Speak Out OCTOBER 2021 DIGITAL EDITION

National Conference 2022

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Victoria, Australia

Call for papers

Keynote speakers The CPC is pleased to introduce to you our second keynote speaker. Professor Gail Gillon,

The closing date has passed and the reviewers are busy assessing each abstract. The Conference Planning Committee (CPC) is pleased by the response and would like to thank everyone who submitted an abstract. At times we receive questions from members regarding the length of time between abstract submission and program finalisation. Authors are provided with three months for abstract submission (early June to early Sept); the scientific program chair (SPC) then allocates abstracts to those members who have volunteered to review; reviewers are then given three weeks to review (early to late October) after which the SPC prepares a report for the conference planning committee (CPC) to address at their program meeting in early November. Authors accepted into the program are emailed following the November CPC meeting requesting confirmation that they are willing to proceed. Any changes go back to the CPC for decision, with the final confirmation going to all submitters the second week in December. During the Christmas break the registration brochure and program are developed and available "live" the second week in February. During this time, accepted authors have a brief opportunity to update their submission if information has changed or address this within their original submission. Considering the size of the SPA national conference and the process required for reviewing, accepting, and then liaising with presenters, it is not possible to truncate the time frame from its current iteration. A comparison is the annual ASHA convention running each November with the call for papers closing in April and authors notified in July. We hope this has given you an understanding and insight into the conference organisation process.

PhD (Ngai Tahu iwi) is the founding director of the Child Well-being Research Institute at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. Prof Gillon is also the deputy director for the Better Start National Science Challenge, E tipu e Rea , which is a ten year program of research focused on children’s successful early learning and healthy wellbeing.

Gail’s research for many years has focused on facilitators of reading success, particularly for children with speech and language disorders or children with dyslexia. Her successful phonological awareness interventions trials are particularly well known. Professor Gillon’s contributions to the field of speech-language therapy have been recognised through her receiving NZSTA Life membership, being named a Fellow of ASHA, and as a recipient of ASHA Editor’s Award for a research article of highest merit on three occasions. Recently, Gail was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand for research excellence and she received the prestigious University of Canterbury’s Research Medal in 2020. She is currently co-leading the Better Start Literacy Approach Project. Following successful pilot trials, this culturally responsive and evidenced-based approach to early literacy instruction is being rolled out nationally. By 2023 the approach will support over 75,000 children in new entrant and year 1 classrooms across New Zealand.

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Speak Out | October 2021