JCPSLP Vol 19 No 1 March 2017

assessment context and therefore create opportunities that recognise and respect strengths and difference rather than using assessment to define deficit. Two therapeutic and assessment frameworks that utilise a strengths based practice model will be discussed to further articulate how yarning could be used to facilitate a deeper connection with Aboriginal families that promotes and provides accurate client information. The Making Connections Framework developed by the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health is a key practice framework that uses yarning as a methodology throughout the family’s entire journey with the allied health therapists (Nelson, McLaren, Lewis, & Iwama, in press). The framework’s cyclical approach outlines the importance of getting connected, being connected, staying connected and building connections with clients, their families and communities. The core component of the framework is around the centrality of the child and their family needs through an ongoing relationship. This includes understanding another’s view and demonstrating an ongoing commitment and availability for support. This can be demonstrated only through proppa yarning with clients and their families. The framework acknowledges that additional effort may be required to stay connected and maintain connection with families, the clinics and the community. Connection is intentional and purposeful and is maintained through the use of yarning and sharing stories. Clients are rarely discharged from the service as a deep sense of family and connection is established and maintained through yarning. The Gumerri Assessment, developed by the first author, is a receptive and expressive communication assessment that is designed to appreciate the communication strengths of Aboriginal children aged from 5 years to 12 years. It employs a strengths based approach by recognising the importance Aboriginal families place on culture, home language and ways of communicating. The philosophy of Gumerri is based upon cultural safety, cultural responsiveness (Indigenous Allied Health Australia, 2015) and language preservation. The assessment methodology centres upon Undoo Kurunpa, the child’s spirit, and applies assessment yarning throughout the entire assessment to establish a genuine relational construct and connection with the child and their family. The assessment questions create opportunities for yarning and it is expected that the clinician will be an active participant in those yarns. Different question formats are applied through yarning such as direct and indirect questions and the use of comments. For example, in order to follow a yarning methodology, one of the questions is: “You know, I loved going swimming when I was at school. Do you like swimming? Where can we go swimming?” Along with the child, the clinician is expected to share their lived experiences of how and where they grew up as they journey through the meaningful and purposeful assessment questions. The assessment tasks and questions are interconnected with ancestral history and relate to the world-views, knowledges and experiences that many Aboriginal children are accustomed to living and thus can only be experienced through yarning. The Gumerri Assessment and Making Connections Framework recognise the centrality of yarning to developing ongoing relationships with Aboriginal people. Both these practice methodologies recognise the need to move beyond traditional assessment and therapeutic methodologies and replace them with yarning as a method

2013). Yarning is the vehicle for maintaining cultural integrity and Aboriginal world-views (Geia et al., 2013). Yarning is more than telling someone something and/ or having a conversation. It entails talking via stories that convey rich and deep meanings that move beyond thinking to actually feeling and connecting back (Bond, Foley, & Askew, 2016). The use of Standard Australian English or inserting Aboriginal language words cannot adequately convey these meanings and connection (Butcher, 2008). As yarning recognises the centrality of Aboriginal communication and connectedness, it is important that speech pathologists effectively engage in yarning to ensure the strengths of Aboriginal children are validated and respected in a way that minimises misdiagnosis. The term assessment yarning may be useful in conceptualising the components of yarning and to support SLPs in using yarning as an assessment methodology. Assessment yarning Yarning as an assessment methodology can be thought of as the method for gathering client information. Assessment yarning is applied to collect a comprehensive and meaningful case history and is also used when collecting the necessary clinical data of the assessment tasks. It is the methodology employed that facilitates the journey of the clinician and client where stories are shared and a strong authentic relational construct is formed. Engaging in assessment yarning provides clinical insight into the centrality of the client and their family’s journey. Assessment yarning enables clinicians to really “see” the client in their “humanness” within their context and to potentially disrupt any preconceived notions about the client. It is imperative the clinician discloses who they are, where they are from and who they are connected to through the methodology of yarning. This displays a sense of belongingness and connection with people and place. It also allows the client to see the clinician as someone who really cares and facilitates an emotional connection between the clinician and the client. This, then, is more than an establishment of rapport. It is through yarning that a two-way sharing of stories and learning from each other becomes paramount for the assessment methodology. Assessment yarning allows for ongoing assessment throughout the entire journey of the child and their family and is not restricted to one or two sessions as per traditional western style assessments. The following 3. Is a deep relational connection being formed? 4. Is the aim of yarning to support learning through teaching? 5. Am I listening for the meanings and information being conveyed through yarning? Yarning as an assessment methodology – practice frameworks The use of assessment yarning supports clinicians in providing a culturally responsive service in that they are not only aware of their own culture and how it may affect their interactions with clients (Nelson, 2007), but are applying this knowledge and transforming their practice in a way that supports Aboriginal ways of communicating. By applying assessment yarning, clinicians become aware of how their world-view and assumptions may shape bias in an questions may assist the clinician to ensure that assessment yarning practices are maintained. 1. Is the yarn reciprocal? 2. Is the yarn meaningful?

16

JCPSLP Volume 19, Number 1 2017

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology