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Speak Out
October 2015
Speech Pathology Australia
Careers Expo
The NT Branch
of SPA once again attended the Careers
Expo in Alice Springs
and Darwin. More than
4,000 people attended
the expo giving us an
opportunity to share
with the community
what speech pathology
is and all the amazing
things you can do with
a career in speech
pathology. Years 10, 11
and 12 students were
particularly interested in
the tastes of thickened
fluids we had on our
stall and we found this
was a good way to get
them engaged.
Media exposure
Amy Southwood represented the branch on the local ABC
Darwin radio chatting to the host of the morning show about
speech pathology. She spoke about the diverse range of
people that a speech pathologist may help and linked these
back to people that the listeners may not be aware of, such as
the singer Adele getting assistance with her voice.
Parap
Market stall
The Branch had a
stall at the local Parap
Markets giving us an
opportunity to talk with
the community about
speech pathology. While
the children enjoyed
the balloons, many other stopped to share their story and
experience with speech pathology or enquire how to access
local services.
Trivia night
This year the Branch joined with the Darwin Ski Club to host a
trivia night. While many attendees had not yet heard of speech
pathology, one of the rounds asked them to match celebrities
to their communication difficulty or diagnosis which soon got
them asking what ‘stopping’ or ‘nodules’ were.
Colouring competition
Local children also entered a colouring-in competition for
speech pathology week. Many local schools got involved and
have sent multiple entries. Judging will occur this week with
some great book prizes available to the lucky winners.
Presentation to Darwin GPs
Branch President Melba and member Emma Noovao
presented to a group of General Practitioners via the Health
Network, Northern Territory with the support of members
Jayne Graham and Christina Spinella. The presentation
took place on 2 September so was a little later than Speech
Pathology Week, but still achieved the aims of promoting
awareness of the profession.
BRANCH news
northern territory
The dry season
is a busy time for speech pathologists in the Northern Territory.
In this
Speak Out
we share with you the events of our chapter which have included:
Top: Speech Pathology student Bree Davey
at the Careers Expo; bottom: Melissa Lovell,
Meg Redway and Narelle Pearce.
Amy Southwood talking with ABC radio host Adam Steer.
Natalie Skinner, Lily Skinner and Erin Coonan
volunteer their time at the Parap Market stall.
Local speech pathologists Meg, Ashleigh and Melba with friends.
One entry from a 10-year-old girl.