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S
peech
P
athology
A
ustralia
Alison Russell, Trish Bradd, Clare McCann, Catherine Epps and Felicity Bright.
Keynote presenter Dr Pamela Snow
A
fter 12 years Speech Pathology Australia and NZSTA
rekindled old friendships and came together to share
their experience, practice and ideas at the ‘2008 Reflecting
Connections Conference’ in Auckland. It was a pleasure
planning the Conference with the capable support of our NZ
colleagues, Felicity Bright (Co-convenor), Clare McCann
(Scientific Program Coordinator) and Catherine Epps
(committee member), and the fabulous support of the student
helpers during the week.
Dr Pamela Snow’s opening keynote presentation about
child abuse challenged the audience to consider how speech
pathologists can play a crucial role in positioning oral
language competence as a social justice and public health
issues across the lifespan. Her workshop and second plenary
explored the relationship between maltreatment of children,
oral language competence and mental health, all key social
R
eflecting
C
onnections
Antipodean knowledge sharing
Alison Russell and Trish Bradd
determinants of health and educational outcomes. Her
presentations sparked considerable discussion about how the
profession needs to broaden its perspective to include
advocacy for children, the consideration of mental health in
our practice, and our role in influencing public health policy.
Associate Professor Margaret Maclagan from Christchurch
University gave an interactive presentation as the Inaugural
Grace Gane Memorial Lecture (NZSTA) which had us
contemplating trans Tasman linguistic similarities and
differences.