Interventions presented at the World Health Organization Regional Commmittee Meeting for the Western Pacific

During the World Health Organization Regional Commmittee Meeting for the Western Pacific I presented two interventions on behalf of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) relating to:

• Agenda item 11 - Oral Health
  
• Agenda item 13 - Digital Health 
  
  

I thank Fiona Given, Meredith Allan, Shaun McCarthy and Bronwyn Hemsley for their insightful paper that I quoted in the intervention discussing digital health.

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

Prof Sharynne McLeod reading the intervention regarding people with communication disability at the WHO meeting in Manila, Philippines (from the perspective of the Chairperson)

 

I was honoured to read the intervention on Digital Health on the morning of Thursday 24th October. Here is the #RCM75 YouTube channel for Day 4 with my  IALP intervention (53:00 – 57:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvgPIaZKlo0

Seventy-fifth session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific

This week (21 to 25 October 2024) I am honoured to represent the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) at the Seventy-fifth session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (RCM75) in Manila, the Philippines. 

Dr Ferdiliza Garcia (IALP, Philippines), Honourable Vainetutai Rose Toki-Brown (Chairperson, Cook Islands) Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala (WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Tonga), Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod (IALP, CSU, Australia)

I was invited to present an intervention addressing communication disability. Here is the #RCM75 YouTube channel for Day 4 with my  IALP intervention (53:00 – 57:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvgPIaZKlo0

Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod presenting an intervention at WHO RCM75 in Manila

My colleague, Dr Ferdiliza Garcia from the University of the Philippines is also representing IALP and we have been promoting the right to communicate and the work of IALP in WHO's goal of "reaching the unreached" sharing IALP's book "The Unserved – Addressing the needs of those with communication disorders".

Prof Sharynne McLeod and Dr Ferdzila Garcia representing the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) at the Seventy-fifth session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (RCM75) in Manila, the Philippines

"Weaving Health for Families, Communities and Societies in the Western Pacific Region (2025−2029): Working together to improve health and well-being and save lives" is the vision presented by the first-ever WHO Regional Director from the Pacific - Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala.

"Our societies need to be better organized to support health systems that are inclusive and respectful of diversity – regardless of disability, race, ethnicity or gender – in order to combat inequity."

During Monday's discussion Dr Saia exhorted everyone: “We must do this work with our hearts – not just our minds”

The 2024 theme is "Weaving Health for All"

• WHO documents: https://www.who.int/westernpacific/about/governance/regional-committee/session-75/documents
• Live statements will be published at https://rcm.wpro.who.int/NSAstatements

The Regional Director's dinner was a celebration of cultures and accomplishments over the past year.

Catching up with Pauline McNeil, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Solomon Islands at the Regional Director's Dinner (my PhD student Holly McAlister will visit Pauline and the Solomon Islands later this years as part of her PhD)

The Regional Committee sang "Stand by me"

WHO Western Pacific has implemented a zero alcohol policy
- so the conference dinner has coconuts

Charles Sturt continues to be a global leader in sustainability

CSU News has just announced that "Charles Sturt University holds its status as a global leader in gender equality, climate action and other sustainable practices as recognised within the 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings." https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/charles-sturt-continues-to-be-a-global-leader-in-climate-action,-gender-equality-and-sustainability

• SDG5 - Gender equality - 33rd in the world (top 2%)
  
• SDG13 - Climate action - 48th in the world (top 5%)
• SDG15 - Life on land - 72nd in the world (top 10%)
• SDG17- Partnership for the goals - 99th in the world (top 5%)

"THE’s Impact rankings are the only global University rankings that measure progress towards the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. They evaluate our university programs and initiatives including research, teaching and learning, partnerships and engagement, and facilities and operations." DVC-R Mark Evans

Invited presentation to the Cylch Ieithyddiaeth/Bangor Linguistics Circle

I was honoured to be invited to speak to the staff and students at Bangor University https://www.bangor.ac.uk/ and the Cylch Ieithyddiaeth/Bangor Linguistics Circle. Thank you to Bethan Collins who organised the event and to the engaged students and staff who attended.

Here is the title of my presentation: Communication professionals need to advocate for communication rights and the Sustainable Development Goals

Here is the abstract:

Communication is a human right for all. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression… regardless of frontiers” (Article 19, United Nations, 1948). As communication professionals, we have the power to enhance everyone’s participation in day-to-day life, families, communities, and society. When we support everyone’s ability to communicate, we contribute to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the five pillars of the 2030 Agenda: people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnerships.

McLeod, S. (2018). Communication rights: Fundamental human rights for all. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2018.1428687

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

Thank you Bethan Collins (PhD student) who organised the event

Some of the audience in Bangor and online

 

During my conversations I learned about Bangor University's commitment to sustainability and Prof Thora Tenbrink's work. She is Professor of Linguistics and Dean of Research at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Bangor University:

• Director of the Places of Climate Change Research Centre at Bangor University https://www.bangor.ac.uk/plocc and Co-leading the PATCCh WISERD research network (Place-based Approaches To Climate Change)  https://wiserd.ac.uk/project/patcch-network/
  
• Involved in the Public Map Platform project, which gives children on the island of Anglesey a voice regarding their local place, expressed through various arts methods in addition to language (https://publicmap.org/en)
  
• Part of the Rural Wales Local Policy and Innovation Partnership which aims at co-creating solutions to local challenges through communication with rural communities https://www.arsyllfa.cymru/cymru-wledig-lpip-rural-wales-phase-two/
  

 

Finally, I love this message on emails from the university as it encourages multilingualism: 

"Mae croeso i chi gysylltu gyda'r Brifysgol yn Gymraeg neu Saesneg. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi. You are welcome to contact the University in Welsh or English. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to delay."

An eloquent description of the impact of our work

I recently came upon this eloquent description of the impact our work we have presented to the UN: 

"By virtue of linking SLT [speech and language therapy] with Human Rights and the UN 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, McLeod and colleagues fundamentally decentred the traditional medical model. Instead, they harnessed frameworks that specifically acknowledge and seek to address issues of injustice and inequalities, hence affording greater alignment with the current reframing of the profession under social justice movements" (Gréaux, 2024)

McLeod, S. (2018). Communication rights: Fundamental human rights for all. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2018.1428687 

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

Gréaux, M. (2024). Speech and language therapy workforce diversity: Three studies under an increasing transformative research framework. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Cambridge.

Reporting Sustainable Development Goals at CSU

Today I met with the CSU team who document our engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

Dale Curran, Ben Heard, Sharynne McLeod, Dr Emmaline Lear

I have just found the updated URL for our Speech Pathology Australia pages reporting our SDGs research: https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/Public/Public/About-Us/Advocacy/Communication-swallowing-SDG.aspx

Presentations about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2023

I have been honoured to provide international presentations about Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) this year promoting our special issue of the Q1 journal: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17549507.2022.2160494 and have been pleased to learn that during 2023 the special issue has had 40,703 downloads and has a mean citation rate of 2.28 

Presentations during 2023 have included: 

• McLeod, S. & Marshall, J. E. (2023, November). Speech-language pathologists and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. [Oral presentation]. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, Boston, MA USA. 
• McLeod, S. & Marshall, J. E. (2023, August). Speech-language pathology and its contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP), Auckland, New Zealand. 
• McLeod, S. & Marshall, J. E. (2023, May). Communication, swallowing and the Sustainable Development Goals. Speech Pathology Australia National Conference, Hobart, Australia
• McLeod, S. & Marshall, J. E. (2023, August). International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association (ICPLA), Salzburg, Austria
• Marshall, J. E. & McLeod, S. (2023, September). XXXIII Congreso Internacional AELFA-IF Santande, Spain

ASHA, Boston, MA, USA

 

SPA, Hobart, Australia

IALP, Auckland, New Zealand

IALP, Auckland, New Zealand

I presented the special issue at the World Health Organization in Manila, Philippines in October.

World Health Organization in Manila, Philippines

I have also presented seminars/workshops at

• Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
• University of Iceland, Iceland

In 2024 I have presentations scheduled for 

• University of Bristol, UK
• 23rd Congress of Otorhinolaryngology Foundation, Brazil
  

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, Boston, MA, USA

It is exciting to be in Boston for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention. Our team is presenting a number of papers and seminars, including:

1. McLeod, S., Blake, H. L., Crowe, K., Louw, B., Farquharson, K., Bérubé, D., Goldstein, B., Babatsouli, E., Kakia Petinou, Zajdó, K., Washington, K. N., Auza, A, Buntová, D., Oravkinová, Z., & Masdottir, T. (2023, November). Children’s speech development in 70+ languages and dialects. [1-hour oral presentation]. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, Boston, MA, USA. 

2. Ireland, M., Verdon, S., & McLeod, S. (2023, November). Team decision making for SLPs in schools: Tensions and the impact of rules. [Oral presentation]. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, Boston, MA, USA. 

3. McLeod, S. & Marshall, J. E. (2023, November). Speech-language pathologists and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. [Oral presentation]. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, Boston, MA USA. 

4. Washington, K., Crowe, K., McLeod, S., Margetson, K., Kokotek, L., van der Straten Waillet, P., Masdottir, T., Volhardt, M. (2023, November). Methods for accurate differential diagnosis of speech sound disorder in multilingual children. [1-hour oral presentation]. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, Boston, MA USA.  

 The final attendance numbers are: 15,904 (1,458 – Virtual Only 14,446 – In Person)

 

RCSLT conference presentation about SDGs

Prof. Julie Marshall and I are presented a paper at the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists' Conference (1-2 November, 2023). This conference was held online https://www.rcslt.org/events/rcslt-conference-2023/

Keynote with Julie Marshall - XXXIII Congreso Internacional AELFA-IF Santander, Spain

This week Prof Julie Marshall presented a keynote address at the XXXIII Congreso Internacional AELFA-IF Santander, Spain describing our work on Communication, Swallowing and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based on our special issue of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology published earlier this year.

Communication and the SDGs at the IALP World Congress

Communication and the Sustainable Development Goals were profiled during the 32nd World Congress of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) in Auckland, New Zealand. 

Speech Pathology Australia had copies of our special issue of IJSLP available for delegates.

https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/iasl20/25/1

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17549507.2022.2160494

Julie Marshall and I presented a session titled "Speech-Language Pathology and its Contribution to Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals"

Authors in the IJSLP special issue

Prof Sharynne McLeod, Prof Julie Marshall, A/Prof Natalie Munro (IJSLP Editor)

SPA Deputy CEO, Prof Lindy McAllister, Prof Sharynne McLeod, SPA CEO, Nicole P

 

 We discussed papers within the special issue with authors

The representatives at Cochlear were interested in the paper written by Graeme Clark, inventor of the Cochlear implant: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17549507.2022.2142290

ECV2022 is included in CSU's 2022 Sustainable Development Goals report

Emmaline Lear (Manager Researcher Development, Office of Research Services and Graduate Studies) contacted us about including ECV2022 in CSU's 2022 Sustainable Development Goals report. 

• CSU's 2021 report: https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/267639799/M1507_Charles_Sturt_SDG_Report_2022_WEB_V2.pdf (VietSpeech was profiled on page 17)
  
• CSU's 2020 report: https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/175209220/Charles_Sturt_University_2020_SDG_report.pdf 

Here is our text that will be used in the 2022 report

The Early Childhood Voices 2022 Conference (ECV2022) was a multidisciplinary international conference held over five days by the Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Group. This was the second bi-annual conference to share research about innovative methods, theories and partnerships with children, families and practitioners. The conference is held entirely online and asynchronously and is free for presenters and attendees, drawing on Charles Sturt’s motto “for the public good”. Researchers and post-graduate students were invited to submit abstracts to share their work on innovations to improve the lives of children, families and practitioners during early childhood (generally birth-8 years) or within the early childhood sector. Children were also invited to contribute to draw their story of ‘talking’ that was hosted in an Online Gallery and five yarning circles were held for synchronous conversations. After peer review, ECV2022 accepted six keynote presentations and 99 oral presentations from 25 countries, all aligned with relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Online Gallery showcased 191 children’s drawings and around 80 participants connected in the Yarning Circles to talk about topics like families, communication, children’s rights and the SDGs. ECV2022 overall participation included 1,956 registrations from 72 countries, 6,431 website views from 1,358 users, and over 3,500 YouTube views of the presentations including 243 hours of viewing. ECV2022 achieved their aim to support social justice during early childhood and within the early childhood sector across the world.

Interactive content links:

• https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2022/organising-committee/ 
• https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2022/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ECV2022-BOOK-FINAL-v2.pdf

Sustainable Development Goals, Communication and Swallowing

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs https://sdgs.un.org/goals) “provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future” (United Nations, 2015). Each of the 17 SDGs impacts the world’s citizens and the United Nations encourages strong commitment by all stakeholders, to achieve these goals. Communication for all is essential for the achievement of the SDGs and everyone has a role.

Professor Sharynne McLeod (CSU) and Professor Julie Marshall (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) were the guest editors of a special issue of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology titled “Communication, Swallowing and the Sustainable Development Goals” (open access - https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/iasl20/25/1). Thirty-six papers, by authors from 36 countries, between them addressed all of the 17 SDGs, demonstrating the importance of communication and swallowing to their achievement. The 36 papers were written by authors who work in Australia, Austria, Benin, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, China, Columbia, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Greece, Iceland, India, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Mozambique, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, State of Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Serbia, South Africa, Uganda, UK, USA, Vietnam. Innovations by communication professionals and researchers focussed on poverty, hunger, health, education, work, innovation, climate, cities, land, oceans, justice, and partnerships. This special issue supports the international call for SDG 18: Communication for All. 

• The following paper presents an overview of the special issue: 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 
• Professor Sharynne McLeod launched the special issue at a plenary session of the Speech Pathology Australia national conference in Hobart in May. 
• Throughout 2023 she has/will co-present with Professor Marshall about the special issue at conferences and seminars in Salzburg (Austria), Manchester (UK), Auckland (NZ), Santander (Spain) and Boston (USA). 
• Speech Pathology Australia has a webpage devoted to the special issue (https://bit.ly/SPAWEB_CSSDG) Additionally, 
• Speech Pathology Australia has launched a podcast on Soundcloud titled “UN Sustainable Development Goals: How speech pathologists can support peace and prosperity for people and the planet”: https://soundcloud.com/speechpathologyaustralia/un-sustainable-development-goals-how-speech-pathologists-can-support-peace-and-prosperity-s05e18

Celebrating the submission of our Springer book

This morning the editors of "Early childhood voices in the lives of children, families, and professionals" joined together via Zoom to celebrate the submission of our book to Springer.

Here is information about the Table of Contents:  https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/2023/08/submitted-early-childhood-voices-in.html

Editors - Dr Linda Mahony, Prof Sharynne McLeod, Jenny Dwyer, Dr Andi Salamon

 

Here is the Foreword written by Prof Fran Press

This book is a remarkable achievement. It draws together scholars from an array of disciplines, from across the world, to interrogate what it means to elicit and engage meaningfully with the many languages of very young children. Steeped in a commitment to children’s rights, each chapter is also mapped against the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These Goals ‘recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests’. (United Nations https://sdgs.un.org/goals)

It is a testament to the richness and breadth of this edited collection that it traverses multiple dimensions of children’s experiences on the planet, including home and family, the early childhood setting, friendship, the experience and aftermath of climate change impacts, and the disruption of the pandemic. It asks us to consider how we can address gender inequalities by actively engaging young girls in the early childhood setting in STEM. It asks us to consider how the mathematical graphics of young children are a form of children’s expression. Many of the chapters provoke us to be better at redressing the inequalities and/or disadvantages children might face.

A theme that runs throughout the book is the central role of communication. As Kemmis and Salamon remind us, the practice of communication not only creates a pathway for children to participate in the decisions that affect them (CRC Article 3), but it is also integral to our understanding and construction of the world. Through thoughtful and research informed contributions, the book’s authors cause us to reflect upon how we, as adults, might consciously tune in and recognise children’s many languages, including the embodied social and emotional language (Salamon) that accompanies or precedes verbal language. A number of chapters offer specific models or tools that we can draw upon to better obtain children’s insights and perspectives. The framework for children’s participation proposed by Ward and Lundy, for example, creates the conditions which invite and validate children’s perspectives but also recognises that adults may need to play an additional role in providing children access to information that enables them to form a view.

As language plays such a central role in communication, other chapters specifically address issues concerning children’s speech and language including interventions for children’s language acquisition. Some of these contributions illuminate the multilingual worlds that children inhabit and the multilingualism that many children practice and are adept in. Children’s right to maintain their home language is highlighted. These chapters are written with a consciousness of the trap of cultural specificity and how this can colour or limit our capacity as adult ‘experts’ to closely listen to children and, if required, provide appropriate support for speech development.

The rich insights to be gained from these collective offerings underscore both universality and particularity. Through these writings we can see where a shared experience such as the pandemic gave rise to unique and creative responses to reaching children and their families so that children could continue their educations (CRC Article 29), while also bringing into sharp relief the inequalities that exist within and between nations, that the SDGs exhort us to address.

It is incumbent upon adults to uphold children’s rights and to design and implement strategies that strive to attain the SDGs. Professionals who work with young children need to consciously seek ways to activate children’s rights backed by, as Downey et al. remind us, leadership that ensures ethical practices toward children. In doing so, we not only respect the right of the individual child, but we also work toward the collective good of all children.

In closing, I would like to acknowledge to all the authors, that I felt honoured to be invited to write the foreword for this book, and deeply appreciative of its content.

Professor Frances Press, Head and Dean, Education and Professional Studies Griffith University, Australia

ICPLA19 - Poster presentations

Australians have presented three posters at the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association (ICPLA) symposium:

• Poster #17 Caitlin Hurley, Sharynne McLeod and Robert Anthonappa: Children’s speech and premature loss of primary maxillary incisors
• Poster # 27 Sharynne McLeod and Julie Marshall: Accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goals requires communication
• Poster #36 Kate Crowe, Harpa Stefánsdóttir, Egill Magnússon, Mark Guiberson, Thora Másdóttir, Ösp Vilberg Baldursdóttir and Inga Ágústsdóttir: How is speech intelligibility measured for children who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing

Caitlin Hurley and Sharynne

Kate Crowe

Kate Crowe and Sharynne

"The Sustainable Development Goals, Communication and You" - presentation at CSU

The Sustainable Development Goals, Communication and You 

Professor Sharynne McLeod, School of Education 

19 June 2023 1-2pm

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs https://sdgs.un.org/goals) “provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future” (UN, 2015). Each of the 17 SDGs impacts the world’s citizens and the United Nations encourages strong commitment by all stakeholders, to achieve these goals. Communication is central to the accomplishment of the SDGs and requires action from communication professionals, researchers, people with communication disability, their families and communities. This presentation will address the role of communication across the 17 SDGs by summarizing 36 papers published in a 2023 special issue of International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (open access - https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/iasl20/25/1). The 36 papers were written by authors who work in Australia, Austria, Benin, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, China, Columbia, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Greece, Iceland, India, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Mozambique, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, State of Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Serbia, South Africa, Uganda, UK, USA, Vietnam. Innovations by communication professionals and researchers have focussed on poverty, hunger, health, education, work, innovation, climate, cities, land, oceans, justice, and partnerships. This research supports the international call for SDG 18: Communication for All. Communication for all is essential for the achievement of the SDGs and everyone has a role.

Professor Sue Green gave this insightful feedback

THE Impact Rankings 2023

THE (Times Higher Education) Impact Rankings 2023 were announced in June 2023 with Charles Sturt performing strongly at 79th worldwide. Charles Sturt is in the top 5% and remained in the top 100 out of 1,591 participating universities. 

For individual Sustainable Development Goals, Charles Sturt ranked in the 

• top 1% for global partnerships towards the goals (SDG 17), 
• top 3% for gender equality (SDG 5), 
• top 5% for clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), and 
• top 7% per cent for life on land (SDG 15).

Keynote presentation to XXXIII Congreso Internacional AELFA-IF Santander 2023

I have been invited to be a keynote speaker at XXXIII Congreso Internacional AELFA-IF Santander, Spain with my colleague Professor Julie Marshall from Manchester Metropolitan University to speak about "Communication and Swallowing Disability and the United Nations' Agenda 2030: Meeting the challenges of the next seven years"

SDGs podcast for Speech Pathology Australia

Prof Julie Marshall and I were interviewed by Nathan Cornish-Raley for a Speech Pathology Australia podcast in the Speak Up series. We were interviewed about the special issue of the International Journal of Speech-Langauge Pathology focussing on the Sustainable Development Goals. The episode has just been released on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/speechpathologyaustralia/un-sustainable-development-goals-how-speech-pathologists-can-support-peace-and-prosperity-s05e18

Here are some of Nathan's excellent questions that we discussed:

• You received a lot of submissions on this topic: 36 articles. Did you think you would get that type of a response? What does that tell us about how speech pathologists see themselves and communication positioned in global, sustainable development?
• Can you give us an overview of the 17 SDGs? How did they come to be and what is next for them? · There’s an emphasis throughout the work on global partnerships and co-constructing change with local communities or people with lived experience
• Were there any “lessons-learned” about partnerships and multi-directional learning that stood out to you? · What were some of the things you discovered, or interesting perspectives on sustainability that you found during this project? 
•  There is an international call for an additional Sustainable Development Goal: SDG 18: Communication for All. Tell us about this. Where does it fit within this sustainable development? What movement has already happened in this space? How can speech pathologists help move this forward?

Keynote presentation at III International Congress of the Portuguese Society of Speech Therapy

Tonight I was honoured to be the keynote speaker at the III International Congress of the Portuguese Society of Speech Therapy in Lisboa/Lisbon (from Australia). My keynote presentation was titled “Enhancing children’s speech using international evidence-based resources”. I was live tweeting links throughout my presentation @SharynneMcLeod. https://sptf.org.pt/iii-congresso-internacional-sptf/

Here is more information from my blog: https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/2023/05/keynote-presentation-for-iii.html