JCPSLP Vol 18 no 2 July 2016

National Disability Insurance Scheme

From the editor David Trembath

Contents

T he advent of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) represents a fundamental shift in the way in which services for individuals with lifelong disability are funded, accessed, and provided. In principle, the NDIS will see control of allocated funds shift from organisations to individual participants within the scheme, allowing them to choose from the range of services available in their location. For speech-language pathologists and other allied health practitioners, these changes present tremendous opportunites, but also challenges, which together are the focus of this issue. Hines and Lincoln open the issue with a timely reflection on how the NDIS funding model might impact on the training, recruitment, and retention of SLPs in the disability

49 From the editor

50 Boosting the recruitment and retention of new graduate speech-language pathologists for the disability workforce – Monique Hines and Michelle Lincoln 55 An examination of the impact of self-directed funding models on children with disabilities – Andrea Simpson and Jacinta Douglas 62 Meeting the planning needs of people with complex communication needs – Hilary Johnson and Denise West relevance, scope, and credibility of online information about augmentative and alternative communication – Kate L. Anderson and Paul Andres 75 Ethics and the National Disability Insurance Scheme – Cathy Olsson and Trish Johnson 80 Reading instruction for children with ASD: Getting the story straight – Marleen F. Westerveld, Jessica Paynter, and David Trembath 84 The phonological awareness skills of education and speech pathology higher education students during their first semester of study – Marleen F. Westerveld and Georgina Barton 89 Communication partner training for nurses: A pilot study of an online learning program – Kathryn McKinley and Robyn O’Halloran 67 Googling AAC: Exploring the

sector. They challenge colleagues in both university and workplace settings to develop innovative clinical placement and continuing professional development models to ensure a sufficiently large and capable workforce. Simpson and Douglas review research examing the impact of self-directed funding models, similar to that being applied in the NDIS. They note that reported benefits (e.g., greater flexiblity and autonomy) are off-set partially by assoicated challenges (e.g., administrative burden on families) and call for higher quality research examining the impact on indiviudals and families. Johnson and West present strategies for addressing key challenges to individuals with complex communication needs participating in the NDIS planning process. Two articles address the issue of information access and accuracy, including associated impacts on practice. In the first, Anderson and Andres evaluate the relevance, scope, and credibility of online information about augmentative and alternative communication. Westerveld leads an article examining common misconceptions regarding reading development in children with autism spectrum disorder, arguing for alternative interpretations. Finally, Olsson and Johnson round out the set of articles relating to the NDIS theme by elucidating emerging ethical issues for SLPs working with participants in the scheme. A further three articles – examining phonological awareness of skills of higher education students, communication partner training for nurses, and prognostic and predictive factors in stuttering – along with regular columns complete the issue. When I commenced work in early intervention services for children with disability 15 years ago, I never dreamt I would see the roll out of a national scheme, supported by all mainstream political parties, with the expressed purpose of giving power to individuals with disability and their families, within such a short amount of time. Again, the opportunities are tremendous, and as presented in the articles herein, we as a profession must be agile, creative, and inspiring in the way we embrace and shape the new way of working as experts in the field.

94 Stuttering prognosis and

predictive factors of treatment outcome: A review – Charn Nang and Natalie Ciccone

100 Webwords 54: Caroline Bowen

102 Top 10 – Janice Buckland

104 Around the journals

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JCPSLP Volume 18, Number 2 2016

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au