I have enjoyed visiting Malta and learning about its rich history. Here are some photos taken in Valletta and Mdina showcasing Malta's heritage.
 |
| La Vallette Hall, the site of the IALP conference dinner |
 |
| Valletta Grandmaster's palace |
 |
| Valletta Grandmaster's palace |
 |
| St John’s Cathedral, Valletta |
 |
| Valletta |
 |
| Valletta |
 |
| Valletta |
 |
| Valletta |
 |
| Valletta |
 |
| Mdina |
 |
| Mdina |
 |
| Mdina |
Over the past 20 years I have collaborated with Prof Helen Grech from the University of Malta. Today I was able to visit the University of Malta's campus in Valetta.
Grech, H., & McLeod, S. (2012). Multilingual speech and language development and disorders. In D. Battle (Ed.), Communication disorders in multicultural and international populations (4th ed., pp. 120–147). Elsevier.
Members of the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech met in Malta during the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders Conference to continue working on our tutorial paper to support speech-language pathologists to provide intervention for multilingual children who do not speak the same language as the SLP.
 |
| Sari Kunnari (Finland), Carol Westby (USA), Carol To (Hong Kong SAR China), Helen Grech (Malta), Sharynne McLeod (Australia) |
I am in Malta to attend the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders Congress (IALP https://ialpglobal.org/). IALP is a Non-State Actor in Official Relations with the World Health Organization (WHO) and fosters professional knowledge and exchange of science and services across 55 affiliated societies in 35 countries around the world representing more than 300,000 members.
During the congress I received the Honoured Member Award from IALP. Over the past 100 years (since 1924 when IALP began) the website lists only 22 Honoured Members and only one from the Southern Hemisphere (Brazil) (https://ialpglobal.org/individual-members-2/).
The IALP Congress is attended by over 550 people from 58 countries offering 4 keynotes, over 90 sessions (with many papers per session), and 150 posters. One of the keynote speakers at IALP is Dr Antony Duttine, Technical Lead (Rehabilitation), World Health Organization, Switzerland "Telling the Story of Rehabilitation in a Changing World".
 |
| Dr Antony Duttine (WHO) |
I have chaired a session and Dr Helen L. Blake and I have presented a paper titled "Unlocking global knowledge γνώση, 认识, إدراك, דַעַת, ज्ञान about children’s speech published by multilingual researchers". We were honoured to receive this email on acceptance of our paper:
On behalf of the Scientific Committee of the 33rd World Congress of the IALP, we are delighted to inform you that your abstract, titled "Unlocking global knowledge about children’s speech published by multilingual researchers," has been accepted as an Oral Presentation. The Committee would like to commend you on your abstract, which scored among the highest of the abstracts submitted.
I have also attended the IALP Child Speech Committee meeting on Sunday.
 |
| IALP Child Speech Committee |
The Congress is a fantastic time of networking, learning, and planning new research and opportunities.
 |
| IALP Child Speech Committee meeting - Helen Grech (Malta), Krisztina Zjado (Hungary), Carol To (Hong Kong, SAR China), Joanne Cleland (UK), Sharynne McLeod (Australia) |
 |
| IALP President, President Elect and Executive Committee Members |
 |
| Sharynne, Egill (Iceland), Pam Enderby (UK), Carol Westby (USA) |
While at the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) Congress in Malta I have had the chance to network with and learn from so many colleagues from across the globe (58 countries are represented).
 |
| With IALP President Elect Professor Tamer Abou-Elsaad |
 |
| A colleague from Mexico who chose to buy our books on the first day of the conference |
 |
| With Dr Eleftheria Geronikou from University of Patras, Greece |
 |
| Enjoying chatting IALP's youngest delegate (10 weeks old!) with Prof Joanne Cleland |
 |
| I appreciated the graphic illustrating the Global South - as well as the thoughtful presentations |
 |
| Exploring the conference venue with Krisztina Zjado (Hungary) and Carol To (Hong Kong, SAR China) |
 |
| Friends from Ireland and Australia |
 |
| Tommy Robinson in Mdina |
 |
| Joanne Cleland (Scotland), Eleftheria (Greece), Sharynne |
This week I have traveled to Malta and Gozo to prepare for the IALP conference. I have never visited Malta before, but I have collaborated with Professor Helen Grech from the University of Malta for many years. Malta's history, culture and languages are a fascinating mixture. The VisitMalta site says that over the years they have "hosted the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Knights of St. John, Napoleon and the British Empire." Malta was ruled by the British 1813-1964 - so English is a dominant language alongside Maltese (e.g., the main city in Gozo is called Ir-Rabat and Victoria as shown in the sign below).
Today Dr Belinda Downey and Dr Travis Holland I met to plan the 4 x weekly sessions in September where our children's advisory group will analyse drawings from our Children DRaw Health project - and create podcasts. We had LOTS of great ideas.
I really enjoy my PhD student meetings. Thanks Sarah and Holly!
 |
| Holly's colleagues wrote on the board - "Be like Holly!" |
Tonight we met again with Mel Greaux from WHO about our project considering children with disability's perspectives of health. We had a LOT to discuss - but some of the exciting news was that we currently have received 79 drawings from 12 countries: Australia, Botswana, Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Malta, Netherlands, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States. The children have a mean age of 8, 15 have a diagnosed health condition and 11 have a disability.
Mel shared information about this week's launch of the WHO Disability Health Equity Initiative https://www.who.int/initiatives/disability-health-equity-initiative "The WHO Disability Health Equity initiative aims to close the avoidable health gaps between persons with disabilities and the broader population."
This week I have attended a 2-day beginner-level workshop held in Kelso, Bathurst this week to learn the fundamentals of the Wiradyuri language. The workshop was funded by the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust and taught us to pronounce Wiradyuri sounds, words, and phrases, including: family terms, numbers, animal names, and a basic Acknowledgement of Country.
"Dhuluny: Wiradyuri language workshops commemorating the 1824 declaration of martial law"
The workshops were held at the Wundirra Kelso Community Centre (with Wahluu Health Aboriginal Corporation Bathurst). Workshops were facilitated by Aunty Joylene Simpson and Aunty Leanna Carr assisted by Jonathon Jones. Wiradyuri people, other Aboriginal people, and parents/carers of Aboriginal children were given preference; however, non-Aboriginal people were also welcome to attend.
Hooray!
McLeod, S., Gregoric, C., Davies, J., Dealtry, L., Delli-Pizzi, L., Downey, B., Elwick, S., Hopf, S. C., Ivory, N., McAlister, H., Murray, E., Rahman, A., Sikder, S., Tran, V. H., & Zischke, C. (2025). Children draw talking around the world. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_LSHSS-23-00190
This morning 9 members of our interdisciplinary research team met to discuss our coding of the Children Draw Playing drawings. We are now up to analysis and writing papers. The children are teaching us so much through their 181 drawings.
Tonight I provided a lecture for the Faculty of Arts and Education 2025 seminar series "What are schools for?". The lecture was titled "Listening to children's voices" and will be held on 13 August, 2025 7-8pm. I presented it on behalf of the Children's Voices Centre and am grateful to A/Prof Tamara Cumming and A/Prof Kathy Cologon for their support in preparing the presentation. There were 90+ people registered for the event, 39 people attended for the evening event - and the people registered will receive the recording.
Here is the abstract
Have you ever wondered what it might look like to uphold children’s communication rights by listening to their voices about social issues? In this session, you’ll hear about some of the ground-breaking methods our multi-disciplinary researchers have used to seek and listen to children’s voices. You’ll learn about the types of issues on which children’s voices can be sought as well as ways of using arts-informed practice to empower children to share their experiences. Methods covered in this session can be used by teachers working in early childhood right through to senior school education.
