Speak Out Feb 2020 DIGITAL EDITION. pdf

Branch News

ACT/ New south wales

FROM LEFT Dr Megan Williams (centre) with branch members. And, graduating University of Sydney student representatives.

December 3rd was a busy evening with ACT/NSW Branch celebrating longstanding members Louise Barnes, Mary-Ruth Mendel and Kerry Dominish and celebrating Speech Pathology Australia’s 70th birthday. Dr Megan Williams from the University of Technology Graduate School of Health presented on increasing Aboriginal allied health professionals and got everyone involved with a role playing activity to try and solve the current issues. It was a thought provoking and enjoyable evening. Longstanding members celebrated

ACT 115 NSW 2971 members as at January 2020

SPs provide support during the bushfire crisis

While NSW and Victoria has been experiencing an unprecedented bushfire season, there was a swell of supports for people with communication disability. This included information in formats that could be understood by a range of people, including people with communication disability. Accessible information is important for everyone to be able to get accurate and timely information so that they can understand what is happening to them, their family, and their community. On 7 January, Senator Hollie Hughes tweeted a request from families in the south coast area of NSW asking for supports to help children with autism understand the bushfire, and the varying experiences that accompany a bushfire. The response to the request for “social stories” came quickly, and resulted in a Google Drive containing modularised stories covering a range of topics that families or organisations could access and adjust to their individual circumstances. Story modules that have been created so far include an overview

of the bushfires, having to leave home, home burnt by the bushfire, and smoke and air quality from bushfire. There is also a bank of images (collected with permission via Twitter) saved into a folder in the Google Drive. We hope that the worst of the Australian bushfires is behind us, however there will always be a need for accessible information in plain language. If you are able to help with writing a story or providing support to people who need to individualise the stories, your support will be welcomed. You can get in contact with @ BronwynHemsley, @AnnuskaP or @SP_Harmony via twitter or visit the Google Drive directly and add to the spreadsheet, stories or images folders: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1H6 L0DAN9jK5w8yDwgnHHgtGvy6DthU91?usp=sharing

Harmony Turnbull Associate Lecturer University of Technology Sydney

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February 2020 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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