Speak Out August 2018

Branch News

ACT/ New south wales

ACT 91 NSW 2600 members as at July 2018

Phillipa Lenehan (née Badham) (left) and Sarah El Wahsh (right) awarded the Speech Pathology Award as outstanding graduates from their respective University of Sydney degrees by ACT/NSW Branch Chair Fiona Eastley.

Speech Pathology Australia Sydney University Award Recipient

My name is Sarah El-Wahsh and I recently graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Speech Pathology) Honours degree. It was a challenging and memorable ride; four years of learning, developing passions, and growing both personally and professionally. During the course of my degree I developed a strong interest in research through my Honours project, which focused on speech pathology related symptoms in persons with Multiple Sclerosis. I was fortunate to have had many outstanding mentors who helped me navigate the ride. I owe my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my clinical educators: Sarah Hyde, Annie Chan, and Beth Causa. I also owe a special thank you to my research supervisor, Hans Bogaardt, for encouraging me to stretch myself, to be inquisitive, and to go the extra mile for my clients and patients. I am currently working as a speech pathologist in Community Child and Family Health Services and Wollongong

Speech Pathology. During my week, I cycle between working with children and adults at my two jobs. I enjoy working with clients and their families to help them to achieve personal goals that have a real- life impact. It has been an honour and a privilege to join families in difficult periods in their life and professionally support them with evidence-based therapy. I am still discovering the various aspects of the speech pathology profession and I look forward to the road ahead. I was drawn to speech pathology because of its holistic focus on promoting an individual’s quality of life. I look forward to contributing new knowledge and understanding to promoting quality of life for individuals affected by speech pathology related symptoms. I also hope to join my own educators and mentors by positively nurturing and equipping future speech pathologists as they did for me.

Sarah El-Wahsh Speech Pathologist

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August 2018 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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