Talking speech research

Tuesday, 3 December 2013

Five of the world's top international speech pathologists are discussing their latest research at the three-day 'Communicating Together' Symposium in Newcastle from 2-4 December.

ResearchersLanguage literacy in school-aged children, children's speech sound disorders, and overcoming speech disorders following a brain injury are some of the topics that will be covered during the event.

University of Newcastle senior lecturer and researcher, Dr Bronwyn Hemsley, said the symposium would inform and stimulate focused research development discussions.

"It's an exciting time to be undertaking research activity in speech pathology. Advances in research over the past decade has helped shape clinical practice and develop new treatments and positive outcomes for children and adults with communication disabilities," Dr Hemsley said.

"The clinical landscape is rapidly changing, particularly with advances in e-health technologies, and Australia's new funding models and DisabilityCare Australia. The challenge for us as researchers is to ensure our findings translate quickly into improved policies and practices that make a real difference."

Keynote speakers from Australia, New Zealand and the United States will deliver their latest research findings.

"We're privileged to host internationally-recognised speech pathology experts in Newcastle including Professor Nicole Muller from the University of Louisiana and Professor Marilyn Nippold from the University of Oregon who will outline the language-literacy connection in school aged-children and adults.

"Dr Caroline Bowen, an expert in children's speech sound disorders, will share her decades of research on how a clinician's choice of treatment targets, and their duration and intensity, can have significant effects on outcomes."

Professor Susan Balandin will discuss confidentiality and the issues it raises for clinicians and researchers who work with people who struggle to speak.

Professor Leanne Toghe is an expert with 25 years' experience working in the area of communication disorders following a brain injury.

"Professor Togher's research has delivered some fantastic outcomes including publishing training packages for law and justice personnel to improve interactions with people with brain injuries and she has developed an online treatment resource aimed at improving everyday communication for people with brain injury and their families."

Contact

  • Carmen Swadling, Media and Public Relations
  • Phone: +61 2 4985 4276 or 0428 038 477.

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