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Speak Out
October 2013
Speech Pathology Australia
SPWeek celebrations
The WA Branch SPWeek Launch Event attendees
were inspired by guest speaker Shane Hopkins,
who shared his positive story of rehabilitation and
future aspirations after a stroke last year, and Gerri
Harris, who shared her rewarding experiences and
journey as a speech pathologist.
WA Inspirational Client of
the Year was awarded to
five-year-old Liam Knights,
who has autism and apraxia
of speech, and whose
continued motivation and
hard work in therapy has
produced great gains.
Twenty speechies ran in
the 2013 City to Surf during
SPWeek to raise money for
Communicate WA. The team
participated in a range of
walking and running events,
and some even braved a
half marathon, with over
$6000 raised.
Trevor Strickland was awarded
WA Inspirational Carer of
the Year, for his unwavering
support and advocacy as a
primary carer for his mother
who has suffered with severe
communication difficulties and
dysphagia.
Hollywood Hospital started
the conversation with a
main entrance display –
including The Great Australian
Communication Story,
communication accessibility
information, and examples
of patient “chat books”,
“chat sheets” and “walking
programs”.
Royal Perth Hospital SPs ran an ‘interactive’ display where they mingled with the public,
gave out dysphagia-friendly snacks and drinks, familiarised people with AAC, and
got people involved in a ‘Communication Quiz’. Thursday saw a special screening of
‘
Aphasia
’ the movie (starring Carl McIntyre) with more than a few tears shed.
The speech pathologists and speech pathology
students at Nulsen arranged a lunch and gave a
presentation on the areas of practice in speech
pathology, incorporating Social Role Valorisation
theory and the WHO-ICF with the speech
pathologist’s role in supporting adults with profound
disabilities, as well as what signs to look out for
that may indicate that a speech pathology referral/
review may be required.