Congratulations to my colleagues who have just been promoted

Huge congratulations to my colleagues who have just been promoted. They do amazing work - and I'm so glad it has been acknowledged.

• Professor Jane McCormack
• Associate Professor Suzanne Hopf
• Senior lecturer Lucia Wuersch

Hooray!

 

 

Christmas lunch at CSU

Today Lorraine, Tamara and I joined our colleagues at CSU for a Christmas lunch. We enjoyed sharing the event with the CSU Advancement team. They have chosen to feature the Children's Voices Centre on their Christmas card this year! They have been important champions of our work during 2025 and we are very grateful.

Sharynne, Lorraine and Tamara at CSU

Christmas lunch

Christmas lunch

Sharynne and Tamara

CSU Advancement team - Stacey Fish, Naomi, Aimee, Sam Bolt and Justin

Catholic Education Tasmania grant meeting

We had an excellent meeting today to work on plans for 2026 for our data collection. Dr Kate Crowe joined us from Canada (better timezone than Iceland) and it was great to have Nicola back with us.

 

CSU end of year morning tea

What a lovely time of celebration at the end of year morning tea for Charles Sturt University. We appreciated the shout out to the Children's Voices Centre from the Vice Chancellor during the speeches.  I enjoyed catching up with Bruce Andrews (CSU media), Joanne Blatch (CSU Student Success Manager), Dr Nicola Ivory (Psychology).

Joanne Blatch visited the CVC after the morning tea

Dr Nicola Ivory and Prof Sharynne  McLeod wearing Christmas colours

The VC speaking at the CSU morning tea at Bathurst

CSU cupcakes in Christmas colours

 

CSU Town Hall - End of year summary

During the CSU Town Hall for all staff at the University, the Deputy Vice Chancellor profiled the work of the Children's Voices Centre as a highlight of 2025. She mentioned one of our achievements as an inaugural member of the World Health Organization's Disability Health Equity Network. Thanks for your support Prof Neena Mitter. Congratulations to ARC Future Fellow Amy Macdonald and our two new DECRA grant awardees.

The Vice Chancellor also profiled the successes for the year, including that in 2026 staff will be provided with a 40% research allocation. We have had 8,500 graduates in 2025 - and increases in enrollments.

The 2026 research strategic direction is focusing on finding regional solutions with global impact.

Visiting Emeritus Prof Lindy McAllister and discussing research in Vietnam

While in Brisbane this weekend I had a lovely time catching up with Emeritus Prof Lindy McAllister and discussing our collaboration and research in Vietnam. We also shared stories of our colleague Lucy Shanahan who passed away a few weeks ago.

 

APA7

 I am about to have a new PhD student in 2026 - and here is the email I sent to her this morning:

As you begin your PhD next year, please ask Santa for an APA7 publication manual - and engage in holiday reading. I think it’s important to read it from beginning to end. It’s so useful and is used in almost every  journal you will publish in (and your dissertation) The version with tabs is the fancy one. I created my own tabs https://apastyle.apa.org/products/publication-manual-7th-edition (I think you can buy it from other places too)

Kathy's presentations at AARE

Congratulations to A/Prof Kathy Cologon who presented three papers at the recent AARE conference - https://www.aareconference.com.au/ in Newcastle, NSW: 

• Beyond Words: Anti Ableist Pedagogies and Children's Participation Through Inclusive Arts - Olivia Karaolis and Kathy Cologon
• From Lived Experience to Systemic Change: Children’s Perspectives as the Foundation for Equity Education - Kathy Cologon, Zinnia Mevawalla, Timothy Cologon, Jackie Fulton, Jane Catlin

She was invited to present the Sue Grieshaber Commemorative Lecture (2/12/25) 
Anti-ableist pedagogy: A necessary foundation for inclusion

Abstract: Despite national and international commitments, legislative requirements, policy, human rights, and a deep moral imperative, inclusion remains an elusive phenomenon for most children. In this commemorative lecture I argue that realising inclusion requires an explicitly anti-ableist pedagogy built with, and accountable to, children. I invite us to reflect on where we have come from and explore what inclusion, disability, and exclusion mean from the perspectives of young children. This includes considering:

• Ontological inclusion recognising disability as a valuable and fundamental aspect of human diversity.
• Epistemic justice valuing diverse ways of knowing and communicating as legitimate sources of educational knowledge and decision-making.
• Design justice treating access as essential to design, across spaces, routines, assessment, and policy.
• Relational accountability centring children’s agency and interdependence, and moving from “voice” to influence in everyday practice and governance.
• Structural responsibility shifting inclusion from personal “goodwill” to enforceable, and resourced obligations.

Drawing on research exploring individual, family, and collective experiences, we learn from children the necessity of anti-ableist pedagogy as the foundation of all educational experiences – from the early years onwards. In conversation with AARE’s 2025 theme of New Connections and Directions for Educational Research, how can we connect and collaborate with children in generative ways to address individual, systemic and structural barriers and create a more inclusive future for every child?

Caregiver-implemented Hanen® programs: A narrative review of programs for children with speech, language and communication needs

Congratulations to Sarah Bartlett who has had her first journal article accepted for publication from her PhD: 

Bartlett, S. & McLeod, S. (2025, in press December). Caregiver-implemented Hanen® programs: A narrative review of programs for children with speech, language and communication needs. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology

Here is the abstract: 

Purpose: Hanen® programs have been used by clinicians to support caregivers of young children with communication needs to learn optimal ways to respond in everyday interactions and facilitate child-oriented strategies that promote interaction and language. This review aimed to evaluate peer-reviewed literature regarding Hanen® programs for children with speech, language, and communication needs regarding the credibility, nature, quality, scope of the research, and outcomes of the research findings.
Method: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol was used. Of 196 papers documenting Hanen® interventions, 57 papers met inclusion criteria. Studies were synthesized and evaluated to rate (a) credibility/ levels of evidence, (b) nature of existing research: efficacy, effectiveness, and perceived effectiveness, (c) quality of the studies, (d) scope of evidence, and (e) outcomes for each Hanen® program for children with speech, language, and communication needs.
 Results: Credibility: Studies of Hanen® programs were reviews (7%), randomized controlled trials (17.5%), non-randomized controlled trials and mixed methods (31.6%), case-control or cohort studies (26.3%), qualitative reviews (1.8%) or employed qualitative methods (15.7%). Nature: The majority were efficacy studies (57.9%), others were perceived effectiveness (24.6%), and effectiveness studies (8.8%). Quality: Few studies were rated as high quality. Scope: Most studies related to two Hanen® programs (It Takes Two To Talk® and More Than Words®) conducted across eleven countries (Canada, USA, Spain, Turkey, Republic of Ireland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Australia, Hong-Kong, Singapore, Malaysia), and a few studies evaluated adaptations of Hanen® programs (e.g., telehealth). The studies reported on dyad interactions; child language, behavior, and autism; and caregiver perceptions, stress, and self-efficacy. Outcomes: Evidence supporting significant communication outcomes for different programs exists; however mixed results demonstrate a variety of language, interaction, acceptability, feasibility, and maintenance outcomes. 
Conclusions: A range of evidence supports the use of Hanen® programs in its original format, with acceptability reported by families from target communities (e.g., middle class families) and educators (e.g., westernized countries). Effectiveness studies in real world contexts conclude that future research could evaluate content flexibility and adaptations to meet a diversity of families and communities. A precision family initiative (PFI) has been suggested to shift future research from does Hanen® work, to how can Hanen®-based intervention optimize outcomes for individual families.

CSU communications precinct and TV studio

We are so fortunate to have an amazing communication precinct and TV studio at CSU in Bathurst:

https://arts-ed.csu.edu.au/schools/information-communication-studies/communication-precinct

CVC features in this video (at the end):  

https://media-studio.csu.edu.au/w/roej6wGkA9R?key=bab6dec7e6a9559990657cbf70b47c0a

TEDx - Reimagining Schools for Belonging

Congratulations to A/Prof Brendon Hyndman whose TEDx talk Reimagining Schools for Belonging has now gone live. His message connects strongly with children’s voices, agency, belonging and their experiences in school environments. He stated that students want a place for: doing, thinking, feeling, and being. When these places are created he has seen teamwork, belonging, wellbeing, when those needs are ignored he has seen bullying and disconnection. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcgnwa25xr0

International Day of People with Disability

The International Day of People with Disability is held on 3rd December each year. Santiago Velasquez was selected for the 2025 ambassadorship program run by the Australian Government's Department of Social Services

• Announcement by Minister Jenny McAllister: https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/senator-the-hon-jenny-mcallister/media/international-day-of-people-with-disability-2025-ambassadors-announce
• Santiago Velasquez' individual video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=258EB0z2hlg&t=134s
• Videos for all the ambassadors: https://www.idpwd.com.au/about/our-ambassadors/

 

"Santiago Velasquez Hurtado is the CEO and founder of two companies, and an accomplished innovator and designer. Santiago utilises his lived experience and degree in electrical engineering to invent solutions to make the world more accessible. As a UN panellist, Churchill Fellow and TedX speaker, he is determined to change the way the world perceives people with disability."

 

Farewell Camilla and family

We have loved having Camilla Porsanger and family visiting the Children's Voices Centre over the past few months. Camilla is undertaking her PhD through Nord University in Norway focusing on Sami children's language learning. We have learned so much from Camilla and her family and will miss them. We look forward to ongoing collaborations.

 

 

Multilingual Aspects of Children's Speech Sounds (2nd edition) - almost ready to submit

Our latest edited book, "Multilingual Aspects of Children's Speech Sounds (2nd edition)" is almost ready to submit to Multilingual Matters. The book is edited by Helen Blake, Kate Margetson, Brian Goldstein and myself. It contains 32 chapters written by authors from across the world. We met with Brian and some of the authors in Washington DC at the ASHA convention last week - then with Kate in Australia today. We have benefited from the excellent copy editing from Mark Filmer at CSU. Nearly finished.

Helen, Sharynne  and Kate - 2 December

Sharynne, Brian, Christina Gildersleeve-Neumann (chapter author) and Helen in Washington DC - 21 November

 

 

Sound Effects Study Drawing Protocol now online

The Sound Effects Study Drawing Protocol is now online 

https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/speech-assessments/

CVC impact

A/Prof Kathy Cologon has been providing evidence at the Australian Government's Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative - https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Health_Aged_Care_and_Disability/ThrivingKidsinitiative

CVC submissions to government and global organizations

 The Children's Voices Centre has worked with children to create a number of submissions: 

• Submission to Review of the Australian Disability Discrimination Act (Nov, 2025)
• Submission to World Health Organization Disability Health Equity Network (Nov, 2025) (https://cdn.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/4506148/CVC-Children-draw-health-2025-Fiji-submission.pdf)
• Submission to United Nations Human Rights 75 Youth Declaration (https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/youth/hr75/submissions/subm-views-youth-led-cso-early-childhood-interdisciplinary-resear.pdf)

 

Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals by listening to children’s voices across the globe

Our Children's Voices Centre has collaborated to write another paper based on the informative Children Draw Talking data set - and it has just been accepted for publication. Hooray!

Gregoric, C., McLeod, S., Hopf, S. C., Downey, B., Rahman, A., Sikder, S., Zischke, C., Tran, V. H., Murray, E., McAlister, H., Ivory, N., Delli-Pizzi, L., Elwick, S., Dealtry, L., Davies, J. (2025, in press November). Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals by listening to children’s voices across the globe. Child Language Teaching and Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590251406102 

Here is the abstract:

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations, 2015) represent a global agenda for achieving a sustainable future for people and the planet to inform decision and policy making at all levels. Children should have a significant voice in shaping the world they will inherit; indeed, SDG 17 is focussed on partnership for the goals. The aim of the present study was to investigate which SDGs are depicted in children’s drawings of themselves talking to provide researchers and policy makers insights into their perceptions about, and solutions for, the SDGs. The Children Draw Talking Global Online Gallery (https://www.csu.edu.au/research/childrens-voices-centre/research/childrens-voices) included 200 drawings from children from 24 countries. Children aged 2–12 years responded to the online prompt “draw yourself talking” and submitted their drawing and explanation. A 15-member interdisciplinary research team analysed the drawings to determine their alignment with the seventeen SDGs. Most of the 200 drawings (n = 191, 95.5%) could be coded with at least one SDG. Overall, there were 359 representations of SDGs coded across the data set of 200 drawings. Many children highlighted access to green public spaces and housing (SDG11), education (SDG 4), and decision-making (SDG 16) while others portrayed reducing inequality (SDG 10) and addressing poverty (SDG 1). This research demonstrated that children may be implicitly aware of factors related to the Sustainable Development Goals across their lives and provides an exemplar of how children’s voices could be included by inviting them to contribute drawings.  

CSU Research Showcase - Nov 2025

It is an honour to have our research included in the CSU Research Showcase for November 2025

https://cdn.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/4517562/The-research-showcase_November25.pdf 

 

Camilla's presentation to the School of Indigenous Australian Studies

Giitu (thank you) Camilla Porsanger for your excellent presentation to the students in the School of Indigenous Australian Studies (SIAS) organised by Sharnie Hurford. Camilla is a visiting scholar in the Children's Voices Centre and SIAS - we have learned so much from her.

Back to the Children's Voices Centre and The Treehouse

It is such a joy to return to the Children's Voices Centre and The Treehouse after two weeks of travel to WHO in Geneva and ASHA in Washington DC. What a welcoming place. Our team has been so productive during November - and we have enjoyed catching up on the exciting happenings.

Matt Stapleton's visit to CVC

It was a pleasure to have Matt Stapleton visit CVC this week. Matt has collaborated with colleagues at CSU on an ARC project Babies in Groups and his work is centred on infants’ groups, communication, belonging and participation, and how research sits alongside day-to-day practice in his two early childhood education and care services in NSW. We look forward to ongoing conversations and collaborations.

Here are some of his publications:  

Stapleton, M., Bradley, B. S. & Selby, J. (2025). Adopting a Group-Based Approach to Infant Sociability, Peer Relations and Wellbeing. In G. Quinones, A. Delaune (Eds.). Wellbeing for Infants and Toddlers in Education and Care. Springer.

Bradley, B. S., Selby, J., & Stapleton, M. (2024). Babies in Groups: Expanding Imaginations. Oxford University Press. 

Grants - submissions and outcomes

It is hard to get research grants - there is limited funding and lots of amazing ideas being generated across the world. We have been working hard to submit a number of grants over the past year - including in the past two weeks. I hope that some of our grants that are currently in submission are funded - we have capacity to change practices that impact children across the world.

Four grants submitted in Nov/Dec by Kathy, Tamara and myself

Today I learned that one large collaborative grant that I submitted with colleagues at universities across Australia was not funded in the ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2026 announcement yesterday. https://www.arc.gov.au/news-publications/media/network-messages/announcement-grants-linkage-infrastructure-equipment-and-facilities-2026 What a shame it was a good project bringing amazing minds together to do good work. Congratulations to the teams working on the important projects that were funded.  

Bathurst Regional Art Gallery Exhibition - Children Draw Health

Our Children Draw Health global online gallery is now an exhibit at the Bathurst Regional Art Gallery

https://bathurstart.com.au/exhibitions-events/cvc-children-draw-health/

A/Prof Tamara Cumming spoke about our artwork at the BRAG launch last night

Here is the information from BRAG about the exhibition

BRAG presents Children Draw Health by the Children's Voices Centre on the OUT THERE Digital Platforms | Forecourt Projector.

The Children’s Voices Centre is a Charles Sturt University Research Centre that conducts world-leading, transformative interdisciplinary research with, for and about children. It creates opportunities for all children to express their perspectives, share their knowledge, and be listened to with respect and action.

The Children Draw Health project invited children from across the world to draw or create a picture of their perspectives about health and healthcare, then answer a few quick questions to describe their creation. 126 drawings by children from 18 countries (Australia, Botswana, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Kenya, Malta, Netherlands, Rwanda, Thailand, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States) were received in response to the prompts: What makes you healthy? Who helps you be healthy? Where do you go to get healthier? What would your ideal hospital or health service look like?

In 2025 the Children’s Voices Centre presented this research at the 76th Session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (RCM76) in Nadi, Fiji.

At BRAG, Children Draw Health will be visible after dark in the Gallery/Library Forecourt, showcasing the incredible drawings and responses by children from Bathurst and the world until 25 January 2026. 

 

Grants submitted

In amongst all of the business in Bathurst and across the world for CVC staff members - we have also submitted grants to (hopefully) work on a new exciting project promoting the voices of unheard children. Thanks especially to A/Prof Tamara Cumming and A/Prof Kathy Cologon and the support from the CSU grants office. Fingers crossed.

Three papers published in the latest issue of LSHSS!

A colleague at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention alerted me to the fact that our team has had THREE papers published in the latest issue of ASHA's Q1 journal - Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. Congratulations CVC team!

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, 56(4), 1088-1109. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_LSHSS-23-00190 

Margetson, K., McLeod, S., & Verdon, S. (2025). Cross-Linguistic Transfer in Vietnamese–English Speech. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 56(4), 1192-1216. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_LSHSS-25-00046 

Doornik, A. v., Franken, M.-C., McLeod, S., Terband, H., & Gerrits, E. (2025). Children's, Parents', and Experts' Perception of Speech and Communication. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 56(4), 1042-1053. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_LSHSS-24-00140 

World Children’s Day celebrations with the United Nations - 20 November 2025

From Regional Roots to Global Impact: Kids Interview UN Changemaker David Ohana

The CSU Advancement Office worked with the Children's Voices Centre (CVC) to create an online event to celebrate World Children’s Day on 20 November. The event profiled CSU alumnus David Ohana, Chief Communications & Marketing Officer, United Nations Foundation as a guest speaker https://unfoundation.org/who-we-are/our-people/david-ohana/

• 30 minutes ‘in conversation’ interview with David led by CVC children
• 30 minutes to talk about CVC/current research and projects, and fundraising call to actions.   

https://alumni.csu.edu.au/news-and-events/events/industry/from-regional-roots-to-global-impact-kids-interview-un-changemaker-david-ohana 

WOW! The children's questions were so enlightening - and David's stories were so inspiring. Congratulations to A/Prof Kathy Cologon and A/Prof Tamara Cumming who organised the event. I was in Washington DC - so watched online...

Join us this World Children’s Day for an inspiring free online event celebrating the power of children’s voices. Hosted by the Children’s Voices Centre, this free event features Charles Sturt alumnus David Ohana, now Chief Communications & Marketing Officer at the United Nations
Foundation (based in Washington DC), with a panel of curious young interviewers. In a playful reversal of roles the children will lead the discussion, asking David about his journey from
regional Australia to the global stage, his work in international advocacy, and what it means to create real change for young people around the world. Alongside this conversation, the Children’s Voices Centre will share stories from their inspiring, child-led research projects and their vision for a future where every child is heard, valued, and supported to thrive. Join us in celebrating the voices that shape tomorrow, because when children are heard, the world changes for the better.
Date: Thursday 20 November 2025
Time: 10.00am - 11.00am AEDT
Where: Online via Zoom.
Cost: Free (donations to the Children’s Voices
Centre Little Library Project welcomed).
If you are unable to attend the livestream, we encourage you to register regardless. A recording of the event will be sent to all registered participants.  From regional roots to global impact: Kids Interview UN Changemaker David Ohana

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, Washington DC

This week Dr Helen Blake and I are attending and presenting at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention in Washington DC. This year ASHA is celebrating its centenary - 100 years.

Here are our presentations:

• Invited 2-Hour Short Course - Culturally Appropriate Assessment of Multilingual Children in International Contexts - Thu 10:30 am SC03 - Sharynne  McLeod, Helen L. Blake, Kate Margetson, Krisztina Zjado
• Technical Research - Community Support For Indigenous Children’s Speech, Language and Communication - Fri 9:30 am 4602L 
• Technical Research - Children’s experience and understanding of intensive speech intervention: "...made my tongue dry up" - Sat 3:00 pm 4734L  

Culturally Appropriate Assessment of Multilingual Children in International Contexts - Helen L. Blake, Sharynne  McLeod,  Krisztina Zjado

Culturally Appropriate Assessment of Multilingual Children in International Contexts

 

ASHA is always a time of catching up with friends and colleagues from across the world - and making new friends and colleagues. 

Sharynne McLeod, Gregg Lof, Rhea Paul

Sharynne  McLeod, Rebecca McCauley, Lynn Williams

Helen Blake and Sharynne  McLeod on day 1

 

Prof Karla Washington, Sharynne McLeod, Nicole Bazzocchi, Helen Blake

Current and Past ASHA staff: Brooke Hallowell, Vicki Deal-Williams (ASHA CEO) Lynn Williams, Arlene Pietrantron, Sharynne  McLeod