Introduction

Welcome to the 2015 edition of our ECU Speech Pathology newsletter. This year our

students have attended a wide range of clinical placements and community based

clinical experiences including our first ever placement in Tasmania. The Speech Pa-

thology staff have continued to conduct, present and publish research within clinical-

ly applied and education related fields including studies in the use of videos to sup-

port reflective practice in students, intervention for aphasia and acquired communi-

cation disorders in Aboriginal people after stroke. The number of students complet-

ing Honours research increased and our PhD programme is set to expand next year.

For me highlights include attending the graduation ceremony of our third cohort of

graduates and catching up with our previously graduated students who are working

within the speech pathology community, research trips to rural and regional towns

and meeting with local speech pathologists, working on curriculum related projects

including the development of a dysphagia related learning resource, the ECU Speech

Pathology team hosting a National Speech Pathology Roundtable on Aboriginal

Health Curriculum, being part of students’ academic and clinical journey and attend-

ing meetings with the broader Speech Pathology community.

I hope you enjoy reading all about it in this year’s ECU Speech Pathology newsletter.

Natalie

Dr. Natalie Ciccone

Speech Pathology Course Coordinator

ECU Speech Pathology

Newsletter

November 2015

Using simulation to

develop inter-professional

skills

Clinicians working in the paediatric disabil-

ity field are expected to work in interdisci-

plinary teams but students may not have

opportunities to develop the required skills

at an undergraduate level. In 2012 Edith

Cowan University launched a series of

learning resources developed to facilitate

interprofessional learning tutorials for

health students. Abigail worked with an OT

colleague to develop one of these re-

sources around managing a child with au-

tism in school, using video vignettes, writ-

ten assessment material and facilitated

mixed group discussion. SP and OT stu-

dents have been participating in a joint

three hour workshop using this resource

for the past four years and have evaluated

the effectiveness of the resource by com-

pleting a questionnaire.

Over 140 students have participated in this

opportunity over the past four years and

they are overwhelmingly positive about the

learning experience, the authenticity of the

materials and their own development of

interprofessional skills. The resource is ef-

fective for engaging students in interpro-

fessional experiences in undergraduate ed-

ucation and will be continued to be used

each year by students.

The questionnaire results have been ac-

cepted as a paper to be presented at the

Australian & New Zealand Association for

Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE)

National Conference in Perth, March 2016.

ANZAHPE is the peak organisation for prac-

titioners involved in the education and

training of health professionals in Australia

and New Zealand and it is an exciting op-

portunity to attend and present at this con-

ference.

There are seventeen cases freely available

on ECU’s website to support the develop-

ment of interprofessional skills in students

and we have several others embedded in

the course. Check them out yourself at:

http://www.ecu.edu.au/community-

engagement/health-advancement/

interprofessional-ambulatory-care-

program/interprofessional-learning/ipl-

through-simulation

Abigail Lewis

Clinical Coordinator/Lecturer

Enhancing Student Dysphagia Competency through Simulat-

ed Learning Environments

This project aims to enhance student com-

petency in the area of dysphagia manage-

ment through a simulated learning envi-

ronment. Simulated learning environ-

ments provide an exciting format to deliv-

er appropriate, valuable and flexible edu-

cation for students in Speech Pathology.

They are increasingly being used to pro-

vide clinical experiences for allied health

students.

Speech Pathology students are required to

demonstrate a high level of clinical skill in

dysphagia management in order to gradu-

ate. At supervised clinical placements

many students find it difficult to integrate

theoretical knowledge learned in the

course and the skills required in the clini-

cal setting. Whilst video case studies are

used in the degree, the current videos

showcase a limited range of cases and do

not allow for in-depth and specific struc-

tured learning. High quality recordings of

in-depth Speech Pathology assessment

and treatment conducted by experienced

clinicians’ aims to bridge the theory to

practice gap. The assessment and treat-

ment protocols used in the videos are de-

signed with the latest evidence and best

practice in Speech Pathology. Clients from

a variety of backgrounds including stroke,

disability and neurodegenerative disorders

will provide real clinical cases. Additional-

ly, recordings will take place in settings

including hospitals and nursing homes to

provide a realistic management environ-

ment.

It is hoped that through watching patient

clinician interactions, observing the deci-

sion making process and linking theory to

practice, students will demonstrate great-

er confidence and competency in manag-

ing patients with swallowing difficulties.

The package is hoped to be available for

the 2016 ECU student cohort with collabo-

ration with other universities possible in

the future.

Emily Brogan

Project Coordinator

Speech Pathology Australia

National Conference 2015

This year the annual Speech Pathology

Australia National Conference was held in

Canberra. Speech Pathology Honours stu-

dent, Penny Wood, received support to at-

tend the conference from Speech Patholo-

gy Australia through their Sponsored Stu-

dent Conference registration programme.

This programme provides support to help

Speech Pathology Australia student mem-

bers attend the National Conference each

year and recognises students who have

demonstrated a high degree of involve-

ment in Speech Pathology Australia activi-

ties. Penny found the presentations inspir-

ing and made the most of opportunities to

meet leading international and national re-

searchers. Penny commented ‘it was excit-

ing to connect with speech pathologists of

all levels of experience (other students

too) and learn about some of the innova-

tive research taking place in the speech

pathology field’.

Visiting Scholar: Bronwyn

Hemsley

In June this year ECU was happy to host

visiting scholar Associate Professor Bron-

wyn Hemsley from The University of New-

castle. Bronwyn holds a Discovery Early

Career Research Award of the Australian

Research Council investigating the use of

social media by people with communication

disabilities, and is funded by the National

Health and Medical Research Council of

Australia to investigate with colleagues the

use of the Personally Controlled Electronic

Health Record by young people with severe

communication disabilities in transition

from child to adult health services. Bron-

wyn hosted a free community lecture called

‘Social media and e-health Information

Communication Technologies (ICT): online

participation by people with communication

disabilities for social interaction, infor-

mation exchange, and e-health purposes.

Bronwyn presented the findings of recent

research and an overview of two important

Information Communication Technologies

online - ‘social media’/social networking;

and eHealth records online. She also pro-

vided an overview of barriers and facilita-

tors that are common across these two

types of ICT, and engaged the audience in

considering strategies and supports that

might facilitate the inclusion and participa-

tion of people with communication disabili-

ties in these communication technologies.

The workshop was attended by practition-

ers from a range of different fields and dis-

cussions were interesting and wide rang-

ing.

If you would like to know more about the

project, or you know people with severe

communication disabilities who would like

to be involved, please contact Bronwyn at

bronwyn.hemsley@newcastle.edu.au. Of

course you can also follow Bronwyn on

Twitter: @bronwynhemsley.

Abigail Lewis

Allied Health Student Voca-tional Experience 2015

As a country girl, I am very keen to work

rurally upon graduation. Therefore I was

thrilled to be selected as one of nine allied

health students to attend a two-week voca-

tional experience at the Western Australian

Centre for Rural Health (WACRH) in

Geraldton, made possible by Rural Health

West. I felt that this experience would pro-

vide a taste of what to expect in fourth

year.

The first week involved heading out to

Mount Magnet to participate in the Carnival

of the Clowns experience, a community en-

gagement program. We worked with clown

doctors from PMH to teach children, from

the local district high school, a variety of

circus tricks at after-school workshops. At

the end of the week, children demonstrated

their new skills for their families at a suc-

cessful community performance in the town

hall.

The Carnival of the Clowns was a fun way

to interact with children, parents and com-

munity members and build rapport in a

community, where allied health services

may only visit every few weeks.

In the meantime, we also participated in a

cultural awareness session to learn more

about the local Yamatji people as well as

took in some of the sites that Mount Mag-

net had to offer such as the Granites and

Kirkalocka Station. We visited health ser-

vices available to the community and rec-

ognised that dedicated people keep these

services functional within small transient

communities.

After a well-deserved weekend off in

Geraldton, the second week was a hectic,

but rewarding opportunity to develop clini-

cal skills. At WACRH we participated in

Basic Life Support training and then tested

our skills through scenario-based simula-

tions. While these were daunting, it high-

lighted the importance of being prepared

for anything to occur during clinic! Time

was also spent preparing for a Teddy Bear

Clinic to be run at a local primary school

during the week. The Teddy Bear Clinic re-

quired us to perform health checks on ted-

dy bears while engaging children in discus-

sions about their own personal care and

hygiene.

The highlight of the vocational experience

was the opportunity to participate in clinical

placements. I was able to spend one day at

Geraldton Health Campus in the Speech

Pathology department with numerous

speech pathologists and their paediatric cli-

ents. The day provided plenty of opportuni-

ty to work with children on various articula-

tion, fluency and language issues as well as

interact with parents. The speech

pathologists encouraged me to engage with

the clients and their families while treat-

ment was provided, which was a humbling

experience for someone with very little

clinical knowledge! This opportunity also

alleviated my fears about my own upcom-

ing practicums, now that I have a clearer

idea of how to present treatment and com-

municate effectively with children, parents

and speech pathology staff.

The second day of clinical placement oc-

curred at WACRH and provided a much dif-

ferent experience. Time constraints meant

that we were not able to visit more clients

at Opal Aged Care. However the day

demonstrated the importance of writing

session plans, pre-briefing and debriefing

visits and recognising the need for collabo-

ration. A random conversation earlier in

the day meant that I became a guinea pig

for a voice assessment, an opportunity ap-

preciated by the fourth year students. The

fourth year students also completed a dys-

phagia simulation session, in which I was

able to participate. While I felt I didn’t play

much of a role in the simulation, the op-

portunity helped me further develop my

understanding of a daunting concept.

I have loved being a part of this Vocational

Experience and am really looking forward

to returning to Geraldton in the future for

further rural practice and experience!

Nicole (Nickee) Priestman

2nd year student

(Below: Nickee with fellow students)

Communication Accessibility and Person-Centred Practice

On the 13th and 14th February, Deborah

Hersh ran two invited workshops for Com-

munity Rehab North Queensland (CRnQ).

The first attracted an audience of about 45

health professionals from a range of reha-

bilitation disciplines. This workshop was

about creating inclusive, accessible and

friendly workplace and service environ-

ments for people with communication diffi-

culties. Deborah considered how docu-

ments, interactions and environments could

act as barriers to services and suggested

strategies to overcome them. The work-

shop was well received and feedback in-

cluded comments like: “The potential solu-

tions for barriers were incredibly helpful

and innovative” and “I want to apply it to

my work as a psychologist, but also in my

own personal life when communicating with

others”.

The second workshop was specifically for

speech pathologists and considered differ-

ent aspects of person-centred practice, en-

compassing assessment, goal-setting, ther-

apeutic relationships and discharge issues.

The group was small but enthusiastic and

included new graduates and more experi-

enced clinicians working in different set-

tings across Townsville. Their feedback not-

ed “open discussions about clinical experi-

ences” and one person wrote “Great experi-

ence. CRnQ did a great job putting this on”.

This event, advertised through the Towns-

ville-Mackay Medicare Local website, was

an opportunity to raise the profile of ECU in

the local community and at James Cook

University which has links to CRnQ. Debo-

rah spent time with the staff and students

who were on placement at CRnQ, and ob-

served a range of excellent initiatives run

through the centre.

Dr Deborah Hersh

Associate Professor

Enable Me

Enable Me is a website developed by the

National Stroke Foundation dedicated to

stroke recovery and support. It contains

resources, videos, “tips, tricks and tools”

which are shared by other stroke survivors.

Deborah Hersh contributed to the site

through their video resources by sharing

information on swallowing and communica-

tion problems after stroke.

It is available here:https://

enableme.org.au/

Dr Deborah Hersh

Associate Professor

Community engagement: gaining experience with peo-ple who stutter

As part of a 3rd year unit, management of

sensorimotor disorders, students write a

plan for an activity to be conducted with

adults who stutter at The Speak Easy Asso-

ciation of WA Inc. Charn attends the ses-

sions with the students in Fremantle and

East Perth to supervise their activities.

Every year, the reported experiences for all

those involved are extremely positive in-

cluding for the Speak Easy members and

the ECU students. The students report that

the sessions are useful for them to gain

first-hand experience with people who

stutter and to learn about their stutters

and personal experiences with stuttering.

They also report that implementing a ther-

apy activity with people who stutter is

great practical experience. The Speak Easy

members report that the students are en-

thusiastic and interactive, and they are

grateful for the opportunity to experience

positive communication with people they

are unfamiliar with.

In addition to the visits to the Speak Easy

group sessions, the ECU students attended

and facilitated a Speak Easy maintenance

session and a morning tea for Stuttering

Awareness Week (held in October 2015),

and the ECU Student Representatives

(across all year groups) conducted a bake

sale to raise funds for The Association.

Here's what Natasha Cross had to say:

To celebrate Stuttering Awareness week

2015, speech pathology student repre-

sentatives hosted a bake sale at the ECU

Joondalup campus. Several students vol-

unteered their time to bake all sorts of

yummy creations…from rich chocolate

torte to gourmet banana fudge muffins!

Patrons were able to purchase these good-

ies for a gold coin donation, and were pro-

vided with information about stuttering. All

funds raised were donated to the Speak

Easy Association, a support network for

people who stutter. The event was a great

success and raised a total of $175.10 for

Speak Easy.

Natasha Cross (3rd Year ECU Student

Rep).

What a magnificent effort! Thank you stu-

dents! We are grateful of your community

participation!

Dr. Charn Nang

Lecturer

Photo above: Speech Pathology students

at the cake stall (Sarah Russell, Clare An-

drews, Natasha Cross, Emily Saville, An-

gela Ford, Theresa Huth and Ildi Bruz.

Previous page: Sarah Russell, Merryn

Behn and Julia Avila Araya at Speak Easy.

Below: Speak Easy Session.

Adult practicum in Tasmania

Thanks to the Nursing and Allied Health

Scholarship Support Scheme (NAHSSS) I

was fortunate enough to complete my fi-

nal year Speech Pathology practicum in

Tasmania. My adult placement was at the

North West Regional Hospital in Burnie

where I had the opportunity to work col-

laboratively with other Speech

Pathologists, Dieticians, Occupational

Therapists, Physiotherapists and Nursing

staff. The experience opened my eyes to

the demands, physical, mental and emo-

tional, of working with adults in a hospital

setting and the numerous factors which

can impact in individual’s communication

and swallowing abilities.

My time away from the hospital was spent

exploring Tasmania’s beautiful landscape,

looking out over the Nut in Stanley, get-

ting lost driving on windy forest roads,

playing in the snow after climbing Cradle

Mountain, trying to escape from the words

largest maze and eating all the cheese,

chocolates and berries I could get my

hands on. I had a fantastic experience and

am incredibly grateful I was given this op-

portunity.

Ildiko Bruz, 4th year student

Photo above and front page taken from

Cradle Mountain in Tasmania by Ildiko

Speech Pathology Week

To participate in Speech Pathology Week,

3rd years students are encouraged to host

events as part of their practicum. Here is a

summary of their activities.

Briony Congdon and Stacey Playforth

We set up a display at Balga Senior High

School where Stacey works as an educa-

tion assistant. and Briony has been volun-

teering. We have a wide range of kids with

learning difficulties, some of whom see

speech pathologists. The teachers were

happy with some new pens and took some

of the handouts to read, which was very

good to see, especially in a school with so

many students with communication defi-

cits and from ESL backgrounds.

Natasha Charlesworth and Clare An-

drews

We had a great Speech Pathology Week at

Landsdale Primary! On Friday 21st, we set

up the display so that it would be availa-

ble to staff for the full following week. We

covered the staff room in stickers and

magnets and we ran a quiz to encourage

staff to read the Speech Pathology Week

Flyers and handouts. Staff could win red

wine, white wine, or chocolates for having

their completed quiz forms in the box

(they were great incentives to partici-

pate!). We set the display up and left a

quiz form in staff member pigeon holes the

Friday before SP Week and drew the prizes

on the Friday of SP Week, providing Fred-

do Frogs and cupcakes for staff members

on the day. We had great support and

feedback from the Deputy Principal, Na-

talie Landsdale, and great participation

from the teachers and staff.

Our library display (also for the full week)

for parents including SPA flyers, posters,

balloons, relevant books from the li-

brary and 3 fact sheets on literacy, phono-

logical development and language devel-

opment.

The SP Week Poster was also projected

onto the chapel wall at Living Waters Lu-

theran College in Warnbro and later dis-

played in the staff room with some SPA

week flyers available, too.

Natasha Cross

Students completing pracs at the Joonda-

lup Community Clinical School (JCCS) and

the Department of Child Protection (DCP)

worked in collaboration with Speech Pa-

thology student representatives to host an

event for speech pathology students on

campus. The student representatives or-

ganised and advertised the event while

prac students acquired and distributed

'Talk With Me' promotional material and

information pamphlets. Students who at-

tended the event had a great time net-

working with students in other years...

and left armed with promotional material

they could use to advocate for their clients

and profession in their everyday lives.

Amy Muir and Stephanie Perkov

To celebrate Speech pathology week

2015, we set up an information area in

the staff room of Yale Primary School

where we were on clinical practicum. In

addition to the area, they distributed in-

formation flyers to each staff member as

they entered the room. Staff were asked if

they were aware that it was Speech Pa-

thology week, and the theme for this year,

“Talk with me”, and the focus for the day;

helping parents to speak to their children,

was discussed. We presented the teachers

with a colouring-in activity featuring the

Speech Pathology Week logo, with ques-

tions underneath. The questions were

placed there as conversation prompts par-

ents can use to start conversations with

their child about their day; facilitating con-

versation.

Well done to all the 3rd year students for

promoting the profession in this important

week.

WACTN Clinical Supervision

Awards Finalist

Abigail Lewis, Clinical Coordinator/Lecturer

at Edith Cowan University was a finalist for

the West Australian Clinical Training Net-

work’s Supervision Awards in Category 3 –

Innovation in Clinical Supervision.

Foundation Chair in Speech

Pathology Report

The ECU Speech Pathology team as a

whole has built an international reputation

in the short time since its inception in

2009, and has secured over $1.4m of Cat-

egory 1 funding while concurrently estab-

lishing a new accredited undergraduate

teaching program. The primary areas of

research are i) early aphasia intervention

following stroke and ii) Aboriginal Australi-

ans’ experiences of brain impairment after

stroke and traumatic brain injury, with

significant research also being undertaken

in the areas of autism, early speech and

language development, fluency disorders,

and teaching and learning strategies with-

in allied health curricula. NH&MRC funded

projects are Very Early rehabilitation in

Speech (VERSE) and Missing Voices: Com-

munication difficulties after stroke and

traumatic brain injury in Indigenous Aus-

tralians.

Related projects involve investigation of a

communication enhanced environment on

acute hospital wards. Our previous work

has found that people with communication

disorders after stroke spend the majority

of time immediately after the stroke alone

in a hospital ward and are less likely to be

spoken to than a stroke survivor without

communication problems. Our current

work is exploring how ward environments

can be ‘communication-enhanced’ so that

the important period of neuroplasticity

early after stroke is not wasted in terms of

speech recovery. Clinical decision making

has been another area of focus, reporting

on speech pathologists' rationales and as-

sumptions standing behind current apha-

sia treatment practices. Our work in dis-

course analysis (linguistic analysis of eve-

ryday interactions) underpins all of the

above areas, with previous work explicat-

ing the nature of clinical interactions such

as those occurring during aphasia therapy,

on hospital wards, and in everyday con-

versational environments of people with

aphasia and their families. Analysing and

measuring how interactions work and don’t

work constitute a central part of speech

pathology, communication disorder, and

health service delivery research. Discourse

analysis is embedded in the currently

funded projects and is an integral part of

measuring improvement in language skills

in the VERSE study in particular.

Very Early Rehabilitation in Speech

(VERSE)

Our Very Early Rehabilitation in Speech

(VERSE) project, the largest RCT under-

taken in our field to date internationally, is

utilising the most stringent RCT methodol-

ogies and will be the first to incorporate

important treatment fidelity measures and

cost-effectiveness evaluations. It will di-

rectly impact clinical services and form a

large part of the aphasia management evi-

dence base in the National Stroke Founda-

tion’s Clinical Stroke Guidelines (2017).

We have 14 primary sites across Australia.

This includes over 25 subacute care sites

and 18 Site Specific Ethics applications

since national ethical approval was granted

in October 2013. We are in negotiations

with three further sites in an effort to in-

crease the rate of participant recruitment.

At October 28, 2015, we have recruited 78

participants. Approximately 3400 hospital

admissions have been screened, 24% of

which have aphasia.

Benefits derived from the research to

date:

Establishment of large clinical network of

participating sites across Australia ensur-

ing research collaboration and clinical dis-

semination of results

Collaborative links established with inter-

national aphasia triallists – of mutual ben-

efit to Australian and European advance-

ment of knowledge in the field of aphasia

A model established for the conduct of

large randomised clinical trials within the

aphasia domain in Australia

Increased profile of aphasia and early in-

tervention issues through conference

presentations, media releases, and com-

munity engagement.

Missing Voices: Communication diffi-

culties after stroke and brain injury in

Indigenous Australians.

We have just published the first quantita-

tive data on Indigenous people with ac-

quired communication disorders after

stroke and traumatic brain injury in the

world, providing patient demographic and

medical profiles, along with service provi-

sion details. While this data alone provides

health service planners with crucial infor-

mation not previously available, our sub-

sequent projects will aim to implement

service delivery in innovative ways that

will improve outcomes for Aboriginal peo-

ple in these categories. Our further Miss-

ing Voices outputs (currently in prepara-

tion) will provide the first detailed descrip-

tive information on rehabilitation services

received by Aboriginal people whilst in

hospital, and attitudes of general practi-

tioners, speech pathologists and Aboriginal

Health Workers to providing services to

this group which to date, has been largely

absent from ongoing rehabilitation case-

loads. Most importantly, we will be pub-

lishing the first-ever, first-hand experienc-

es of Aboriginal people with acquired com-

munication disorders.

Benefits derived from the research to

date:

Documentation of the type and extent of

rehabilitation services (Speech Pathology)

across the sites involved

Documentation of the experiences and in-

sights of Speech Pathologists working with

Aboriginal clients with ACD

Increased awareness of stroke and ACD at

Aboriginal Medical Services and communi-

ties involved in the project.

The first documentation of individual jour-

neys of Aboriginal people with ACD post

stroke and TBI

Contribution of first published best practice

statements on speech pathologists working

with clients with acquired communication

disorders from Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander backgrounds

New collaboration between Universities,

Aboriginal Medical Services, service pro-

viders, advocacy groups and community

members.

Increasing the number of Aboriginal people

in the workforce via recruitment of Aborig-

inal Research Assistants and broadening of

the skill base of Aboriginal Health Workers.

Greater understanding of how health data

relating to stroke, acquired brain injury

and ACD is recorded and extracted in the

electronic databases of Aboriginal Medical

Services. This may lead to clinical path-

ways being developed at local sites.

Education and dissemination of findings to

the wider Speech Pathology, brain impair-

ment research and allied health communi-

ties is leading to greater awareness of the

issues unique to Aboriginal Australians.

Contribution to the area of Indigenous re-

search methods and methodologies as the

project is exploring and employing multi-

ple modalities to ensure that the research

is completed in a culturally safe and cul-

turally informed way (including the Indig-

enous Reference Group, Aboriginal Re-

search Assistants and the Aboriginal Chief

and Associate Investigators)

Dissemination of information to inform

and educate service providers and com-

munity members about stroke and TBI in-

cluding risk factors, the FAST message,

patterns of recovery and rehabilitation

services.

Participants have informally spoken about

the healing aspects of sharing their stories

of their stroke/TBI.

Media impact/translation activities to date

Professor Beth Armstrong was interviewed

about the Missing Voices project by Di-

anne Gray from Radio Mama in Geraldton

(Midwest Aboriginal Media Association)

during her morning show on 26 March

2015.

Professor Beth Armstrong and Ms

Meaghan McAllister were interviewed

about the Missing Voices project for the

Kalgoorlie Miner newspaper. In February

2014 an article titled “World First Study

into Strokes and Trauma” was featured

with a follow up article being published in

July 2014.

Professor Beth Armstrong delivered a

sound bite for ABC Radio Broome on 4

February 2014 and gave a follow up inter-

view with reporter Natalie Jones in July

2014. This interview went to air on ABC

Radio Broome on 14 August 2014.

Professor Beth Armstrong was interviewed

by the Science Network Western Australia

about the Missing Voices project with par-

ticular focus on the screening tool being

developed. The article featured on the Sci-

ence Network of WA’s website on 17 May

2014 and was entitled “Project tackles

communication disorders in rural settings”

Associate Professor Juli Coffin was inter-

viewed about the Missing Voices project

for the Geraldton Guardian with an article

featuring in the newspaper in February

2014

Professor Beth Armstrong joined Nerida

Currey of the Strong Voices program on

Central Australian Aboriginal Media Associ-

ation Radio in November 2012 to discuss

the new research into indigenous stroke

and brain injury. A follow up interview was

given on 4 February 2014.

Professor Beth Armstrong

Foundation Chair in Speech Pathology

Research identifies urgent need for cultural training

(This article first appeared in ECU’s Cohesion

Magazine in April 2015).

The health of Aboriginal Australians is of-

ten in the media. One area of concern to

researchers at ECU is what happens for

people following stroke or traumatic brain

injury (TBI) who are left with acquired

communication disorders.

Acquired communication disorders (ACDs)

are not uncommon – but very little has

been published about them in Aboriginal

people – despite the fact that such disor-

ders have profound consequences for peo-

ple’s lives.

As part of the Speech Pathology team

working in this area in ECU’s School of

Psychology and Social Science, Associate

Professor Deborah Hersh does not under-

estimate the problems inherent in provid-

ing culturally appropriate services for Abo-

riginal people, particularly those who live

in remote communities.

Talking about the findings from a recent

survey of practice, carried out with Hon-

ours student, Vanessa Panak and col-

leagues, Beth Armstrong and Jacqui

Coombes, she says: “Speech pathologists

(SPs) do not feel particularly knowledgea-

ble or confident working with Aboriginal

clients who have ACD following a stroke or

brain injury.

"This is an important issue considering

that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Australians are estimated to have up to 3

times the incidence of strokes compared

with non-Aboriginal Australians, their hos-

pitalisation for stroke is twice the rate,

and their death rate from stroke is 1.6

times higher."

"Traumatic brain injuries, which also can

result in ACD, affect 2.3 per cent of Indig-

enous Australians compared with 0.7 per

cent of non-Indigenous Australians."

"There appears to be an urgent need to

review training for cultural awareness,

working arrangements with Aboriginal Liai-

son Officers and interpreters, and the re-

cruitment and training of more Indigenous

speech pathologists."

Deborah and her colleagues have just had

their findings published in International

Journal of Speech-Language Patholo-

gy, which is regularly posted to more than

6,000 members of Speech Pathology Aus-

tralia.

The research project involved developing a

questionnaire, and distributing it electroni-

cally to speech pathology clinicians work-

ing with ACD clients.

There were 112 respondents, 63 of whom

were currently working with Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Australians and

about 25 more who had had clinical con-

tact with these groups in the past. The

majority of respondents were from metro-

politan areas, and while most worked in

Queensland or NSW, respondents came

from across the country.

Nobody claimed to speak an Aboriginal

Australian language, and only one re-

spondent identified as being of Aboriginal

or Torres Strait Islander descent.

Despite 74 per cent of respondents report-

ing having participated in cultural aware-

ness training, 65 per cent of respondents

felt they did not have sufficient knowledge

of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander cul-

tures prior to working with these clients,

and 67 per cent felt less confident working

with these clients than with non-Aboriginal

and/or Torres Strait Islander clients.

Although nearly 50 per cent had worked

with Aboriginal Liaison Officers (ALOs), on-

ly 26 per cent of respondents were aware

of ALOs being employed at their current

workplace, and some SPs had had no con-

tact with them or found it difficult to ac-

cess their services.

"This is a pity, because those who did

work with ALOs reported that they had

helped to engage clients, to develop rela-

tionships, to bridge the gap between cul-

tures and to provide insights important to

understand the needs of patients and their

families," Deborah says. " 'Couldn’t work

without them' was the comment from one

respondent."

Interpreting the quantitative results of the

research has been enriched by earlier

qualitative research that was also under-

taken by Deborah, and which has resulted

in a new paper just published in an inter-

national multidisciplinary jour-

nal, Disability and Rehabilitation.

"This paper explores the adaptations that

a speech pathologist, "Angela", had to

make in working with her adult neurologi-

cal patients who were mostly Aboriginal

Australians from urban and remote com-

munities," Deborah says.

A thematic narrative analysis of the tran-

script from a prolonged in-depth interview

revealed the importance of speech

pathologists being flexible, aware of the

cultural context of the patient, focusing

specifically on the needs and wants of the

individual client, being practical, and

working ethically.

"In all of this, there is an ongoing tension

between different demands," Deborah

says.

"For example, a significant number of Ab-

original patients reach a point where they

urgently want to return to their families

and communities, and Angela had to work

on the basis that it was better to send

such a patient home on a planned basis –

even if clinically this was sub-optimal –

than have that patient leave without any

professional support."

The complexities of working across lan-

guage and culture were evident in the

structural narrative analysis of Angela’s

clinical decision-making. She talked about

working with a woman from a remote

community who had never seen a mirror

before her arrival at the hospital.

In another case, Angela described a man

post-stroke who she tried to assess

through an interpreter in a context where

neither the patient nor interpreter were

allowed to make eye contact with each

other.

"Angela's experiences told us a lot about

the nature of culturally sensitive practice

and clinical reasoning for this speech

pathologist, but it also reveals the extent

to which we as a profession need to devel-

op assessments and treatments that are

culturally appropriate," Deborah says.

"The two papers are useful for gaining a

general overview across speech pathology

practice on the one hand and a detailed

narrative from a single clinician on the

other."

"We hope these publications, along with

the more recent NHMRC-funded Missing

Voices research at ECU, will start the dis-

cussion and raise awareness of this group

of clients."

Dr Deborah Hersh

Associate Professor

References:

Hersh D et al (2015), Speech-language pathol-

ogy practices with Indigenous Australians with

acquired communication disor-

ders, International Journal of Speech-Language

Pathology, Vol 17:1, 74-85, http://

dx.doi.org/10.3109/17549507.2014.923510

Hersh D (2015), A narrative analysis of a

speech pathologist’s work with Indigenous Aus-

tralians with acquired communications disor-

ders, Disability and Rehabilitation, Vol 37:1, 33

-40, http://

dx.doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2014.890675

Investigating Communication Enhanced Environments Early

after Stroke

In October I was funded by the ECU Re-

search Student Travel Grant and ECU

Postgraduate Funding to travel to Canada

and meet with world leaders in stroke re-

search to inform my PhD research project

‘Investigating Communication Enhanced

Environments Early after Stroke’. During

my time in Canada I completed the Sup-

ported Conversation for Adults with Apha-

sia training at The Aphasia Institute and

met with Dr. Aura Kagan to learn about

how this model is being explored during

early stroke recovery. This provided a

unique opportunity to network with

speech pathologists and academic re-

searchers from all over the world who at-

tended the training program. I also met

Professor Dale Corbett and his research

team at the University of Ottawa who pro-

vided a guided tour of their research la-

boratories where they are conducting pre-

clinical trials investigating enriched envi-

ronments to promote early stroke recov-

ery. Professor Dale Corbett also hosted a

visit to Sunnybrook Hospital and Toronto

Rehabilitation Institute to meet other lead

researchers and learn how preclinical

stroke research is being translated into a

clinical setting. I have also had the oppor-

tunity to learn about the The Canadian

Partnership for Stroke Recovery which is a

joint initiative of the Heart and Stroke

Foundation and Canada’s leading stroke

research centres which support research to

improve recovery and quality of life for

stroke survivors.

Sarah D’Souza

PhD Candidate

Honours projects

This year we have six students in 4th year

completing honours projects.

Ildiko Bruz

My honours research is an investigation

into detecting early markers of autism

spectrum disorders through acoustic anal-

ysis of infant cries. There is evidence to

support possible differences in brainstem

development in areas which are involved

in vocal production in individuals with au-

tism. Lack of coordination may alter the

acoustic properties of an infant’s cry and

therefore be perceived through changes in

fundamental frequency, amplitude and

variations in formant frequencies. This

study aims to identify if there are any sig-

nificant differences in acoustic properties

between cries of one year old infants at

risk for autism and cries from low risk in-

fants.

Frank Edwards

This research project has been devised

through collaboration with ECU research-

ers and Steve Watson, Principal of Special

Education Needs - Sensory Service. The

project aims to investigate factors that

may influence education outcomes as

measured by NAPLAN in children with

hearing impairment. This topic has not

been previously investigated before with

NAPLAN results. Therefore, it is envisaged

that the results of the study can be useful

for the school and for educational organi-

sations nationally and internationally. The

NAPLAN results of Year 3 students with

hearing impairment in W.A over the past 3

years will be collated as well as de-

identified information about the children.

The de-identified data will include infor-

mation such as type and degree of hear-

ing impairment, gender and any previous

educational support that the child has ac-

cessed. The data will be statistically ana-

lysed (NAPLAN results and factors for Year

3 deaf/hard of hearing students) search-

ing for patterns and correlations to inves-

tigate if any factors relate to NAPLAN out-

comes. The number of students in the

preliminary estimate is 180 (60 each year

over 3 years).

Theresa Huth

Early neural recovery in the brain is highly

receptive to experience dependent learn-

ing where the potential for change is en-

hanced. Current communication interac-

tions with stroke in-patients in very early

recovery are minimal, potentially leading

to the learned non-use of language having

a negative impact on language recovery in

people with aphasia. My research used pre

-collected video data to investigate the

quality of communicative interactions of in

-patients with and without aphasia on an

acute stroke ward. Results from this study

enhance understanding of stroke survivors’

communicative interactions and the be-

haviours used by communication partners

on stroke wards during early recovery.

This will contribute to the development of

interventions targeted at improving staff-

patient interactions in an acute hospital

setting which may lead to an increased op-

portunity for communication interactions

for people with and without aphasia.

Stacey Osborne

My honours project is a systematic review

looking at parent focused early interven-

tion for preterm infants (< 37 weeks ges-

tational age). The systematic search re-

turned 8 articles which were assessed for

bias and analysed for themes and out-

comes. The main findings of these articles

include positive results regarding parental

stress and depression. This lead to en-

hanced parent-infant interactions, which

were characterised by better sensitivity

and responsiveness of the parent

to the infant. In terms of infant

outcomes, there were mixed re-

sults with some studies showing

improvements in infants’ cognitive

and communicative development,

and others showing no significant

changes. This review showed that

there was little research in the field

of language intervention in preterm

infants, indicating further research

is needed in this area.

Bianca Piano

My honours thesis is titled Indirect

Approaches: A Systematic Review

of Pediatric Dysphagia Interven-

tions. Following two previous systematic

reviews examining the use of direct inter-

ventions, a systematic review was used in

this study to evaluate between-groups,

randomized control studies involving indi-

rect pediatric dysphagia interventions.

Thirteen studies were included in the final

analysis, which involved two separate rat-

ing teams assessing treatment studies on

two different quality appraisal scales. Ad-

ditionally, effect sizes were computed to

compare indirect interventions. Results

were positive; rated articles met a number

of quality criterions with some study re-

sults indicating positive effects on feeding

and anthropometric outcomes. This review

adds to current body of pediatric dyspha-

gia literature by bridging an evidence gap

and supporting the use of indirect man-

agement approaches within clinical prac-

tice.

Penny Wood

Interactions between a speech pathologist

and people with aphasia in the first 6

weeks post stroke: A qualitative study of

assessment experiences. This project is a

study of a little-researched area of aphasi-

ology: the experiences of speech patholo-

gy assessment of people with aphasia fol-

lowing stroke.

People with aphasia and their speech

pathologist were interviewed following as-

sessment sessions conducted in a small

urban hospital's stroke unit. Analysis in-

volved thematic analysis of those inter-

views, as well as discourse analysis of the

assessment sessions. Whilst the study is

far from comprehensive, it revealed expe-

riences which tally with the wider literature

on both communication and healthcare ex-

periences of people with aphasia. It has

been shown by previous researchers that

contemporary speech pathologists in simi-

lar settings are more likely to use unstand-

ardised, rather than standardised assess-

ment tools and procedures. This study of-

fers some insights into why this might be.

Photo above: Penny Wood (centre) with

Kathryn Fitzgerald (Clinical Education Su-

pervisor) and Elham Osman (4th year stu-

dent) on their outback adventure (Mount

Magnet and Yalgoo).

Previous page: Honours students Bianca

Piano, Ildiko Bruz, Stacey Osborne and

Theresa Huth.

Vice Chancellor’s Staff Award

Deborah Hersh received a Vice Chancel-

lor’s Staff Award: Citation for Outstanding

Contribution to Student Learning “For mo-

tivating speech pathology students to de-

velop a person-centred philosophy and

prepare them for narrative-based prac-

tice”. Deborah received her award for

ECU’s new Vice Chancellor: Professor Ste-

ve Chapman (above)

HERDSA Fellowship

Abigail Lewis was awarded a HERDSA Fel-

lowship by president, Dr Allan Goody, at

the Higher Education Research and Devel-

opment Society of Australasia (HERDSA)

National Conference in Melbourne in July,

one of only three people nationally to re-

ceive this honour in 2015. HERDSA focus-

es on advancing higher education and pro-

motes the study of teaching and learning.

The HERDSA Fellowship Scheme is a sus-

tained process of deep reflection on col-

lected evidence of teaching and on the ex-

perience of teaching itself. Applicants de-

velop their teaching philosophy and collate

multiple reflections and pieces of evidence

demonstrating improved teaching quality

under the guidance of an experienced

mentor. The final portfolio is thirty pages

long and is reviewed by two members of a

panel of assessors using a detailed mark-

ing rubric.

Abigail has been preparing her application

for two years under the mentorship of

Dr Lee Partridge from UWA. During this

period Abigail evaluated a variety of evi-

dence from her teaching including feed-

back directly from students in class and

at end of semester, assignment results,

focus group data and questionnaire da-

ta. She also reviewed a range of litera-

ture on the best practice in tertiary

teaching in order to inform improved

teaching practices.

National Speech Pathology Roundtable

Edith Cowan University hosted a two day

National University Roundtable of speech

pathology academics, clinicians, and relat-

ed scholars involved in curriculum devel-

opment surrounding Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander content. The Roundtable

was held in Perth on November 12/13,

2015. A group of academics committed to

this area have previously met through tel-

econferences and at a national conference

to discuss each university's current curric-

ulum content, facilitators and barriers to

curriculum development in this area, and

competency requirements of graduates

working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander clients and communities. The na-

tional professional association, Speech Pa-

thology Australia, has also indicated an in-

principle commitment to improving ser-

vices for people of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander background and is looking

to the academic group for guidance as to

the kinds of competencies and issues that

should be embedded in their own docu-

mentation and practices. For example,

more specific cultural competencies could

be embedded in the accreditation frame-

work, as has been undertaken in New

Zealand. The meetings to date have been

initial discussions only, but all agreed that

a more intensive meeting with clear goals

was needed to progress anything further.

Purpose of the roundtable

To improve the cultural competence of

speech pathology graduates, with particu-

lar reference to working with clients from

Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander back-

grounds

To bring together academics and clinicians

involved in the design and implementation

of Aboriginal curriculum in speech pathol-

ogy programs across Australia

To provide an overview of current curricu-

lum initiatives in speech pathology and

related disciplines

To develop consensus recommendations

surrounding the implementation of Aborig-

inal content and community experience

within speech pathology programs across

Australia (to be published)

To make recommendations to Speech Pa-

thology Australia regarding how cultural

competence, with specific reference to Ab-

original and Torres Strait Islander clients,

can be embedded within the national ac-

creditation framework

To share resources and discuss potential

collaborative teaching projects

Publications and Conference Presentations 2015

Refereed journal articles and book chap-

ters

Nang, C., & Ciccone, N. (submitted). Stuttering

prognosis and predictive factors of treatment

outcome: a review. Journal of Clinical Practice

in Speech-Language Pathology.

FitzGerald, D. B., Ciccone, N., Rendell, B., &

Whitehouse, A., (submitted). A preliminary

evaluation of the Communication Checklist-

Adult for assessing adults with communication

impairment post traumatic brain injury. Brain

Injury.

Armstrong, E. (accepted for publication, 2015).

Cohesion and coherence. Encyclopaedia of Hu-

man Communication Sciences and Disorders.

London: SAGE.

Urbanowicz, A., Leonard, H., Girdler, S., Cic-

cone, N., & Downs, J. (accepted). An explora-

tion of the use of eye gaze and gestures in fe-

males with Rett syndrome. Journal of Speech,

Language and Hearing Research.

Katzenellenbogen, J., Atkins, E., Thompson, S.,

Hersh, D., Coffin, J., Flicker, L., Hayward, C.,

Ciccone, N., Woods, D., McAllister, M., & Arm-

strong, E. (accepted for publication August

2015). Missing Voices: Profile and extent of

acquired communication disorders in Aboriginal

and non-Aboriginal adult stroke survivors in

Western Australia. International Journal of

Stroke.

Godecke, E., & Armstrong, E. (under review).

The issue of timing in aphasia rehabilitation:

An assessment model incorporating early

stroke recovery principles into clinical practice

and research. Aphasiology.

Ferreira, D., Ciccone, N., Verheggen, A., &

Godecke, E. (submitted, April 2015). Aphasia

incidence and speech pathology service deliv-

ery in the acute hospital setting. Journal of

Clinical Practice in Speech Language Pathology.

Berg, K., Rise. ,Marit, B., Balandin, S., Arm-

strong, E., & Askim, T.B. (early online, 2015).

A qualitative analysis of speech pathologists`

experience with client participation in aphasia

rehabilitation. Disability & Rehabilitation.

Ciccone, N., Cream, A., West, D., Cartwright,

J., Rai, T., Granger, A., Hankey, G.J.,&

Godecke, E. (early online, 2015). A random-

ised controlled trial comparing individual and

Constraint Induced Aphasia Therapy in very

early recovery following stroke. Aphasiology

Armstrong, E., Hersh, D., Hayward, C., & Fra-

ser, J. (2015). Communication disorders after

stroke in Aboriginal Australians. Disability and

Rehabilitation, 37/16, 1462-1469.

Armstrong, E., Hersh, D., Katzenellenbogen,

J., Coffin, J., Thompson, S., Ciccone, N., Hay-

ward, C., Flicker, L., & Woods, D. (early

online, 2015). Study Protocol: Missing Voices‐

Communication difficulties after stroke and

traumatic brain injury in Aboriginal Australi-

ans. Brain Impairment.

Ferguson, A., Spencer, E., & Armstrong, E. (in

press). SFL and clinical linguistics. In T. Bart-

lett, & G. O’Grady (Eds.). Handbook London:

Routledge.

Hersh, D. (2015). “Hopeless, sorry, hopeless”:

Co‐constructing narratives of care with people

who have aphasia post‐stroke. Topics in Lan-

guage Disorders (special issue on narrative),

35(3), 219 -236.

Hersh, D. (accepted for publication, 2015).

Focus Groups. Encyclopaedia of Human Com-

munication Sciences and Disorders. London:

SAGE.

Hersh, D. (accepted for publication, 2015).

Case Studies. Encyclopaedia of Human Com-

munication Sciences and Disorders. London:

SAGE.

Hersh, D. (accepted for publication, 2015).

Discharge from therapy. Encyclopaedia of Hu-

man Communication Sciences and Disorders.

London: SAGE.

Hersh, D. & Ciccone, N. (submitted). Predict-

ing potential for aphasia rehabilitation: The

role of judgments of motivation. Journal of

Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology

Ilich, K., & Hersh, D. (2015). Babies with feed-

ing difficulties: Mothers’ perceptions of hospi-

tal discharge, transition home and the role of

speech-language pathology. Journal of Clinical

Practice in Speech-Language Pathology, 17(3),

114-119.

Hersh, D., Armstrong, E., Panak, V., &

Coombes, J. (2015). Speech-language patholo-

gy practices with Indigenous Australians with

acquired communication disorders: results of a

national survey. International Journal of

Speech Language Pathology, 17(1), 74-85.

Hersh, D., Armstrong, E., & Bourke, N. (2015).

A Narrative Analysis of Culturally Sensitive

Aphasia Rehabilitation with Indigenous Austral-

ian Clients. Disability & Rehabilitation, 37, 33-

40.

Lewis, A., Moore, C. & Nang, C. (2015). Using

video of student-client interactions to engage

students in reflection and peer review. Journal

of University Teaching and Learning Practice.

Meldrum, S., Dunstan, J.A., Foster, J.K., Sim-

mer, K., Prescott, S.L. (2015). Maternal fish oil

supplementation in pregnancy: A 12 year fol-

low-up of a randomized controlled trial. Nutri-

ents 7 (3), 2061-2067.

MacDonald, J. & Lewis, A., (submitted) Devel-

oping reflective practice in speech pathology.

Infant Mental Health Journal

Power, E., Thomas, E., Worrall, L., Rose, M.,

Togher, L., Nickels, L., Hersh, D., Godecke, E.,

O’Halloran, R., Lamont, S., O’Conner, S., &

Clarke, K. (2015). Development and validation

of Australian Aphasia rehabilitation best prac-

tice statements using the RAND/UCLA appro-

priateness method. Submitted: BMJ Open.

Reynolds, V., Meldrum, S., Simmer, K., Vijay-

asekaran, S., French, N.P. (2015). Laryngeal

pathology at school age following very preterm

birth. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhi-

nolaryngology, 79 (3), 398-404.

Sherratt, S., Worrall, L., Hersh, D., Howe, T., &

Davidson, B. (2015). Goals and goal setting for

people with aphasia, their family members and

clinicians. In R. J. Siegert & W. Levack (Eds.),

Rehabilitation Goal Setting: Theory, Practice,

and Evidence. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis,.325

-343.

Urbanowicz, A., Leonard, H., Girdler, S., Cic-

cone, N., & Downs, J. (2015). Aspects of

Speech-Language Abilities are Influenced by

MECP2 Mutation Type in Girls with Rett Syn-

drome. American Journal of Medical Genetics,

167(2), 354-362.

Published Abstracts

D’Souza, S.G., Ciccone, N., Janssen, H.,

Hersh, D., Armstrong, E., & Godecke, E.

(2015). Communication enhanced environ-

ments to increase communication activity ear-

ly after stroke: Design and protocols. Interna-

tional Journal of Stroke, 10(Suppl3), 59.

Godecke, E., Armstrong, E., Ciccone, N., Mid-

dleton, S., Rai, T., Holland, A. Cadilhac, D.A.,

Whitworth, A., Rose, M., Hankey, G.J.,& Bern-

hardt, J. (2015). Establishing large scale ther-

apy fidelity processes in the Very Early Reha-

bilitation in SpEech (VERSE) clinical trial: Les-

sons learned. International Journal of Stroke,

10(Suppl3).

Godecke, E., Armstrong, E., Ciccone, N., Mid-

dleton, S., Rai, T., Holland, A., Whitworth, A.,

Rose, M., Ellery, F., Cadilhac, D., Hankey,

G.J., & Bernhardt, J. (2015). Very Early Reha-

bilitation in SpEech (VERSE) after stroke: on-

going trial status. International Journal of

Stroke, 10(Suppl3).

Godecke, E., Armstrong, E., Middleton, S., Rai,

T., Holland, A., Cadilhac, D., Whitworth, A.,

Rose, M., Ciccone, N., Hankey, G.J., & Bern-

hardt, J. (2015). Assessment of therapy fideli-

ty processes in the very early rehabilitation in

speech (VERSE) clinical trial. International

Journal of Stroke, Issue Supplement, 10

(Suppl2), 424.

Hersh, D., Armstrong, E., McAllister, M., Cic-

cone, N., Katzenellenbogen, J., Coffin, J.,

Thompson, S., Hayward, C., Woods, L., &

Flicker, L. (2015). General Practitioners’ views

of the needs of Aboriginal adults with acquired

communication disorders post stroke and TBI.

International Journal of Stroke, 10(Suppl3),

64.

Godecke, E., Armstrong, E., Ciccone, N., Mid-

dleton S, Rai, T., Holland, A., Whitworth, A.,

Rose, M., Ellery, F., Cadilhac, D., Hankey,

G.J., Bernhardt, J. (2015). The design of “A

prospective multicentre, randomised controlled

trial of Very Early Rehabilitation in Speech

(VERSE) in patients with aphasia following

acute stroke.” Submitted: International Jour-

nal of Stroke.

Conference Presentations

Armstrong, E., Ciccone, N., Hersh, D., Coffin,

J., McAllister, M., Katzenellenbogen, J.,

Thompson, S., Flicker, L., Hayward, C., &

Woods, D. (2015) Missing Voices: Aboriginal

stories of stroke and traumatic brain injury.

Paper to be presented at the National Allied

Health Conference, Melbourne, November.

Godecke, E., Armstrong, E., Ciccone, N., Mid-

dleton, S., Rai, T., Holland, A., Cadilhac, D.,

Witworth, A., Rose, M., Hankey, G., & Bern-

hardt, J. (2015). Structuring therapy fidelity

assessment in clinical aphasia research: An ex-

ample from the VERSE Trial. Paper presented

at the British Aphasiology Society Conference,

London, September.

Armstrong, E., & Penn, C. (2015). Towards cul-

tural aphasiology: Some lessons from Indige-

nous contexts. Paper presented at the 45th

Clinical Aphasiology Conference in Monterey,

California, May.

Armstrong, E., Ciccone, N., Hersh, D., Coffin,

J., McAllister, M., Katzenellenbogen, J.,

Thompson, S., Flicker, L., Hayward, C., &

Woods, D. (2015) Missing Voices: Aboriginal

people’s stories of stroke and traumatic brain

injury. Paper presented at the Speech Patholo-

gy Australia Conference, Canberra, May.

D’Souza, S.G., Ciccone, N., Janssen, H., Hersh,

D., Armstrong, E. & Godecke, E. (2015). Com-

munication enhanced environments to increase

communication activity early after stroke: De-

sign and protocols. Combined Smart Strokes

and Stroke Society of Australasia Annual Sci-

entific Meeting, 2nd – 4th September 2015,

Melbourne, Australia. International Journal of

Stroke 2015

Godecke, E., Armstrong, E., Ciccone, N., Whit-

worth, A., Rose, M., Holland, A., Rai, T., Ca-

dilhac, D., Middleton, S., Hankey, G., & Bern-

hardt, J., on behalf of the VERSE collaboration.

(2015). A protocol outlining treatment fidelity

processes in the Very Early Rehabilitation in

SpEech (VERSE) randomised clinical trial. Pa-

per presented at the 45th Clinical Aphasiology

Conference in Monterey, California, May.

Godecke, E. & Armstrong, E. (2015). Issues

and evidence in acute aphasia rehabilitation.

Roundtable presentation at the 45th Clinical

Aphasiology Conference in Monterey, Califor-

nia, May.

Godecke, E., Armstrong, E., Middleton, S, Rai,

T., Holland, A., Cadilhac, D., Whitworth, A.,

Rose, M., Ciccone, N., Hankey, G.J. & Bern-

hardt, J. (2015). Assessment of therapy fideli-

ty processes in the very early rehabilitation in

speech (verse) clinical trial. European Stroke

Organisation Conference 17th-19th April 2015,

Glasgow, Scotland.

Godecke, E. & Armstrong, E., A protocol out-

lining treatment fidelity processes in the Very

Early Rehabilitation in SpEech (VERSE) ran-

domised clinical trial. Combined Smart Strokes

and Stroke Society of Australasia Annual Sci-

entific Meeting, 2nd – 4th September 2015,

Melbourne, Australia.

Hersh, D., Armstrong, E., Ciccone, N., Katzen-

ellenbogen, J., Coffin, J., Thompson, S., Flick-

er, L., McAllister, M., Hayward, C., & Woods,

D. (2015). General Practitioners’ views of the

needs of Aboriginal adults with acquired com-

munication disorders post stroke and TBI.

Poster presentation at Combined Smart

Strokes and Stroke Society of Australasia An-

nual Scientific Meeting,2nd – 4th September

2015, Melbourne, Australia.

Katzenellenbogen, J.M., Atkins, E.R., Thomp-

son, S.C., Hersh, D., Coffin, J., Flicker, L.,

Hayward, C., Ciccone, N., Woods, D., McAllis-

ter, M. & Armstrong, E.M. (2015). Quantitative

data on acquired communication disorder

(ACD) in Aboriginal Western Australian hospi-

talised stroke survivors: the Missing Voices

Project. Combined Smart Strokes and Stroke

Society of Australasia Annual Scientific Meet-

ing, 2nd – 4th September 2015, Melbourne,

Australia.

Lewis, A. (2015). Embedding ePortfolios

across a course: tips, tricks and trip-ups. Fa-

cilitated conversation at ePortfolio Forum,

Perth, October.

Lewis, A. (2015). The evolution of an ePortfo-

lio embedded across a course. Invited presen-

tation to PebblePad in Health Online User

Group, Perth, September.

Lewis, A., & Strampel, K. (2015). ePortfolios

across a course: do students see value and

links to employability? Paper presented at

HERDSA Conference, Melbourne, July.

Lewis, A., Moore, C. & Nang, C. (2015). Using

video of student-client interactions to engage

students in reflection and peer review. Paper

presented at Teaching and Learning Forum,

Perth, February.

Power, E., Thomas, E., Worrall, E., Rose, M.,

Togher, L., Nickels, L., Hersh, D., Godecke, E.,

O’Halloran, R., Lamont, S., O’Conner, C., &

Clarke, K. (2015). The development and vali-

dation of aphasia rehabilitation Best Practice

Statements using the RAND/UCLA appropriate-

ness method. Clinical Aphasiology Conference.

26th– 31st May 2015, Monterey, California.

More Information

Edith Cowan University

Student Information Office

Telephone: 134 ECU (134 328)

Web: reachyourpotential.com.au

CRICOS IPC 00279B

Information contained in this brochure

was correct at the time of printing and

may be subject to change

Editor: Abigail Lewis

Abigail.lewis@ecu.edu.au