Speak Out August 2016

Victoria

VIC 1812 Members as at June 2016

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to attend the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference in Perth, WA. It may seem unlikely that sitting in a room listening to people speak for three days could be enjoyable, but therein lies the incredible power of communication. The Conference was nothing short of inspiring as I heard about cutting edge research from internationally renowned researchers and participated in workshops that showed me new ways of thinking and practising. The keynote speakers were particularly engaging. Pam Enderby provided an entertaining, yet logical, approach to speech pathology delivery, using the analogy of Masterchef to illustrate the importance of getting all the ‘ingredients’ just right. Andrew Whitehouse urged us to challenge the status quo regarding the way we classify and treat autism. His explanation of the potential for screening tools, such as eye gaze monitors and facial analysis, to identify children who are at risk of autism at 12 months of age, and the implications for significantly decreasing the burden of disability associated with the disorder is simply mind blowing. On the last day of the conference, Susan Ebbels planted the seed for continuing research as she showed us the benefits and relative ease of conducting research within our own clinical sphere. Through her presentation she addressed many of the daunting knowledge gaps that clinicians often find deterring when considering conducting their own research. The need to be connected with society and the difficulties often faced in the quest to communicate was a consistent theme throughout the conference. Encouragingly, this was always followed by the challenge of how we as speech pathologists can ‘make waves’ of difference by continually looking for new and innovative ways to deliver the best service. As a student, I was in the privileged position of being free to imagine what it would be like working in any of the clinical areas that I heard about, without concern that it was outside my practice domain. The conference also provided an opportunity to strengthen my connections with students from La Trobe University and ACU. We enjoyed sharing what we learned during the different conference sessions and it was fascinating to compare the (quite different) structures of our respective courses. I would like to extend an enormous thank you to the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, in particular to Elaina Kefalianos, Matthew Poole, and Angela Morgan, for giving me the opportunity to attend the conference. My enthusiasm for speech pathology has continued to grow and I am excited to transition into the world of clinical practice and further research, which I now know are by no means mutually exclusive. The conference itself certainly lived up to its theme of ‘making waves’ and I hope that I am also able to make some waves of my own in the future. Sarah Draper Master of Speech Pathology University of Melbourne National Conference inspires

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August 2016 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

Speak Out