Speak Out June 2017

Branch News

Sydney University students celebrate Apraxia Awareness Day

New south wales

ON THE 16 MAY, Speech Pathology Australia student representatives from the University of Sydney organised an event to celebrate Apraxia Awareness Day. Students were required to write a fact about apraxia on a post-it note in exchange for a free baked goodies – a highly motivating reward for a uni student on the go! It was a great opportunity to raise awareness about apraxia at our multidisciplinary campus.

There were a number of misconceptions about apraxia:

“So only speech therapists deal with apraxia, right?”

“Isn’t it just a speech impediment?”

“Isn’t apraxia something that all children encounter when developing speech, and then grow out of?” Our enthusiastic SPA representatives saw this as the perfect opportunity to clarify these misconceptions and educate allied health students about apraxia and the impact it can have on a client and their family. While organising the event, our SPA representatives collaborated with fellow occupational therapy students. They provided insight into the role that occupational therapy plays in managing other types of apraxia, such as limb and ideomotor apraxia. We learnt that limb apraxia involves a breakdown in motor planning for movement of the limbs. Patients with ideomotor apraxia are aware of the purpose of an object or item; however, they experience a breakdown in motor planning for how to use the object or item (e.g., adjusting your grasp of an elastic band while putting your hair into a ponytail). We used this information to spread the message that apraxia can be managed by multiple allied health professionals, not just speech pathologists. Dr Elizabeth Murray commented that many of her clients with apraxia feel that there is not enough awareness in the community about apraxia. She was eager to take some photos of the event to show her clients. This raises a broader issue about the importance of education around communication and swallowing problems, as part of advocating for clients.

NSW 2282 members as at April 2017

Amelia Laurendet Fourth year student speech pathologist

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June 2017 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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