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BRANCH news northern territory

The dry season is a busy time for speech pathologists in the Northern Territory. In this Speak Out we share with you the events of our chapter which have included:

Careers Expo The NT Branch of SPA once again attended the Careers

the balloons, many other stopped to share their story and experience with speech pathology or enquire how to access local services. Trivia night

Expo in Alice Springs and Darwin. More than 4,000 people attended the expo giving us an opportunity to share with the community what speech pathology is and all the amazing things you can do with a career in speech pathology. Years 10, 11 and 12 students were particularly interested in the tastes of thickened fluids we had on our stall and we found this was a good way to get them engaged.

Local speech pathologists Meg, Ashleigh and Melba with friends.

Top: Speech Pathology student Bree Davey at the Careers Expo; bottom: Melissa Lovell, Meg Redway and Narelle Pearce.

This year the Branch joined with the Darwin Ski Club to host a trivia night. While many attendees had not yet heard of speech pathology, one of the rounds asked them to match celebrities to their communication difficulty or diagnosis which soon got them asking what ‘stopping’ or ‘nodules’ were. Colouring competition

Media exposure

Amy Southwood talking with ABC radio host Adam Steer.

Amy Southwood represented the branch on the local ABC Darwin radio chatting to the host of the morning show about speech pathology. She spoke about the diverse range of people that a speech pathologist may help and linked these back to people that the listeners may not be aware of, such as the singer Adele getting assistance with her voice. Parap Market stall The Branch had a

One entry from a 10-year-old girl.

Local children also entered a colouring-in competition for speech pathology week. Many local schools got involved and have sent multiple entries. Judging will occur this week with some great book prizes available to the lucky winners. Presentation to Darwin GPs Branch President Melba and member Emma Noovao presented to a group of General Practitioners via the Health Network, Northern Territory with the support of members Jayne Graham and Christina Spinella. The presentation took place on 2 September so was a little later than Speech Pathology Week, but still achieved the aims of promoting awareness of the profession.

stall at the local Parap Markets giving us an opportunity to talk with the community about speech pathology. While the children enjoyed

Natalie Skinner, Lily Skinner and Erin Coonan volunteer their time at the Parap Market stall.

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Speak Out October 2015

Speech Pathology Australia