Speak Out Feb 2020 DIGITAL EDITION. pdf

Branch News Northern Territory

NT 70 members as at January 2020

Wa ŋ uthan Talking together to find out about how a child is growing up EMILY ARMSTRONG, SPEECH PATHOLOGIST AND NON-INDIGENOUS RESEARCHER FROM CHARLES DARWIN UNIVERSITY IS PART OF TEAM WORKING ON CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE RESEARCH USING CASE STUDIES IN PARTICPANTS' OWN LANGUAGES. More than 100 Aboriginal languages and dialects are spoken in the Northern Territory. Working in contexts of linguistic and cultural diversity such as the NT holds challenge and richness for speech pathologists – it can be an opportunity to develop shared understandings by listening and learning from each other, honouring deep stories from different worldviews and co-constructing meaning together. This is exciting, complex and difficult work both for speech pathologists and families with whom we work. In a remote community in North East Arnhem Land, senior Yol ŋ u (Aboriginal) community members have expressed concern that the strengths of Yol ŋ u children and families are often not recognised by those who come from outside the community. In this community, where 95% of people speak a Yol ŋ u language at home, there are many different early childhood service models working across health, allied health, education, family support and care. As an early point of connection between Aboriginal families and service providers, assessment processes may be pivotal to the development of culturally-responsive partnerships yet assessments may also be a point of miscommunication. In response, our collaborative research aims to explore intercultural communication strategies that work in contexts of early childhood assessment (0 – 6 years). The project is supported by a Speech Pathology Australia New Researcher Grant (2018 – 2020). Emily Armstrong (Speech Pathologist/ non-Indigenous researcher, Charles Darwin University) and Yu ŋ girr ŋ a Bukulatjpi (Yol ŋ u researcher, Yalu Mar ŋ githinyaraw Indigenous Corporation) are working ŋ anhamirr ga larrum mal ŋ i nhaltjan ga yothu ŋ ’mal ŋ ’maram rramba

38

February 2020 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

Speak Out