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ACQ
Volume 12, Number 2 2010
ACQ
uiring knowledge in speech, language and hearing
Working with families
This issue of
ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language
and Hearing
turns the spotlight on these families and
challenges us to explore how we best partner with them
as they undertake critical therapeutic roles and deal with
significant personal challenges. And what demanding
responsibilities these families shoulder. Whether as a
therapist, a communication partner, a source of accurate
case history information, an advocate, or a consumer of our
services, their skilled and active engagement is pivotal to
successful therapy outcomes.
The articles within encourage us all to “walk a mile in their
shoes” and to evaluate our therapeutic practice from their
perspective. They challenge us to critically appraise the
effectiveness of some time-honoured practices and to seek
new and innovative models with the family at the centre.
I hope you will draw inspiration from the articles about the
amazing families we all have the privilege of working with.
What a complex, critical, and diverse role
families play in communication across our lifespan. They
witness and facilitate our first communication attempts,
catalogue our progress, share our secrets, our struggles,
and our triumphs, recognise and celebrate our idiosyncratic
style, and participate in so many of the myriad social
exchanges that make up our lives. Whatever our role(s) –
parents, siblings, life partners, children - families are as
central to communication as communication is to families.
We know that when one family member experiences
difficulty with communication, the impacts are felt throughout
the family unit. It is families that grapple with the potential
diminishment of social, vocational, and relationship
opportunities and with their own personal grief, isolation, and
loss of relationship. At the same time, they are often asked
to take on a range of vitally important roles for which they
may feel ill-equipped.
From the president
Christine Stone
Christine Stone