Speak Out August 2017 low res

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August 2017 Speak Out 3
From the President
Gaenor Dixon
Gaenor Dixon
National President
BEING ABLE TO communicate
successfully is critical for our dignity, our
happiness and our development. It is
a prerequisite for achievement of basic
human rights of participation, expression,
access to public services, education and
employment.
Communication Access – Everyone gets
the message! is the theme for this month’s
Speech Pathology Week. This theme is
based on the first aspiration in the Speech
Pathology 2030 document. This aspiration
reflects the need to grow the role that
we play in working more broadly with
potential communication partners so that
everyone can communicate successfully
as consumers, clients, friends, employers,
employees, audiences and advocates. By
building knowledge, skills and resources,
we ensure that everyone is able to exercise
their right to communication.
To realise this aspiration requires a cultural
change in our community – and Speech
Pathology Week is one mechanism to build
community awareness of communication
disability, and simple steps they can take
to have successful interactions.
At a national level, during Speech
Pathology Week, we will be holding a
communication access forum, with a
range of advocacy groups to discuss the
development of an Australian collaboration
for future advocacy efforts.
We are also working with the International
Society of Augmentative and Alternative
Communication (ISAAC), and AGOSCI
to work to develop some communication
accessible environments in time for the
conference on the Gold Coast next year.
National Office will also be undergoing
a communication accessibility audit to
ensure that our communications are
accessible.
In this issue we can see the stories of how
others are developing communication
accessibility; Rosie Martin, Tasmanian
of the Year, talks about her journey to
ensure that those in prison have access
to the messages of the written word.
Rosie talks about how she has garnered
support and understanding from the
broader community about the limitations of
illiteracy and how to overcome the barriers.
Importantly she talks about how to step
out of your comfort zone to achieve your
goals.
I look forward to hearing about what you
are doing to promote communication
accessibility – whether it is looking at your
own workplace and its communication
accessibility, holding a display promoting
strategies and awareness, or another
imaginative activity.
As we look to the future and develop
innovative ways to meet our clients’ and
community needs, it is also timely to
remind ourselves of how to ensure that
we are still working within our professional
knowledge base. Caroline Bowen and Trish
Johnson have written a thought-provoking
article on how to address the ethical issues
that arise when “fad” interventions, with
a limited evidence-base, are marketed as
being the option.
In this issue we celebrate the achievements
of many speech pathologists particularly
those who are award winners. My
congratulations to you all, and thank you
for your contribution to the Association
and to the broader speech pathology
community. We also remember speech
pathologist, Annabel Crouch. Since the
writing of the content of the magazine,
we also sadly note the death of Joyce
Bruce (nee Alley) OAM and acknowledge
her contributions to the speech pathology
community in Australia.
I hope that you find this edition an
informative and thought-provoking read.