It’s Speech Pathology Week! From the 25th to the 31st of August, speech pathologists across Australia will be celebrating and talking about this year’s theme “Communicate Your Way”. This week, we aim to raise awareness of communication disability, and normalise all the different ways that people communicate.
Over one-million people in Australia have a communication disability. Many of these people need the support of a speech pathologist to help them communicate effectively. Some people may experience challenges with communication from birth – including some people with cerebral palsy or developmental disabilities including Autism or Down Syndrome. Others may ‘acquire’ a communication disability later in life, such as those who experience a head injury or stroke, or someone who loses their ability to hear over time.
Speech pathologists work across all kinds of settings – including hospitals, schools, private clinics, disability services, jails, aged-care settings, kindies, and homes. Here at My Therapy Space, we support children with communication at our Burleigh and Hope Island clinics, as well as in their kindies, schools and homes.
Communication involves so much more than simply asking for what you want or need – communication is fundamental in how we connect with each other, participate in the world around us, and express our thoughts and feelings. Communication is a basic human right – something that everyone deserves to have access to, regardless of their physical, cognitive or linguistic capabilities.
Speech pathologists help people with communication in two main ways – by building skills (like teaching new vocabulary or helping shape the mouth to accurately say different sounds), or by providing compensatory support, like visual prompts for story telling, or simplified recipe cards for those who need help with literacy or their understanding. Speech pathologists also play a big role in providing education to families, schools and communities about communication differences and how best to support meaningful communication between people of all abilities.
People all across Australia use methods other than speech to communicate with those around them. Some people use Auslan – Australia’s official sign language, to engage with their community. Others use ‘key word sign’ – an adapted, simplified version of Auslan often used in addition to spoken communication to help children and adults with communication disabilities to express themselves, or understand the communication of others. There are also a range of low and high tech ‘AAC’ (alternative and augmentative communication) systems that speech pathologists can recommend to people who may need picture or text based communication options to supplement or take the place of spoken communication.
The speech pathology team here at MTS feel incredibly lucky to play a part in building up the communication skills of so many amazing children and their families each day. We hope that whether you speak, sign, use pictures, type a message, use a high tech device or use some combination of these things – you feel empowered to “communicate your way” with your speechie championing and supporting you every step of the way.