SpeakOut_August2014_FINAL_eCopy

During SPWeek 2014, we want you to think creatively! To provide inspiration for any activities and/or events you might like to organise to celebrate SPWeek, below we share a story about the community event HUSH! which was hosted by Western Sydney Speech Pathology in Blacktown NSW, to promote the aims of the Nation for Communication campaign.

Speech pathologists Julie Carey, Georgina Bong and Celine Pascual and their team of volunteers with the final artwork. The artwork was created by 80 children from the Blacktown area using only non-verbal communication.

If I told you I could convince 80 children to participate in an art and craft activity in total silence you would probably think I was crazy. Yet, on the 9th of July 2014, together with my colleagues and some fantastic volunteers, we did just that. The reason? To raise much needed awareness about communication difficulties to the people in our community. HUSH! was a community event hosted by Western Sydney Speech Pathology in front of Max Webber Library in Blacktown as a part of the Nation for Communication campaign. At this event, children and their parents were invited to participate in creating a group artwork. The catch? They had to ask for the art supplies they needed using only non-verbal means of communication. These children (and their parents) experienced firsthand what it was like to have a communication difficulty. “I think the parents found it more difficult”, my colleague Georgina told me. “I had to keep shushing them.” These observations are a testimony to how heavily we rely on verbal language as a means to communicate as we grow older. While the primary aim of HUSH! was to help raise awareness about communication disorders throughout our community, one of the most surprising outcomes in preparing for and executing this event was how much we learned about the community in which we work. Western Sydney Speech Pathology makes some noise for people with communication disorders (Figuratively, speaking that is.)

Our event drew interest from local businesses including the main shopping center in Blacktown, Westpoint. They supported us by offering us free advertising spaces and sending a member of their management team to attend the event. Councilor Charlie Lowles, and a member of the Blacktown Rotary Club (Tess Sayas) were also present at the event. Blacktown City Libraries expressed their support by arranging for the artwork to be toured in the council’s three major libraries (Dennis Johnson Library, in Stanhope Gardens, Mt Druitt Library and Max Webber Library in Blacktown). The artwork will be accompanied by a display containing information about speech pathology. Our local paper, the Blacktown Advocate , ran an article about our event before it was staged and are extending the reach of our campaign by informing people about the tour of the artwork. Overall, our community’s response to communication disorders was that of interest and curiosity. Blacktown is ready and willing to know more about speech pathology! For more pictures and information about the event please visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/hushwssp .

During HUSH!, one of our volunteers was appointed with the task of asking people to sign the Nation for Communication Pledge. She found that many of the people who signed the pledge often wanted to explain why they believed communication to be a human right. Many of them told her of relatives and friends who struggle with a communication disorder. We also had many parents express their curiosity about speech therapy. While their children created an artwork, parents took the opportunity to talk to us about their concerns regarding their child’s communication. They were thankful to be given information about our profession. Two fathers who worked in nearby offices even took a handful of information brochures to distribute in their workplace!

Celine Lowe Pascual Speech-Language Pathologist

Speak Out August 2014

17

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au