Speak Out Dec 2016

In the first year of the Master of Speech Pathology, students at the University of Melbourne attend a supported communication workshop at St Vincent’s Hospital. During this workshop we learned about the prevalence of aphasia and met people living with the condition. Many of us have been shocked to learn that up to 38 percent of stroke survivors experience some form of impairment and yet aphasia does not feature in the vocabulary of the average Australian. This left us with a burning question. How can we make our society accessible to people with aphasia if nobody knows what it is? In 2016 we set out to change that. Our goal was to raise awareness and funds for the Australian Aphasia Association by challenging ourselves to participate in the Medibank Melbourne Marathon Festival. On 16 October fifteen students completed various events at the festival to show our dedication to improving the lives of people with aphasia. In total we raised $5077.60, over five times our Students Run for Aphasia

Victoria

original goal of $1000. More importantly, we have introduced the concept of aphasia in to our wider social networks and have hopefully sparked a change in perception of those with communication difficulties. We’d like to thank everyone that donated to our efforts and we hope to continue this initiative in the years to come. Full Marathon 42.2km: Madeleine Gwynne, Michael Prewer and Kathleen Mellahn Half Marathon 21.2km: Madeleine Hodgson, Stephanie Mills, Sarah Draper, Helen Worley, Amanda Truong, Georgina Johnson, Melissa Aar and Stephanie Vassallo 10 km run: Ayesha Al Barwani and Clare Chapman 3km walk: Shabana Alavi and Charlotte Ponchard Kathleen Mellahn Victorian Branch Student Member

VIC 1911 members as at October 2016

39

December 2016 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

Speak Out