ACQ Vol 11 no 2 2009

Literacy

From the editors Literacy unlocks the door to learning Marleen Westerveld and Nicole Watts Pappas

Contents

65 From the Editors: Literacy unlocks the door to learning 66 From the President: Literacy notes 67 The big picture of literacy – Regina Walsh 75 Phonological awareness: Effective practices in assess- ment and intervention – Gail Gillon and Brigid McNeill 77 Literacy instruction for individuals with complex communication needs – Sally Clendon and Karen Erickson 81 Measuring reading comprehension ability in children: Factors influencing test performance – Marleen Westerveld 85 Dyslexia in secondary school students: Evidence from the literature – Julie Marinac 89 Ethical reflections: Readability of written speech pathology reports – Suze Leitão, Nerina Scarinci and Cheryl Koenig 92 Mealtime behaviours in people with dementia in the absence of dysphagia: Education of nursing staff in an acute care setting – Crystal Ensell and Natasha Matheson 97 Clinical insights: Oral Language Basic Concepts Program: An example of collaborative service provision in Victoria – Ed Gillian and Sue Williamson 100 Literacy for Life Unit: An activity update – Carolyn Burrows and Julie Marinac 103 Raising awareness of the importance of functional literacy skills: The Communication Resource Centre – Scope – Cathy Basterfield 106 Let’s Read: A universal intervention to promote literacy in very young children – Sharon Goldfeld, Natasha Napiza, Jon Quach, Carly Veness, Sheena Reilly, Obioha C Ukoumunne, and Melissa Wake 109 Speech and language therapy in Bangladesh – Jannatul Ferdous and Cristy Gaskill 112 Webwords 34: Literacy difficulties across the rooftops – Caroline Bowen 114 My top 10 resources: Paediatric Literacy – Melinda Schambre 116 My top 10 resources: Adult Literacy – Karen Smith-Lock 118 Research updates Literacy skills of children born preterm: University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research – Alison Holm and Sharon Crosbie 119 New Castles and Coltheart reading test available online: Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science – Anne Castles, Genevieve McArthur and Max Coltheart 120 Understanding and treating developmental literacy impairments using a cognitive neuropsychological approach: Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science – Lyndsey Nickels, Saskia Kohnen, and Karen Smith-Lock 122 Resource reviews: Speech pathology resources 125 Around the journals 128 Outside the square: Into allied health

Marleen Westerveld (left) and Nicole Watts Pappas

“Literacy unlocks the door to learning throughout life, is essential to development and health, and opens the way for democratic participation and active citizenship” (Kofi Annan). Dr Seuss puts it in a simpler way: “The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” (Dr Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut! ). We have been overwhelmed by the level of interest following our call for submissions to this Literacy issue of ACQ . The result has been a wide range of literacy-related articles from both academic and clinical perspectives. It reflects a clear shift in our scope of practice as speech- language pathologists to include literacy assessment and intervention for children, adolescents, and adults. Walsh begins this edition by defining literacy, which includes an interesting historical perspective, with the aim to assist speech-language pathologists in promoting their role in literacy. The issue then presents more peer-reviewed articles. Examples include a best practice review by Gillon and McNeill related to phonological awareness assessment and intervention, an overview by Clendon and Erickson on effective literacy instruction for individuals with complex communication needs, and insights into dyslexia in secondary school students by Marinac. In this edition, you will also find several Clinical Insights papers to inform you of clinical initiatives related to literacy across the country, including an example of collaborative service provision in Victoria. We strongly recommend the Ethical Reflections paper, in which Leitão and her colleagues raise some very topical issues linking clinical report writing to our Code of Practice. Finally, the edition contains our regular columns. The Research Updates column reports on some exciting new literacy-related initiatives in Australia, and Caroline Bowen navigates us in cyberspace with her highly informative and entertaining 34th edition (marking the 10th anniversary!) of Webwords. In concluding, we would like to bring to your attention the upcoming topics in ACQ , including mental health, motor speech disorders, and working with families. Please note that articles on other topics are always welcome. We encourage peer-appraisal for all research-related papers, including literature reviews and discussion papers, and are currently considering the stipulated word limits. ACQ uses a double-blind peer-review process that will help ensure high quality evidence-based publications. We look forward to your continued contributions and welcome your feedback and suggestions regarding the content, focus, or format of the journal.

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ACQ Volume 11, Number 2 2009

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au