Speak Out June 2019

Branch News

Every child a reader, every child a writer

WA

At the recent Language, Literacy and Learning Conference hosted by the Dyslexia SPELD Foundation in Perth, a number of volunteer Branch members provided a constant presence at the Speech Pathology Australia stand in the exhibit hall. The conference attracted more than 700 delegates from education, speech pathology, psychology and other related sectors. Delegates engaged for three days of high- quality presentations from international and Australian speakers, including a number of presentations from WA speech pathologists from clinical, university and research backgrounds. The conference, the second of this kind hosted by the Dyslexia SPELD Foundation, Perth, was extremely well received with six international keynote speakers and more than 100 other presenters. The three-day event was a fantastic opportunity to showcase our profession and the pivotal role of speech pathologists in supporting children and adolescents with language, literacy and learning disorders. Interest at the stand was strong across all days and Branch members were kept busy engaging with delegates, answering a range of questions, providing educational materials, fact sheets (+ hundreds of SPA stress balls), stamping delegates “passports”, putting real faces and voices to

WA 1079 members as at April 2019

the profession of speech pathology and representing the Association. SPA publications proved extremely popular, particularly the Speech Pathology in Schools Resource and the Communication Milestones poster; the DLD fact sheet, by RADLD (Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorders) was well received. A huge thank you goes to the following members: Liz Stratton, Justine Stewart, Emily Dawes, Laura Glisson, Emily Wan and Cassidy McAlpine who manned the stand; Lauren Bellini for her fantastic creative input in setting up the stand, Belinda Morrell & Jodi Lipscombe from the Branch executive for their involvement in the call for volunteers and Emma Corry for her tips on creating an engaging stand profile. A final thank you to Mary Gornik, Senior Advisor – Education, Early Childhood and Projects, who oversaw the SPA exhibition and liaison with Conference organisers and ensured that volunteers were well prepared. Lori Rainford

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1. The Speech Pathology Australia stand at the conference was brimming with information for delegates. 2. Lori Rainford and Lauren Bellini were pleased with their efforts on the eve of the conference 3. Justine Stewart and Emily Dawes ready to discuss all things speech pathology with delegates on day two of the Language, Literacy and Learning conference.

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June 2019 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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