Speak Up

In this week’s episode Associate Professor Jade Cartwright and Natalie O’Brien discuss their involvement in the ABC documentary Maggie Beer’s Big Mission with SPA Senior Advisor Aged Care Kym Torresi. Jade, Natalie and Kym discuss the role that speech pathology can play in enriching the eating experiences of individuals living in residential aged care. Resources: Watch Maggie Beer’s Big Mission on...

In this week’s episode, we speak with Gaenor Dixon, Tania Kelly, and Yadanar Tutt from the Department of Education in Queensland. Gaenor, Tania and Yadanar have been working with schools to establish flexible ways of delivering their services without compromising on quality. We discuss some of the enablers, barriers, and outcomes of these flexible models and the equitable service this promotes. Re...

In this week’s episode we speak start with a few reflections on NAIDOC Week and how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being, and doing add to our profession. Next, we speak with Dr Alice Hart from Curtin University about an approach for stuttering that includes both fluency and cognitive/behavioural supports. She discusses elements of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and the...

From time to time we rebroadcast popular episodes from our past catalogue. This week we bring you an episode from season 4, where Gaylea Fritsch, Vic Branch Professional Education committee member, chats with Chris Payten, Advanced Speech Pathologist at Gold Coast Hospital and PhD candidate at the University of Sydney. Chris explores his current PhD research in the area of voice disorder classific...

In this week’s episode we speak with Kathryn Fordyce (she/they), Sandy Lin (she/they), Cyndal Nelson (they/them), and Dr Robert Wells (he/him) who are members of the Queer Speech Collective. They discuss the dimensions of identity, aspects of a professional group identity or “mould” that can be problematic, the importance of a workforce that transcends the mould, and how the profession can foster...

In this week’s episode we speak with Dr Theresa Kidd and Dr Miriam Kirby, who are both Clinical Psychologists at The Kidd Clinic. PDA is an Autistic profile that is relatively newly described, Theresa and Miriam speak about how to identify individual with this profile and how to support them in a neurodiversity affirming and trauma informed way. Resources:  The Kidd Clinic: https://www.kiddclinic....

In this week’s episode, we speak with Dawn Neenan and Magalí Stolovitsky Colb, adjunct lecturers at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York in the United States. They explain reflective supervision, how it compares to traditional supervision, and the benefits of integrating reflective practice into supervision. They also discuss how speech pathologists might use infant mental health pr...

In this week’s episode we speak with SPA life member, and Emeritus Professor Deborah Theodoros AO. Deb speaks about her reflections of how the field has progressed and changed, as well as the things she is looking forward to.   Resources:  UQ tele-rehabilitation clinic: https://health-clinics.uq.edu.au/services/telerehabilitation BUSH Kids: https://www.bushkids.org.au/ Machado-Joseph research foun...

In this week’s episode, our first ever live recording, from the SPA 2024 Conference in Boorloo, Perth, a panel of contributors speaks about their reflections on leadership, and the importance of wellbeing within this. Arielle Cassian (she/her), Belinda Kenny (she/her), Cyndal Nelson (they/them), and Ishwari Samarakoon (she/her), speak about the opportunities they have engineered and how they have...

In this week’s episode, SPA’s Senior Advisor Professional Standards, Marie Atherton, speaks with Angie Canning and Justine Slattery, Project Officers for the development of the Practice Guideline: Speech pathology practice in Neonatal Care. They discuss the range of roles of speech pathologists have in Australian NICUs, the transition from problem-based to developmental care models, the range of t...

In this week’s episode, Kim Beesley and Jen Morris, community representatives, from SPA ethics board, speak about AI in health care and in particular, speech pathology practice. As service users Kim and Jen share what they are excited about, and what they would like to feel assured that ethical reasoning is at the centre of any decision making about how and when to use AI. Speech Pathology Austral...

In this week’s episode, Professor Emma Power, from UTS, speaks about AI in speech pathology practice. Emma speaks about the opportunities and considerations that using Generative AI can provide and the ethical considerations that we need to be thinking about. This conversation will continue next week when we hear from consumers about their perceptions of using AI, as well as hearing about the new...

A few times a year we rebroadcast episodes of interest to listeners. This week, we bring you an episode from season 3. Leah Paice, from the Vic Branch Professional Education committee, chats with Dr. Caroline Baker, Research Affiliate at the Aphasia CRE and Research and Clinical Practice Lead in the Speech Pathology Department at Monash Health. Caroline speaks about the mental health consideration...

In this week’s episode we speak with Professor Andrew Whitehouse ahead of his keynote address for the 2024 SPA conference, in Boorloo, Perth. Andrew speaks about some of the things he will cover in his keynote address on May 28th 2024, as well as a discussion about the way speech pathologists can find meaning in their daily work.    Speech Pathology Australia acknowledge the Traditional Custodians...

In this week’s episode, Rosie Miller Advisor from the Professional Standards team discusses the audits that SPA conducts. Rosie clarifies the auditing process and speaks about why this is a process that SPA undertakes. Speech Pathology Australia acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of lands, seas and waters throughout Australia, and pay respect to Elders past, present and future.    We recognise...

In this week’s episode, SPA Early Career Reference Group member, Holly McAlister, speaks with mental health occupational therapist Michelle Bihary about developing skills and capabilities that support us to have courageous conversations. They discuss what early career and experienced professionals bring to the table, self-care, reasonable expectations, principles of emotional intelligence, and how...

In this week’s episode Naomi Folder, who was the project officer for SPA’s newly released practice guideline ‘Working with people with lived experience of dementia’, speaks with Kym Torresi, Senior Advisor, Aged Care. Kym and Naomi speak about the process of developing this guideline, and the important role that speech pathologists can play in supporting people with dementia.    Speech Pathology A...

In this week’s episode Dr Marleen Westerveld speaks with Dr Sonja Brubacher from the Centre for Investigative Interviewing. They discuss how speech pathologists can ask questions that prompt broader and deeper responses, elicit richer communication and narratives, and collect more detailed and accurate health information in a trauma-informed way. Speech Pathology Australia acknowledge the Traditio...

In this week’s episode, SPA’s Jane Delaney speaks with Jane McCormack, Associate Professor at ACU, and Heather Tancredi, PhD candidate at QUT, about speech pathologists’ role in the education sector. They discuss the International Classification of Functioning, the social model of disability, inclusive education, and multi-tiered systems of support. Speech pathologists can learn more about these i...

In this week’s episode we speak with Anna Pannuzzo from WorkPlacePLUS and Trish Johnson, SPA’s manager for ethics and professional issues, about understanding our obligations when someone is leaving a workplace, and entering a new one. Trish and Anna also discuss some considerations of when it is appropriate to start their own practice.    Speech Pathology Australia acknowledge the Traditional Cus...

In this week’s episode we speak with Joni Howell and Sandy Lin, neurodivergent speech pathologists at Superyou Therapy. They discuss how neurodivergent staff are an asset in the workplace, how an organisation’s culture, policies, ways of working, and physical space can be enabling, and how these approaches positively impact service provision. Speech Pathology Australia acknowledge the Traditional...

In this week’s episode, we speak with SPA Life Member Ann Zubrick about learnings from an extraordinary career that includes starting the first speech pathology university programs in Western Australia, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. Ann shares her reflections on postgraduate education, volunteering, dementia and aged care, practice-based evidence, mentoring, and “looking back with thanksgiving, and for...

In this week’s episode we speak with Dr Laura Roche, from the University of Newcastle, about 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, also known as Di George syndrome, or Velocardio-facial syndrome. We discuss this population and how speech pathologists can be involved in supporting individuals with 22q gene deletion.    Speech Pathology Australia acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of lands, seas and waters...

In this week’s episode we speak with Dr. Meredith Prain, a speech pathologist and Deafblindness consultant. She discusses how people and services can support health literacy and inclusion by making web-based, social media, and other digital information accessible. Speech Pathology Australia acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of lands, seas and waters throughout Australia, and pay respect to El...

In this week’s episode we speak with Kelly Ann Peña, Assistant Professor at Rutgers University in the United States. Kelly discusses skills and attributes involved in critical thinking, barriers and enablers to development of this skill, and how supervisors can create an environment that is psychologically safe and facilitates critical thinking in students and other supervisees. Speech Pathology A...