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JCPSLP
Volume 19, Number 1 2017
Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
assessment context and therefore create opportunities that
recognise and respect strengths and difference rather than
using assessment to define deficit. Two therapeutic and
assessment frameworks that utilise a strengths based
practice model will be discussed to further articulate how
yarning could be used to facilitate a deeper connection with
Aboriginal families that promotes and provides accurate
client information.
The Making Connections Framework developed
by the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health is a key
practice framework that uses yarning as a methodology
throughout the family’s entire journey with the allied
health therapists (Nelson, McLaren, Lewis, & Iwama,
in press). The framework’s cyclical approach outlines
the importance of getting connected, being connected,
staying connected and building connections with clients,
their families and communities. The core component of
the framework is around the centrality of the child and
their family needs through an ongoing relationship. This
includes understanding another’s view and demonstrating
an ongoing commitment and availability for support. This
can be demonstrated only through proppa yarning with
clients and their families. The framework acknowledges
that additional effort may be required to stay connected
and maintain connection with families, the clinics and
the community. Connection is intentional and purposeful
and is maintained through the use of yarning and sharing
stories. Clients are rarely discharged from the service as
a deep sense of family and connection is established and
maintained through yarning.
The Gumerri Assessment, developed by the first author,
is a receptive and expressive communication assessment
that is designed to appreciate the communication
strengths of Aboriginal children aged from 5 years to
12 years. It employs a strengths based approach by
recognising the importance Aboriginal families place on
culture, home language and ways of communicating. The
philosophy of Gumerri is based upon cultural safety, cultural
responsiveness (Indigenous Allied Health Australia, 2015)
and language preservation. The assessment methodology
centres upon Undoo Kurunpa, the child’s spirit, and applies
assessment yarning throughout the entire assessment to
establish a genuine relational construct and connection with
the child and their family.
The assessment questions create opportunities for
yarning and it is expected that the clinician will be an
active participant in those yarns. Different question formats
are applied through yarning such as direct and indirect
questions and the use of comments. For example, in order
to follow a yarning methodology, one of the questions is:
“You know, I loved going swimming when I was at school.
Do you like swimming? Where can we go swimming?”
Along with the child, the clinician is expected to share their
lived experiences of how and where they grew up as they
journey through the meaningful and purposeful assessment
questions. The assessment tasks and questions are
interconnected with ancestral history and relate to the
world-views, knowledges and experiences that many
Aboriginal children are accustomed to living and thus can
only be experienced through yarning.
The Gumerri Assessment and Making Connections
Framework recognise the centrality of yarning to
developing ongoing relationships with Aboriginal people.
Both these practice methodologies recognise the need
to move beyond traditional assessment and therapeutic
methodologies and replace them with yarning as a method
2013). Yarning is the vehicle for maintaining cultural integrity
and Aboriginal world-views (Geia et al., 2013).
Yarning is more than telling someone something and/
or having a conversation. It entails talking via stories that
convey rich and deep meanings that move beyond thinking
to actually feeling and connecting back (Bond, Foley, &
Askew, 2016). The use of Standard Australian English or
inserting Aboriginal language words cannot adequately
convey these meanings and connection (Butcher,
2008). As yarning recognises the centrality of Aboriginal
communication and connectedness, it is important that
speech pathologists effectively engage in yarning to
ensure the strengths of Aboriginal children are validated
and respected in a way that minimises misdiagnosis. The
term
assessment yarning
may be useful in conceptualising
the components of yarning and to support SLPs in using
yarning as an assessment methodology.
Assessment yarning
Yarning as an assessment methodology can be thought of
as the method for gathering client information. Assessment
yarning is applied to collect a comprehensive and
meaningful case history and is also used when collecting
the necessary clinical data of the assessment tasks. It is the
methodology employed that facilitates the journey of the
clinician and client where stories are shared and a strong
authentic relational construct is formed. Engaging in
assessment yarning provides clinical insight into the
centrality of the client and their family’s journey. Assessment
yarning enables clinicians to really “see” the client in their
“humanness” within their context and to potentially disrupt
any preconceived notions about the client. It is imperative
the clinician discloses who they are, where they are from
and who they are connected to through the methodology of
yarning. This displays a sense of belongingness and
connection with people and place. It also allows the client
to see the clinician as someone who really cares and
facilitates an emotional connection between the clinician
and the client. This, then, is more than an establishment of
rapport. It is through yarning that a two-way sharing of
stories and learning from each other becomes paramount
for the assessment methodology.
Assessment yarning allows for ongoing assessment
throughout the entire journey of the child and their
family and is not restricted to one or two sessions as
per traditional western style assessments. The following
questions may assist the clinician to ensure that
assessment yarning practices are maintained.
1. Is the yarn reciprocal?
2. Is the yarn meaningful?
3. Is a deep relational connection being formed?
4. Is the aim of yarning to support learning through
teaching?
5. Am I listening for the meanings and information being
conveyed through yarning?
Yarning as an assessment methodology –
practice frameworks
The use of assessment yarning supports clinicians in
providing a culturally responsive service in that they are not
only aware of their own culture and how it may affect their
interactions with clients (Nelson, 2007), but are applying
this knowledge and transforming their practice in a way that
supports Aboriginal ways of communicating. By applying
assessment yarning, clinicians become aware of how their
world-view and assumptions may shape bias in an