Economic Value of Speech Pathology Services focus group

This morning I was invited to participate in a Speech Pathology Australia focus group with Nous Group to discuss an analytical framework to consider speech pathology services for early childhood. Their brief is to consider "Economic Value of Speech Pathology Services" Many of our population and intervention studies were relevant to the conversation. This provocation provides a summary of lots of the topics we discussed this morning:

https://provocations.csu.edu.au/communication-is-a-human-right-but-not-everyone-can-communicate-effectively/

 

Technical Expert Group for WHO Global Health Policy and Systems Research Agenda on Disability Health Equity (2026 - 2030)

I am one of 25 people across the world who have been selected by the World Health Organization to be a member of the Technical Expert Group for WHO Global Health Policy and Systems Research Agenda on Disability Health Equity (2026 - 2030). What an honour.

Objectives of the Global Research Agenda
Overall Goal: The WHO Global Research Agenda will guide research that generates the evidence policymakers need to reduce health inequities experienced by persons with disabilities.  

1. Define the key knowledge gaps and research areas for evidence generation on health equity for persons with disabilities at a global level over the next five years (from 2026 – 2030).
2. Strengthen knowledge production for evidence-informed policies, plans and practices relating to disability inclusion in health systems strengthening and primary health care.
3. Build research capacity on health equity for persons with disabilities by creating a framework for research priorities to be applied and further contextualized at the regional and national levels.

Background

Persons with disabilities – an estimated 16% of the global population – experience health inequities, as they die up to 20 years earlier and have poorer health compared to persons without disabilities, due to unjust or unfair conditions at all levels of health systems and society. The WHO Global Report on Health Equity for Persons with Disabilities calls on policymakers to take action on disability inclusion in health systems strengthening efforts at country level, including by establishing national agendas for health policy and systems research.i
Health policy and systems research seeks “to understand and improve how societies organize themselves in achieving collective health goals, and how different actors interact in the policy and implementation processes to contribute to policy outcomes”.ii Health policy and systems research on disability health equity would explore a wide range of system-level questions − from financing to governance, through to issues surrounding the implementation of services and delivery of care, to the role of social determinants of health and the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders across sectors. Such research is crucial for policymakers to make informed decisions about which actions will contribute to the realization of universal health coverage (UHC), and to the smooth coordination between sectors, when advancing health equity for persons with disabilities.iii
There is currently no global health policy and system research agenda on health equity for persons with disabilities, but there is a growing need and demand for such a resource and approach. The World Health Assembly Resolution 74.8 on the “Highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities” requested WHO to support Member States with "the creation of a global research agenda that aligns with UHC, health emergencies and health and well-being, including health systems and policy research”.iv

Voice of Children Framework consultation

I was invited by Prof Fran Press, Dr Jenny Cartmel and colleagues at Griffith University to be part of the consultation on the Voice of Children Framework. 

It was an important meeting with key people across Australia. I was able to add insights to their analysis paper including our work about listening to children whose voices are often marginalized including:

• Children with diverse abilities, including communication disabilities
• Children who speak non-dominant languages, including multilingual children
  
• Children who live in rural and remote locations 

Our new Children's Voices Centre will focus on listening to children and will draw on the previous work of the Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Group. For example

• ECV2022 Children Draw Talking Global Online Gallery included drawings from 200 children from 24 countries- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRXcSAl_dA7YoGpVsg-oyKe3et80WnfVl. 
• These children’s insights were shared with the United Nations: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/youth/hr75/submissions/subm-views-youth-led-cso-early-childhood-interdisciplinary-resear.pdf

Here is a selection of the work we have published to listen to children:

Books

• Mahony, L., McLeod, S., Salamon, A., & Dwyer, J. (Eds.). (2024). Early childhood voices: Children, families, professionals. Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-56484-0 
• Roulstone, S., & McLeod, S. (Eds.). (2011). Listening to children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. J&R Press. http://www.jr-press.co.uk/communication-needs.html 
  

Communication rights for all

• 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
• Mahony, L., McLeod, S., Salamon, A., Dwyer, J. (2024). Why the voices of young children matter. In L. Mahony, S. McLeod, A. Salamon, & J. Dwyer (Eds.) Early childhood voices: Children, families, professionals.  Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56484-0_1  
• McLeod, S., Gregoric, C., Cumming, T., Downey, B. (2024). Refusing to silence early childhood voices: The establishment of the Early Childhood Voices Conference. In L. Mahony, S. McLeod, A. Salamon, & J. Dwyer (Eds.) Early childhood voices: Children, families, professionals.  Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56484-0_18
• Sumsion, J., Harrison, L. J., Press, F., McLeod, S., Goodfellow, J., & Bradley, B. S. (2011). Researching infants' experiences of early childhood education and care. In D. Harcourt, B. Perry, & T. Waller (Eds.), Researching Young Children's Perspectives: Debating the Ethics and Dilemmas of Educational Research with Children (pp. 113–127). Routledge. 
  

Children with communication disability

• McCormack, J., McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., & Holliday, E. L. (2022). Drawing talking: Listening to children with speech sound disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(3), 713-731. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00140 
• McLeod, S. (2011). Listening to children and young people with speech, language and communication needs: Who, why and how? In S. Roulstone & S. McLeod (Eds.), Listening to children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. (pp. 23–40). J&R Press.
• McCormack, J., McLeod, S., McAllister, L., & Harrison, L. J. (2010). My speech problem, your listening problem, and my frustration: The experience of living with childhood speech impairment. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 41(4), 379–392. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2009/08-0129)
  
• McLeod, S., Daniel, G., & Barr, J. (2013). “When he's around his brothers … he's not so quiet”: The private and public worlds of school-aged children with speech sound disorder. Journal of Communication Disorders, 46(1), 70-83. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2012.08.006 
• McLeod, S., Kelly, G., Ahmed, B., & Ballard, K. J. (2023). Equitable access to speech practice for rural Australian children using the SayBananas! mobile game. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(3), 388-402. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2023.2205057  
  

Children who speak languages other than English

• McLeod, S., Verdon, S., & Theobald, M. (2015). Becoming bilingual: Children’s insights about making friends in bilingual settings. International Journal of Early Childhood, 47(3), 385–402. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-015-0148-7
•  Washington, K. N., Wright Karem, R., Macaluso, C., Schwartz, C., & McLeod, S. (2024). Jamaican Children’s drawings of talking in Jamaican creole and English. In L. Mahony, S. McLeod, A. Salamon, & J. Dwyer (Eds.), Early childhood voices: Children, families, professionals (pp. 117–133). Springer.

Children with disabilities and their families

• Barr, J., & McLeod, S. (2010). They never see how hard it is to be me: Siblings' observations of strangers, peers and family. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 12(2), 162–171. https://doi.org/10.3109/17549500903434133
• Barr, J., McLeod, S., & Daniel, G. (2008). Siblings of children with speech impairment: Cavalry on the hill. Language, Speech, and Hearing Service in Schools, 39(1), 21–32. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2008/003)

Methods of listening to children

• The Speech Participation and Activity Assessment of Children (SPAA-C): https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/speech-assessments/spaa-c
  
• Children Draw Talking: McCormack, J., McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., & Holliday, E. L. (2022). Drawing talking: Listening to children with speech sound disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(3), 713-731. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00140 
• McLeod, S., McCormack, J., McAllister, L., Harrison, L. J., & Holliday, E. L. (2011). Listening to 4- to 5-year-old children with speech impairment using drawings, interviews and questionnaires. In S. Roulstone & S. McLeod (Eds.), Listening to children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. (pp. 179–186). J&R Press. http://www.jr-press.co.uk/communication-needs.html
• Mosaic Approach: Press, F., Bradley, B. S., Goodfellow, J., Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., Sumsion, J., Elwick, S., & Stratigos, T. (2011). Listening to infants about what life is like in childcare: A mosaic approach. In S. Roulstone & S. McLeod (Eds.), Listening to children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. (pp. 241–250). J&R Press. http://www.jr-press.co.uk/communication-needs.html
• BabyCam  Sumsion, J., Bradley, B., Stratigos, T., & Elwick, S. (2014). 'Baby cam' and participatory research with infants: A case study of critical reflexivity. In M. Fleer & A. E. Ridgway (Eds.), Visual methodologies and digital tools for researching with young children: Transforming visuality (pp. 169–191). Springer-Verlag.
  

Children’s communication and the developing mind: A challenge for Australia

The following paper has just been published. It is an invited journal article based on the lecture I gave for the Royal Society of New South Wales last year that was part of the 2023 Royal Society of New South Wales and Learned Academies Forum: “Our 21st Century Brain” https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/2023/11/invited-presentation-our-21st-century.html

McLeod, S. (2024). Children’s communication and the developing mind: A challenge for Australia. Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 157, 43–48. https://royalsoc.org.au/images/pdf/journal/157-1-11McLeod.pdf

There are many excellent papers in the special issue:

https://royalsoc.org.au/images/pdf/journal/157-1-web-complete.pdf

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF N.S.W. AND FIVE ACADEMIES FORUM: OUR 21st CENTURY BRAIN 

• Opening Address - The Governor,Margaret Beazley
• Welcome and Acknowledgements- Susan Pond
• Keynote Presentations - George Paxinos, Lucy Palmer, Joshua Gordon
• I−The Developing Mind - Penny van Bergen, Adam Guastella, Sharynne McLeod, Anne Castles, Kate Highfield
• II−The Brain: Social, Cultural and Philosophical Perspectives- Pip Pattison, Andrew Chanen, Andrew Leigh, Jennifer Kent, Jakelin Troy, David Bradden Mitchell
• III − The Brain Disease Burden in Adults- Anthony Cunningham, Glenda Halliday, Sharon Naismith, Lucette Cysique & Andrew Lloyd
• IV− Turbocharging Human Intelligence with Artificial Intelligence- Ian Oppermann, Sally Cripps, Stela Solar, Lyria Bennett Moses:
• V−Implications for the Future- Ian Hickie, Pip Pattison, Helen Christensen, Peter Baume, Jaky Troy

University of Alberta PhD Candidacy Exam

This morning I was an external examiner for a University of Alberta PhD Candidacy Exam (online). It was a privilege to be involved in the examination process with colleagues from across Canada. Congratulations to the candidate and her supervisory team, chaired by Prof Karen Pollock.

Prof Karen Pollock and Prof Sharynne McLeod

Visiting the Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit

What a pleasure to visit the Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit (BSLTRU) again. I first visited in 2010, and again in 2013. BSLTRU was founded by Prof Pam Enderby, then has been led by Prof Sue Roulstone and now by Prof Yvonne Wren. I constantly quote work from the PhD students and staff from BSLTRU. I was honoured to present their annual lecture and am enjoying my collaborative conversations during my fellowship.

Famous PhD theses from BSLTRU: including Enderby, Roulstone, Wren ...

Bristol Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Visiting Professor

Today began my visit to the University of Bristol as the Bristol Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Visiting Professor (20 April - 26 May 2024). I am based in the Bristol Dental School with Professor Yvonne Wren: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/international-research-development/visiting-researchers/visitors-for-202324/sharynne_mcleod/

I am honoured to be working with Professor Yvonne Wren, PhD, MEd, BSc (Hons), FRCSLT

• Professor of Speech and Communication, University of Bristol
  
• Professor of Speech and Language Therapy, Cardiff Metropolitan University
• Director, Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit, North Bristol NHS Trust www.speech-therapy.org.uk
• Chief Investigator – Cleft@18-23, NIHR Programme Grant, Bristol Dental School, University of Bristol
• Chief Investigator - The Cleft Collective, Bristol Dental School, University of Bristol, www.cleftcollective.org.uk
• Chief Investigator - MISLToe-SSD, North Bristol NHS Trust, MISLToe SSD | North Bristol NHS Trust https://www.nbt.nhs.uk/bristol-speech-language-therapy-research-unit/bsltru-research/misltoe-ssd

Here is the project we are working on together:

Children born with cleft palate: Intelligibility and participation

Up to 1 million people in the UK have a communication disability which affects their ability to express themselves or to understand others. Our ability to communicate is impacted by our intelligibility and if we cannot make ourselves understood, then we will struggle to function in society. In particular, the impact on activities and participation, as defined by the World Health Organization can be significantly diminished, leading to social isolation and the potential for an impact on wellbeing and mental health, educational and occupational outcomes. Rarely will a clinician be aware of these difficulties as individuals can become quite adept at hiding their difficulties. Professor McLeod’s work has helped to draw attention to communication rights of all people with communication impairment and the difficulties that children with speech sound disorder in particular face in terms of everyday life as a child. Children born with cleft palate are at particular risk of communication disability as a consequence of problems with intelligibility. Using data from The Cleft Collective, the large-scale national cohort study of over 10,000 participants led by Dr Yvonne Wren at Bristol Dental School, Professor McLeod and Dr Wren will explore intelligibility in affected children using the Intelligibility in Context Scale. The Scale was developed by Professor McLeod and has now been translated in over 60 languages and is used worldwide. The outputs will provide unique reference data for children born with cleft, taking into account additional factors such as cleft subtype and syndromic status. Further analysis will enable us to determine the impact that differences in intelligibility in this population has on children’s levels of activity and participation. 

During her visit and through her planned talks, Prof McLeod will raise awareness of communication disability and highlight additional challenges and benefits when working with multilingual individuals. Professor McLeod is hosted by Dr Yvonne Wren from the Bristol Dental School. 

Lectures and seminars include: 

• Open Lecture "Communicating with Children and Families in a Multilingual World"
• Departmental seminar "Speech, Language and Communication: An Overview for Dentists"
• Faculty of Health Sciences lecture: "Multilingual Children’s Speech"

Accommodation at The Principal's House, University of Bristol

Prof Yvonne Wren and Prof Sharynne McLeod at Oakfield House, University of Bristol

Prof Sharynne McLeod and Prof Yvonne Wren celebrating our first day at Lido

Preparing to be the Bristol Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Visiting Professor

I am looking forward to being the Bristol Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Visiting Professor in April/May 2024. https://www.bristol.ac.uk/international-research-development/visiting-researchers/visitors-for-202324/sharynne_mcleod/

 

During my visit, I will be presenting a number of lectures in England and Wales, as well as undertaking collaborative research with colleagues at the University of Bristol including:

"...this year’s BSLTRU Underwood Trust Annual lecture is taking place on Tuesday 30th of April. We are thrilled to announce that our guest speaker this year is Professor Sharynne McLeod from Charles Sturt University, Australia who will be speaking on Communicating with Children and Families in a Multilingual World."

 

 

FOSH Internal Grant Writing Workshops

This morning I presented a session at the Faculty of Science and Health Internal Grant Writing Workshop on writing a research CV. It was great to be part of their final session. Thanks Emmaline Lear and Julian Grant who coordinated the session.

Fellows and Members Assessment Committee of the Council of the Royal Society of New South Wales

I have been appointed on the Fellows and Members Assessment Committee of the Council of the Royal Society of New South Wales. https://www.royalsoc.org.au/

"The Royal Society of NSW (the Society, RSNSW) traces its origins to the Philosophical Society of Australasia, which was established on 27 June 1821. The Society received Royal Assent in 1866 and was incorporated by an Act of the NSW Parliament in 1881. Today, the Society is an inclusive learned institution that aims to enrich lives through knowledge and inquiry. It encompasses a diverse group of people who are dedicated to ideas that matter and contributing to a just, secure, and sustainable society by: 

• Mobilising the multidisciplinary expertise of Society members
• Providing authentic and authoritative information 
• Addressing national and global challenges
• Recognising and promoting excellence."

My first committee meeting was held today to consider new applications. What an honour to consider such important people within NSW and to learn of their significant work. The committee membership is as follows:

• Sean Brawley (Chair)
• Trevor Danos AM (Secretary) 
• Professor Simon Ringer 
• Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver AM 
• Pamela Griffith OAM 
• Professor Ian H Sloan AO 
• Professor Sharynne McLeod 
• Professor George Paxinos 
•  RSNSW President (Professor Susan Pond AM) ex officio 
• RSNSW Secretary (Dr Donald Hector AM) ex officio 

 

Feedback on the Impact Framework for the James Martin Institute for Public Policy

Today I spoke with Peta Leigh, Senior Research & Policy Manager at the James Martin Institute for Public Policy to provide feedback about the draft impact framework for the Institute. JMI is an independent policy institute working in partnership with universities – including CSU – and the NSW government to deliver collaborative policy research and innovation. It was a pleasure to provide feedback on this important document.

73rd session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific

This week I am attending the 73rd session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (24 to 28 October 2022) convened in the Philippines and online. 

I am the only representative from the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) and therefore, I may be the only speech-language pathologist at this meeting. It is a great honour.

Topics discussed of specific interest to IALP/speech-language pathology include:

• Address by Director-General (Mon 24 Oct pm): 5 priorities
  
1. Promoting health
2. Providing health
3. Protecting health
4. Powering health
5. Performing for health
   
• Communication for health (Tues 25 Oct pm)
• Reaching the unreached (Wed 26 Oct pm and Thurs 27 Oct am)
• Mental health (Thurs 27 Oct pm)
  

WHO Director General's address

Some of the topics that were discussed repeatedly included the response of the Western Pacific to COVID-19 (low numbers of deaths compared with the rest of the world), climate change, emergencies (floods, Tonga volcano), emergency preparedness, food security.

I was pleased to hear discussion of employing the Pacific notion of Talanoa in the meetings.

Working in a culturally and linguistically diverse society: Position Statement and Practice Guide

I just recieved an official thank you from Speech Pathology Australia for my role (over 2+ years) on the working party to revise the "Working in a culturally and linguistically diverse society – revision of Position Statement and Practice Guide". It was an extensive role - that was capably led by my colleague A/Prof Sarah Verdon. The new documents are innovative and extend beyond the thinking for most (if not all) other professional associations.