Speak Out February 2021 DIGITAL EDITION

Perspectives

Perspectives on the Professional Standards

The Association gathered insights from students and speech pathologists in health and private practice to discover how the Professional Standards apply to them. What do the Professional Standards mean in your context and role? Academic/students Associate Professor Barbra Zupan, Central Queensland University “The evidence-base and ethics are much more explicit… provides students with a better understanding of how these are integrated into real speech pathology practice.” “Better able to capture the professional competencies that are foundational.” “Community centred practice is a key consideration for us.” “The ‘we’ statements generate a feeling of connection and commitment to the Standards, even at early stages of student learning.” Private Practice/education Jennifer Baker, Freemantle “Great reference for rationalising why we ask students and staff to adhere to certain procedures.” “Given us impetus to plan collaborative research and projects with the schools we work with. We’re also planning new initiatives to enhance service access for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in our area.” “We will be formalising supervision and coaching relationships with speech pathologists with skills and knowledge outside of our practice’s key areas, to broaden our scope and confidence.” “We’re reviewing our assessment processes for children who have English as an additional language.”

Health Nicky Graham and team, Queensland Health “The focus on advocacy and capability building better reflects the broader work we do.” “We can see how the COMPASS assessment can still work with the new Standards” “Life-long learning is so visible. It encourages all of us to

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Speak Out | February 2021