Speak Out Digital Edition June 2016

Branch News

Queensland

QLD 1474 Members as at April 2016

Changing the Game of Literacy on the Gold Coast

Gold Coast Speech Pathologist Karyn Johns, presented at a Gold Coast wide literacy forum in March, hosted by City of Gold Coast Library Services on the Read and Grow Program. Karyn, who won the SPA Elinor Wray Award in 2015, and her colleagues at SPEECH Pty Ltd are dedicated to supporting the development of language, literacy and social skills within the community and through partnerships with organisations such as Communities for Children Initiative in the Northern Gold Coast (C4C). The Read and Grow Program, a parent child interaction program aimed at developing quality story sharing, is just one example of the work that Karyn, her team and community partners are doing to change the statistics of children growing up with literacy, language and social skill difficulties on the Gold Coast. Hundreds of families attend Read and Grow storytelling interactions each week and almost 2000 community members have attended the Read and Grow training sessions (half day) over the last few years offered for free to the community up to six times per year for many years. A number of key agencies now embed the program in their work, such as Bushkids; Cerebral Palsy League and Northern rivers/ Tweed Library services.

The Literacy forum was part of the First 5 Forever Program, funded by the Queensland State Government. Representatives from community and education services all over the Gold Coast attended the forum and participated in a workshop that focused on identifying ways in which literacy and oral language outcomes can be improved for children across the Gold Coast. Speech pathologists have the knowledge and skills to support massive change within the community. Karyn has felt the responsibility of bringing her skill set beyond the clinic room and out into the community to support change for people with communication difficulties on a whole community level. She is an exceptional advocate for the speech pathology profession and people effected by communication difficulties. The Gold Coast community is privileged to have Karyn in their corner! To contact Karyn and her team and for more information about the Read and Grow program, visit the SPEECH Pty Ltd website www.speechforkids. com.au. Kathryn Maroney and Yvette Dempsey - Gold Coast Regional Representatives with support from Karyn Johns

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June 2016 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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