SpeakOut_April2014_FINAL_eCopy

BRANCHnews

BRANCHnews

TASMANIA

VICTORIA

I’vebeentold that in Japan, so punctual is the shinkansen , the bullet train, that should it run late, the stationmaster will supply commuterswith a note to explain late arrival at work.Whether this is true or not I don’t know, however what was clear tome on 11 January, the first day of a three day LPworkshop, was that at precisely ten minutes before the start time of 9.00am, 55 Japanese speech pathologistswere seated, silent and staring. Atme. Sobegan the first LPworkshop in Japan and inmy experience, the only LPworkshop tobegin aheadof schedule. Introducing the International School, duringwhich she outlined her intention – for it was farmore than an idea or aspiration – to introduce the LP to Japan. Elaine’s goal was purely altruistic as she had already travelled to Australia to attend a LPworkshop. I could not fail tobe impressed. I hadpresented the LPworkshopmany times before but knew thisworkshopwould be different. As I commencedpreparation, I began to appreciate themagnitude of the difference. For if I was to teach, I would first need to learn, and learn about Japan is what I did. Language-Hearing Therapists, taught me about the professional background of my audience. Speech pathologists in Japan predominantly treat adults.When they treat children it is usually at school age. For the treatment of all communication disorders, early intervention is in its infancy, both conceptually and in implementation. Dr Yuki Hara, aStutteringSpecialist at KitasatoUniversity, took time todiscuss undergraduate education in stuttering, and treatment for stuttering in Japan. WhileSPs are familiar with texts of AmericanStuttering specialists such as BarryGuitar, behavioural treatments for preschool childrenwho stutter are not used. ElaineYandeau patiently described the broader culture of which stuttering children are a part. Traditionally disability in Japan has been viewed as shameful. Dr JunKatsuki-Nakamura, of the JapaneseAssociation of Speech- Eighteenmonths earlier I had a conversationwithElaineYandeau, aCanadianSLP at theYokohama

TheTasmanianBranch of SpeechPathology Australia has been busy making themost of the state election by lobbyingpoliticians to increase speech pathology services in the state. Branchmembers agreed to focus on a specific area for the 2014 election: language acquisition and literacywithin theDepartment of Education. Contact wasmadewith each of the threemajor parties: Labor, Liberal and theGreens. This resulted in raising the profile of the speech pathology profession. Both Labor and Liberal have since invited ongoingdialogue betweenSpeech Pathology Australia (TasmanianBranch) and the state government. TasmanianBranchChair, AlisonHenty thanked all members of theBranch involved in the campaign. She said, “Despite the fact that no firm commitment has been reached, the campaign has been successful in highlighting the need for speech pathologists in tackling oral language and literacy difficulties.” The electionmay be over but Branchmembers are looking forward to continuing their effortswith plans to lobby across awide range of areas to increase speech pathology input. Speechpathologistscome to theParties inTasmania

KateDay SpeechLanguagePathologist TasmaniaBranchSpeakOut Editor

WritingRoad toReading 1 Teacher TrainingCourse Gain the skills to teachwriting, spelling and reading toprimary school students. July andJanuary Sydney andMelbourne January andJuly Sydney and elbourne

Contact SusanByrne 02 9412 1966 spaldingaust@optusnet.com.au

24 SpeakOut April 2014

SpeechPathology Australia