24 Speak Out
February 2014
Speech Pathology Australia
BRANCH NEWS
NEW SOUTH WALES
BRANCH NEWS — QUEENSLAND
Queensland speech pathologist
named Indigenous Allied
Health Professional of the Year
TARA LEWIS
, a speech pathologist practising in Brisbane, was named the
r. Tara
has over 10 years’ experience in supporting families in developing their
children’s communication skills. Tara is the Director of All About Speech,
a private practice in Brisbane, and prior to commencing this practice, Tara worked with Queensland Health, the Department of
Education and Training Queensland and Early Learning Centres. She has presented at several Queensland and national child
health and speech pathology conferences and is a guest lecturer at the University of Queensland and an adjunct lecturer with
James Cook University. She was also a Director of Indigenous Allied Health Australia and plays an instrumental role in educating
other professionals in best practice for working with Indigenous children.
This award is a great honour for Tara and our profession. Congratulations, Tara!
DR JUDY GOULD
Speech Pathologist
Tara Lewis accepting her award.
IN NOVEMBER 2013
, five peers
from the Macquarie University Master
of Speech and Language Pathology
program and I embarked on the 13-hour
drive west of Sydney to Broken Hill where
we were to spend the next six weeks on
a paediatric practicum. We were spread
across eight schools within Broken Hill,
the local Air Base school, and three
schools in outreach areas located up
to two hours outside of Broken Hill. Our
role was to screen and provide therapy
to kindergarten pupils with a range of
speech and language difficulties.
Diving headfirst into any new student
placement can be an exhilarating
challenge. Add to that the extreme
heat, a new culture and a whole lot of
dust, and you have Broken Hill’s ‘Allied
Health in Outback Schools’ program.
The opportunity to ‘go rural’ provided us
with the chance to work with new and
diverse populations of various socio-
cultural backgrounds – very different
from the city life we were used to. The
aim of our placement was to provide
speech pathology services to pupils
who would not otherwise have had the
opportunity to receive assessment or
intervention. The placement itself is an
excellent opportunity to obtain a truly
hands-on experience. While supervision
and support is provided, students
are given the opportunities of
independence. Clinical decision-
making skills are certainly put to the
test, with screeners and individual,
small-group and class-based therapy
all a regular feature of the working
day. The placement also provided us
with the opportunity to be part of an
interdisciplinary team, working with
occupational therapy students to help
develop pupils’ joint communication,
visual perception, gross and fine motor
skills.
While there was a large workload, we
still managed to make the most of
the community lifestyle by spending
time with locals, stargazing into the
country sky, camping and seeing local
sights like the ‘Big Chair’ sculpture.
We’d like to thank the Broken Hill
University Department of Rural Health
for the opportunity to undertake this
placement. It’s certainly enriched our
clinical experience and provided us with
cherished memories.
LAURA BLASDALE
Master of Speech and Language Pathology
student, Macquarie University
SPA Student Representative 2014
Reflection on a Clinical Placement in Broken Hill
Clockwise from top left: Rhea Garcia, Tammy
Cheung and Angela Boylan are welcomed to Broken
Hill; Sophie Foott, Tammy, Laura Blasdale and Laura
Lengel enjoy some camping; and the girls hold their
Silverton Hotel ‘Challenge’ Awards.
