SpeakOut_Feb2015_FINAL_web

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Change of scenery

After a trip overseas I realised I wanted live and work abroad, somewhere new and different to Australia. While I loved my job and home in Port Augusta, South Australia, I longed to challenge myself and apply my skills as a speech pathologist in an entirely different context. I realised volunteering was a good option as I could utilise my skills and hopefully benefit those who are not as fortunate to have a stable economy, robust education and healthcare systems.

The day after returning from overseas I researched the Australian Volunteers for International Development (AVID) program. AVID is an Australian Government-funded program that sends skilled volunteers to developing countries. Volunteers go to a particular location on an assignment that is designed together with a local organisation. Assignments have specific capacity-building objectives; to build the skills, abilities and resources of the local organisation so that when the volunteer leaves, the work can continue. I applied for a ten month assignment in Albay, in the Philippines. Three months later I was training in Sydney and preparing for departure in January 2014! My assignment was at a large school with 3,000 students and more than 100 teachers. I was based in the Special Education Department which has five classes – multiple disability, autism, intellectual disability, hearing impairment and a transition class. My goal was to build the teachers’ and parents’ capacity to support children with communication difficulties in the whole municipality. As there were no speech pathologists in the region (most in the country work privately in Manila), I had to create tools for the community that would last. As

well as running workshops for education staff and parents, I worked alongside them helping them to use techniques to support their child's communication. With teachers, I created a resource CD which included assessments, information and therapy tools. Imagine creating a speech assessment in Filipino language, choosing targets that are appropriate phonemically, familiar to children and culturally sensitive! I also made the most of opportunities to have an impact outside of my assignment. These included working with and training several organisations that supported children with a disability, being involved in workshops and consultations at the local university and helping to run the Special Olympics for the region. I even ran sessions on Gender Equality at a camp for adolescent girls! It was great to be able to have connections and make a difference with individuals as well. The students at school knew me as ‘Teacher Lars’. When asked what he is going to do today, one of the students with autism said ‘punta Lars’ (‘go to Lars’). After school, when asked what he did today he would say "kawat Lars" (‘play with Lars’). His mother made a real effort to follow my advice, from modelling language with

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Speak Out February 2015

Speech Pathology Australia