Speak Out February 2018

2017 National Tour: Reflections

Imposter syndrome was in full flight when Sharon Crane (Senior Advisor Professional Education & Certification) from Speech Pathology Australia asked me to consider being the National Tour speaker for 2017. So, after some convincing, I accepted the challenge and took a deep deep breath as I committed to myself that I needed (and very much wanted) to honour this incredible opportunity. I have devoted the last 13 years of my

had my presentation down-pat each time but as Sharon Crane and Anita Rodricks from National Office know only too well (because the slides needed to be printed), the presentation kept changing and growing at every opportunity. Maybe tied to my imposter syndrome is a slight amount of obsessional behaviour but the honest truth for my constant updates were two-fold. First, literacy is a hot topic. Whether it was a news report on the general disappointment in NAPLAN results to disputes about the proposed year 1 Phonics Check, there was always a new story to tell; a recent media report and just when I thought I was done, three amazing, comprehensive (and thick) meta-analyses were published and I just had to talk about them. Second, I also learnt so much from the audiences who came to the workshops. The conversations, the sharing of resources and the experiences I heard about en route, were invaluable and provided me with more fodder to investigate and incorporate into future presentations. As I reflect on what has been a wonderful, full and treasured year as the National Tour speaker, I want to share a few of the memories I will always hold onto, some unexpected highlights and of course, lowlights. To start with the highlights, it was extraordinary to see the back-end of our CPD committee; starting with Sharon Crane and extending to all of the CPD reps in each state who work tirelessly to contribute to the growth in our professions. It was also a highlight and of course memorable to be asked (twice I might add) what lipstick I was wearing. The lowlight has to be the fact that in every city, I went for a run and in all but one, managed to get lost. You might be thinking “Oh well, it’s unfamiliar territory” and that would be very kind of you. But how does one get lost running along the Esplanade in Darwin or around a park in Adelaide? Above all, it was truly an honour to meet so many people from our wonderful profession and to hear about the creative, brave and fantastic work that you do. I end this National tour with a renewed pride in our profession and for the incredible operations of Speech Pathology Australia. To conclude, I reiterate my thanks to Sharon Crane, Anita Rodricks and the very supportive staff at SPA. I also take this opportunity to thank my family who shared this journey with me in so many ways. I wish Natalie Munro much success and satisfaction as she embarks on her National Tour in 2018. Best wishes for a safe and happy year to come. Dr Munro will present two one-day workshops in the area of early language. In addition to these face-to-face Branch CPD workshops, the National Tour program will finish with a 90-minute online CPD live event. We are thrilled to announce that the 2018 National Tour workshops will include: • “Preschool and early language update: Assessment and intervention intensity”, a one-day workshop offered in all Branches with Dr Natalie Munro as the presenter. • “Pragmatic language assessment and intervention: Tanya Serry

working life to matters related to the reading difficulties and related literacy problems for children and adolescents. This has been a cross-disciplinary pursuit for me, but high on my agenda was how best to advance the role of speech pathologists in this area of practice. When I worked as a speech pathologist in adult rehab for people with acquired brain injury, there was never a flicker of doubt that I, or my speech pathology colleagues, set the agenda and the clinical goals for those who had an acquired alexia or agraphia. As my professional journey proceeded through various twists and turns and I suddenly realised that I was, in fact, working with children and adolescents, (another whole story), the landscape was very different. I found pockets of interest and delight from some in the education sector for speech pathologists to work with children who had literacy-related problems and other pockets where our role and breadth of knowledge in the literacy space was poorly understood and/or not well-recognised. It was also apparent that some members of our own profession were unclear about the scope and the boundaries of what we “are able” to do in the literacy domain. To put it in simple terms, my honest view is that speech pathologists, by virtue of our training alone, are well-equipped to work with children and adolescents in the area of literacy. We know about phonology, about language (in its oral and written forms) and we are very skilled at breaking complex tasks down into simple steps. These are all central to working with struggling readers. My vision is for speech pathologists to be an accepted, expected and valued member of any literacy support team. After all my self-doubts, I began to realise that the opportunity to talk to speech pathologists across the entire nation was golden. I zipped all over this vast country of ours; sometimes for one workshop at a time and once, for four workshops over two weeks. I thought I

2018 National Tour

DR NATALIE MUNRO is a certified practising speech language pathologist whose research, teaching and clinical interests span across child and adolescent language development and disorders. Dr Munro's research interests include: 1) investigating individual differences in children's speech, language and social skills development among learners who have developmental language disorder

(DLD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD); 2) intervention research and evidence- based practice to support children and adolescents with additional needs, their families, their educators and their communities. Natalie is a founding committee member of speechBITE and serves as an Associate Editor for International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders and an Editorial Board Member for LSHSS. Natalie is passionate about paediatric language!

A contemporary approach from an interdisciplinary perspective”, a one-day workshop co-presented by Dr Natalie Munro and her research collaborator, Associate Professor Reinie Cordier.