24 SpeakOut
April 2014
SpeechPathology Australia
BRANCHnews
BRANCHnews
TASMANIA
VICTORIA
I’vebeentold
that in Japan, so
punctual is the
shinkansen
, the bullet train,
that should it run late, the stationmaster will
supply commuterswith a note to explain
late arrival at work.Whether this is true or
not I don’t know, however what was clear
tome on 11 January, the first day of a three
day LPworkshop, was that at precisely ten
minutes before the start time of 9.00am,
55 Japanese speech pathologistswere
seated, silent and staring. Atme. Sobegan
the first LPworkshop in Japan and inmy
experience, the only LPworkshop tobegin
aheadof schedule.
Eighteenmonths earlier I had a
conversationwithElaineYandeau,
aCanadianSLP at theYokohama
International School, duringwhich she
outlined her intention – for it was farmore
than an idea or aspiration – to introduce
the LP to Japan. Elaine’s goal was purely
altruistic as she had already travelled to
Australia to attend a LPworkshop. I could
not fail tobe impressed.
I hadpresented the LPworkshopmany
times before but knew thisworkshopwould
be different. As I commencedpreparation,
I began to appreciate themagnitude of the
difference. For if I was to teach, I would first
need to learn, and learn about Japan is
what I did.
Dr JunKatsuki-Nakamura, of the
JapaneseAssociation of Speech-
Language-Hearing Therapists, taught
me about the professional background
of my audience. Speech pathologists in
Japan predominantly treat adults.When
they treat children it is usually at school
age. For the treatment of all communication
disorders, early intervention is in its infancy,
both conceptually and in implementation.
Dr Yuki Hara, aStutteringSpecialist at
KitasatoUniversity, took time todiscuss
undergraduate education in stuttering,
and treatment for stuttering in Japan.
WhileSPs are familiar with texts of
AmericanStuttering specialists such as
BarryGuitar, behavioural treatments for
preschool childrenwho stutter are not
used. ElaineYandeau patiently described
the broader culture of which stuttering
children are a part. Traditionally disability
in Japan has been viewed as shameful.
Introducing the
TheTasmanianBranch
of SpeechPathology Australia has been busy
making themost of the state election by lobbyingpoliticians to increase
speech pathology services in the state.
Branchmembers agreed to focus on a specific area for the 2014 election:
language acquisition and literacywithin theDepartment of Education. Contact
wasmadewith each of the threemajor parties: Labor, Liberal and theGreens.
This resulted in raising the profile of the speech pathology profession. Both
Labor and Liberal have since invited ongoingdialogue betweenSpeech
Pathology Australia (TasmanianBranch) and the state government.
TasmanianBranchChair, AlisonHenty thanked all members of theBranch
involved in the campaign. She said, “Despite the fact that no firm commitment
has been reached, the campaign has been successful in highlighting the need
for speech pathologists in tackling oral language and literacy difficulties.”
The electionmay be over but Branchmembers are looking forward to
continuing their effortswith plans to lobby across awide range of areas to
increase speech pathology input.
KateDay
SpeechLanguagePathologist
TasmaniaBranchSpeakOut Editor
Speechpathologistscome
to theParties inTasmania
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