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Speak Out
June 2017
www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.auBranch
News
New south wales
NSW 2282
members
as at April 2017
ON THE 16 MAY,
Speech Pathology Australia student representatives from the University of
Sydney organised an event to celebrate Apraxia Awareness Day. Students were required to
write a fact about apraxia on a post-it note in exchange for a free baked goodies – a highly
motivating reward for a uni student on the go! It was a great opportunity to raise awareness
about apraxia at our multidisciplinary campus.
There were a number of misconceptions about apraxia:
“So only speech therapists deal with apraxia, right?”
“Isn’t it just a speech impediment?”
“Isn’t apraxia something that all children encounter when developing speech, and then grow
out of?”
Our enthusiastic SPA representatives saw this as the perfect opportunity to clarify these
misconceptions and educate allied health students about apraxia and the impact it can
have on a client and their family.
While organising the event, our SPA representatives collaborated with fellow occupational
therapy students. They provided insight into the role that occupational therapy plays in
managing other types of apraxia, such as limb and ideomotor apraxia. We learnt that limb
apraxia involves a breakdown in motor planning for movement of the limbs. Patients with
ideomotor apraxia are aware of the purpose of an object or item; however, they experience
a breakdown in motor planning for how to use the object or item (e.g., adjusting your grasp
of an elastic band while putting your hair into a ponytail). We used this information to spread
the message that apraxia can be managed by multiple allied health professionals, not just
speech pathologists.
Dr Elizabeth Murray commented that many of her clients with apraxia feel that there is not
enough awareness in the community about apraxia. She was eager to take some photos of
the event to show her clients. This raises a broader issue about the importance of education
around communication and swallowing problems, as part of advocating for clients.
Amelia Laurendet
Fourth year student speech pathologist
Sydney University students celebrate
Apraxia Awareness Day