SpeakOut_Apr2015_FINAL_web

"It doesn’t matter how much attention is given, words will just be squiggles on the page unless we are addressing those deeper issues [with prisoners who have literacy difficulties]. The speech pathologist’s engagement with them is always at that deeper level...” Melissa Iocco Literacy Coordinator, Risdon Prison

Above, from left: Melissa Iocco, Risdon Prison's Literacy Coordinator, and Rosalie Martin; below, an example of a Just Sentences participant's reflective writing.

‘who’, but about the ‘what’. That is, ‘what happened’: a systematic, phonemic- linguistic-metacognitive approach to teaching reading and writing. Melissa said this: “Because of the range of severity of literacy impairments which we see in the prison, the approaches which the speech pathologist and I use are complementary. The methods that we currently use achieve great matter how much attention is given, words will just be squiggles on the page unless we are addressing those deeper issues. The speech pathologist’s engagement with them is always at that deeper level...” results for many clients, but for some, it doesn’t

It’s been worthy work and a great privilege. The full report can be found at www.chattermatters. com.au . And now, our Just Sentences attentions are turned toward sustainability of the program. News of Rosalie Martin’s work recently appeared on 936 ABC Hobart radio and Hobart's ABC News Online: http://www.abc. net.au/news/2015-03-20/ speech-pathologist-helps- tasmanian-prisoners-learn- to-read/6336462 Rosalie Martin Speech Pathologist

Speak Out April 2015

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www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au