development in languages of the world. Oxford University Press. 
2. Margetson, K., McLeod, S., Verdon, S. (in press). Diagnosing speech sound disorder in bilingual Vietnamese-English–speaking children: Are English-only assessments sufficient? In E. Babatsouli (Ed.), Multilingual acquisition and learning: An ecosystemic view to diversity. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
3. Margetson, K., McLeod, S., & Verdon, S. (2023). Cross-linguistic transfer and ambient phonology: Impact on diagnosis of speech sound disorders in a longitudinal bilingual case study. Journal of Monolingual and Bilingual Speech, 4(3), 311-339. https://doi.org/10.1558/jmbs.23672 
4.  Margetson, K., McLeod, S., Verdon, S. & Tran, V. H. (2023). Transcribing multilingual children’s and adults’ speech. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 37 (4-6), 415-435. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699206.2022.2051073

Preparing presentations for the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference

We are very excited to have a number of abstracts accepted for the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference to be held in Perth in May. This week I have begun working with my colleagues to prepare our presentations.

Sarah Faulks and Sharynne working on our SPA presentation

Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Group (ECIR) - First meeting for 2024

Our first meeting for 2024 was held on 15th February for the Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Group (ECIR) funded by the Sturt Scheme. This is a fantastic group of over 40 staff and students across the university. It is our third year of funding and in 2024 we will hold our third Early Childhood Voices conference (ECV2024).

https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/

https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/organisations/early-childhood-interdisciplinary-research-group

ECIR members online across Australia and in Bathurst

Our Springer book cover has arrived

 Our book cover has arrived!

RHRI Grant - "Improving access to services for rural children with speech, language and communication needs"

We are so pleased to have been funded by the CSU Rural Health Research Institute (RHRI) for the project titled "Improving access to speech pathology services for rural children with speech, language and communication needs" ($321,832) for 1.5 years. 

Of particular importance in rural areas is the consideration of culturally appropriate and equitable care. There are two groups we are supporting in this grant 

1. CHILDREN: Indigenous, multilingual and multicultural Australian children with speech-language and communication needs. 
2. PROFESSIONALS: The primarily monolingual monocultural speech-language pathology workforce who support multilingual children across NSW (Nancarrow et al., 2023; Verdon et al., 2014). 

Part of this work will be in association with an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation who initiated and invited us to work with them on a component of the project. 

AIMS 

1. To understand the prevalence and service requirements of children from a rural Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and to design a trial to improve access to speech pathology services that best meets their needs 
2. To equip rural SLPs to work cross-culturally and cross-linguistically, especially in languages they do not speak 

Here is our progress to February 2024 

1. The staff and students have been appointed and have begun. We met virtually in December 2023 to establish the team:

• Prof Sharynne McLeod - Chief Investigator
• Kate Margetson - Postdoctoral Scholar
• Dr Carolyn Gregoric - Postdoctoral Scholar
• Emily-Jane Woodhead - Research Officer
• Sarah Bartlett - PhD student
• Cathie Matthews - Masters' student (supported by the Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Sturt Scheme)

2. Ethics applications – Phase 1 has been approved; Phase 2 in progress 

3. Work with Dr Hazel Dalton regarding practice population profiles and data 

4. Submission of manuscript to Q1 journal addressing Indigenous Australian children with speech, language and communication needs 

5. Abstracts accepted for presentation to the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference in Perth, May 2024. 

6. Submission of manuscript to Q1 journal addressing pilot research testing Target Word as a service model 

PhD by prior publication - thesis now available

Congratulations to Marie Ireland whose thesis titled "Evaluation and Eligibility of Students with Communication Disorders in Public Schools in the United States" is now available for download on CRO: https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/evaluation-and-eligibility-of-students-with-communication-disorde 

Here is her abstract 

Communication is an essential human right that, beginning early in a child’s life, provides the foundation for interaction with others. Communication is the underpinning for success in school and untreated communication disorders may impact children’s futures. In the United States, students with disabilities in public schools receive free speech and language evaluations and, if needed, services from speech-language pathologists (SLPs). In U.S. public schools this process is regulated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and services are only available to students who meet specific eligibility criteria. An educational disability must result in an educational impact and is decided by a team that includes SLPs. Private speech-language pathology services are also available using a fee for service model decided by individual service providers. As parents and some educators may desire free services for students under IDEA, there is pressure to identify students as disabled who do not meet eligibility criteria. Misidentification due to cultural or linguistic differences also occurs. There are potential negative consequences to inappropriate disability identification such as: segregation from typically developing peers, violating the child’s rights with decreased expectations or limited educational opportunities, increased caseloads for SLPs resulting in recruitment and retention issues, and violation of state and federal regulations. While service options exist outside of IDEA, inconsistency in evaluation practices and eligibility decision-making has been documented and creates tensions for families, educators, and SLPs. 

This thesis presents work for a PhD by Prior Publication to explore and describe evaluation and eligibility of students with communication disorders in U.S. public schools using quantitative and qualitative research and publications (presented as chapters) over the span of a career drawn together through an exegesis. Part 1 includes 7 chapters and provides an introduction and literature review that examines the SLPs’ practice patterns and documents the unique requirements for public-school practice in the United States. Chapter 2 reviews public policy and Chapter 3 discusses educational requirements and provides the context of public policy in the United States. A review of evaluation and eligibility requirements under IDEA and research on evaluation practices focusing on students from diverse backgrounds, test accuracy, and state differences are included in Chapter 4. Clarification regarding regulations, guidance and information to support understanding of guidelines and severity rating tools used by states as they implement IDEA is presented in Chapter 5. Options for services to support students with language differences, not disorders, outside of IDEA are detailed in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 integrates research and policy in the United States and addresses the implementation of research on children with speech sound disorders in the context of IDEA. Part 2 includes six chapters and addresses the complex activity system involving team decision-making regarding evaluation and eligibility for speech-language pathology services in U.S. schools. Chapter 8 presents the theoretical framework that was used as the unifying approach to this thesis and for the study reported in Chapter 9. The chosen theoretical framework, Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) by Engström (1987, 2015), was used to explain the complex activity system of speech-language pathology services in U.S. schools. Chapter 9 investigates the team decision-making activity system for determining student eligibility for speech or language services in U.S. schools and documents nine major tensions related to the team decision-making activity system. Chapters 10, 11, and 12 document SLPs’ use of evidence-based practices and language sample analysis techniques. 

Variations in evaluation and eligibility decision-making often are attributed to the SLP, rather than the team decision-making system. The impact of differences in state and local regulations and policy, input from other members of the team, and variations in requirements for use of specific tools for evaluation were identified. Knowledge of the individual elements within the team decision-making activity system and the interactions and tensions that arise between elements may assist in understanding practice patterns of SLPs in U.S. schools. There are common tensions experienced by school SLPs regarding evaluation and eligibility of students. Using the CHAT framework enables acknowledgment of the interplay of elements within the broader activity system (beyond the SLP) and promotes the importance of teamwork and advocacy by SLPs at the local, state and national level. 

Inconsistency and tensions in school team decision-making are well documented in the research literature. Once identified, information on inconsistency and tensions can be used to develop strategies to improve practice. The findings identify needs and solutions to strengthen school teams’ and SLPs’ knowledge of the regulations, research, and advocacy to address challenges in the school setting. Use of evidence-based practices for evaluation and compliance with IDEA regulations for data collection and decision making will reduce mis- and overidentification and protect students’ civil rights. Improving consistency by school decision-making teams will enable all students to receive quality evaluations and appropriate decision-making regardless of where they live or attend school. Consistency in evaluation and eligibility processes is essential to advance SLPs’ professional practice and build or maintain trust between families, students, and public-school professionals across the United States. 

Qualification: Doctor of Philosophy 

Awarding Institution: Charles Sturt University 

Supervisors/Advisors:  

• McLeod, Sharynne, Principal Supervisor 
• Verdon, Sarah, Co-Supervisor 
• Crowe, Kate, Co-Supervisor 

Mentoring

I am very honoured to be able to spend time during 2024 to mentor A/Prof Belinda Cash. We had our first official session today.

Welcome Emily-Jane

Welcome Emily-Jane Woodhead as Research Officer to support new research funded by the Rural Health Research Institute at Charles Sturt University. It is wonderful to have you on campus and to share CSU's vision to create a world worth living in.

International Children’s Communication and Research Centre

We are working on the description of the new centre to be housed in The Treehouse. Thanks to Justin Williams from CSU Advance for listening and capturing our vision.

International Children’s Communication and Research Centre

CREATE Research Centre 

Background: The United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 19 states that, 

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” 

The vision of the International Children’s Communication and Research Centre is to enable children’s voices to be heard and valued. A safe space for children which allows them to express their opinions and be heard by our multidisciplinary researchers. 

The children will be active participants in co-designing solutions to a range of issues. The outcomes of which will influence policy development and practices relating to children and their futures. 

The Centre will be a unique research space on the international stage. Led by world leading researcher, Professor Sharynne McLeod and her interdisciplinary research group. 

The Centre will be a beacon for researchers worldwide to visit to learn about key insights from children, their thoughts and ideas. Building on Professor McLeod’s work with children internationally through the Early Childhood Voices Conferences, which most recently had 200 children from 25 countries draw themselves talking. This art was then made available in a global online gallery and presented to the United Nations. 

Imagine you are a child who wants to explain to adults the way they experience the world, you may have speech difficulties or speak a language other than English, how do you get your voice heard in a world built for adults? The Centre will serve as a conduit for child’s voices to be heard by those in a position to build a world for children. Through the work of the Centre, the researchers aim to uncover solutions to a range of issues for and by children. This in turn will influence policy and practice in relation to children in the spheres including Early Childhood Education, Speech Pathology, Psychology, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Information Technology, to promote social justice and equality. 

 Notes. Alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals: 10 (reduced inequalities), 3 (good-health and wellbeing), 4 (quality education), 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), 17 (partnership for the goals).

Impact - Intelligibility in Context Scale

The Intelligibility in Context Scale has been used as an outcome measure for the International Consortium of Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) for patients with a cleft lip and/or palate. 

Here is their latest publication: 

Ombashi, S., Kurniawan, M. S., Allori, A., Sharif-Askary, B., Rogers-Vizena, C., Koudstaal, M., Franken, M.-C., Molen, A. B. M. v. d., Mathijssen, I., Klassen, A., & Versnel, S. L. (2023). What is the optimal assessment of speech? A multicentre, international evaluation of speech assessment in 2500 patients with a cleft. BMJ Open, 13(12), e071571. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-071571

The analysis of ICS data is really interesting:

• "Moderate correlations were found between PCC and ICS in patients with CP (r=0.64) and in patients with CL(A)P (r=0.5). VPC and ICS had a (negative) weak correlation in patients with CP (r=−0.49) and CL(A)P (r=−0.43)." (p. 4) 
• "All correlations between PROMs were moderate, except for the strong correlation of the SFunction with both the SDistress and the ICS in patients with a CP. The fact that the correlation between the SFunction and SDistress is stronger in patients with CP than in patients with CL(A)P suggests that the visibly different appearance in patients with CL(A)P plays a significant role in SDistress as well; in a social context, looking differently may cause additional or more distress besides having speech problems. This is supported by our finding that the ICS correlated moderately with SFunction, but weakly with SDistress in the CL(A)P group. Parent- reported speech intelligibility correlated higher to children’s self report of their speech function than it did to the speech distress the children themselves experience. In the latter, distress about appearance could be included. This finding suggests that the ICS can give an indication of ‘patient- reported’ SFunction in young children who cannot complete a PROM themselves yet (7 years and younger)." (p. 5)
• "A ceiling effect in ICS outcomes of patients with CP, without clear differences between average scores in patients with CP and CL(A)P, suggests that the group with CP contains a diverse population and severity of the speech problems vary widely. Furthermore, since ICS is not specifically developed for a population with CP±L, it is debatable whether this tool captures the information necessary to point out all relevant speech problems in the patient group.However, exclusion of ICS could mean that a large part of the speech problems in the population with CP would remain undetected. Assessment at 5 and 12 years in patients with both cleft types, which is the current timing in the ICHOM Standard Set, appears therefore appropriate despite the ceiling effect." (pp. 7-8)

ECIR symposium presentation at 2024 AJEC Research Symposium

The 2024 Australian Journal of Early Childhood (AJEC) Research Symposium is taking place virtually on 8 and 9 February. 

https://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/events/ajecsymposium/ 

https://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2024-AJEC-Research-Symposium_Discussion-papers_Final.pdf

The conference includes papers on innovative research methodologies, research and pedagogical practices. It will be attended by early years professionals, policymakers, researchers, leaders, academics, and students from Australasia and beyond. The 2024 AJEC Research Symposium program includes more than 50 presentations by Australian and international early childhood researchers. 

The CSU Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Group (ECIR) are presenting a symposium on the first day.

Our presentations were titled: Empowering children’s voices through the Children Draw Talking Project 

• Listening to children: The Children Draw Talking Project - Belinda Downey, Sharynne McLeod 
• Development of an instrument and protocol for the virtual collection and analysis of children’s drawings - Carolyn Gregoric, Van H. Tran, Suzanne C. Hopf, Sharynne McLeod 
• A meaning-making analysis of children’s drawing vs children’s talking in the drawing: A cultural-historical perspective - Shukla Sikder, Lysa Dealtry, Sarah Stenson 

Dr Belinda Downey

Dr Carolyn Gregoric

Dr Shukla Sikder

The discussion after our presentation highlighted the work of Dr Barbara Piscitelli AM https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/bigvoices

We enjoyed the International Keynote Address by Associate Professor Sonja Macfarlane titled "He Awa Whiria and Early Literacy: The emancipatory power of braiding knowledge streams in research and practice". The keynote speaker shared this resource: https://www.education.govt.nz/early-childhood/teaching-and-learning/assessment-for-learning/te-whatu-pokeka-english/

We also attended the following fascinating presentation:

Children’s voices in policy: How considered study design is vital in balancing rigour and authenticity - Dan Leach-McGill, Chris Mason, and Daniel Hannington-Pinto

They work for The Front Project - https://www.thefrontproject.org.au/ 

New research staff for 2024

 2024 is an exciting year with new research projects and the opportunity to work with new research staff and students including:

1. Dr Helen Blake, Senior Research Fellow, DVC-R
   
2. Dr Carolyn Gregoric- ECIR and RHRI
3. Kate Margetson - RHRI
4. Emily-Jane Woodhead - RHRI
5. Marie Ireland - OUAT
   
6. Audrey Wang - OUAT
7. Holly McAlister - PhD student 
8. Sarah Bartlett - PhD student RHRI
9. Cathie Matthews - Masters' student ECIR

What a superb team!

• ECIR = Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Sturt Scheme
• RHRI = Rural Health Research Institute - Rural speech pathology grant
• OUAT = Once Upon a Time - Children's perspectives of DTTC intervention grant 
  

Dr Helen Blake

Holly McAlister - HDR student

Cathie Matthews - HDR student

A/Prof Sarah Verdon and Kate Margetson - HDR student

Dr Carolyn Gregoric

Sarah Bartlett - HDR student

Emily-Jane Woodhead

Central West Speech Pathologists Day - Bathurst

Today 37 speech pathologists from across the Central West of NSW met for a professional development day organised by Christine Porter from EnhanceABILITY. There were nine presentations from local speech pathologists, including myself. My presentation was titled "Supporting multilingual and multicultural children and families in rural NSW ". 

It was wonderful to connect with friends and previous students. Some people I enjoyed catching up with: 

• Emily-Jane Woodhead who began working today with our team at Charles Sturt University. 
• Sarah Faulks who finished her honours degree at CSU last year and is now working in Parkes. 
• Kristyne Smith who is a very experienced teacher and now a new graduate in Bathurst
• Lydia Parker who is a new graduate in Orange who began last year.
• I was impressed that Kelly and Steph travelled for 3 hours to come from Condobolin for the event.

Christine Porter, Sharynne, Sarah Faulks