Members of the Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Sturt Scheme in New Zealand

Members of the Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research (ECIR) Sturt Scheme attended the 32nd World Congress of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) in Auckland New Zealand. https://ialpauckland2023.org/. There were 1000 delegates from 48 countries in attendance.  Members who were present included: • Prof Sharynne McLeod • Dr Suzanne Hopf • A/Prof Sarah Verdon • Kate Margetson • Holly McAlister • Josephine Bampoe • Dr Laura Hoffman • Dr Helen L. Blake • A/Prof Ben Pham (from Vietnam).

Each of the ECIR members presented papers, workshops, chaired sessions and networked. ECIR and CSU presentations included: 

1. Children’s speech development across the world: Sharynne McLeod & Helen Blake (co-ordinators) 
2. Fiji English children’s speech development Holly McAlister, Australia: Suzanne Hopf, Paul A. Geraghty, Fiji; Sharynne McLeod, Australia 
3. Vietnamese + English children’s speech development: Kate Margetson, Sharynne McLeod, Sarah Verdon, Van H. Tran, Australia; Ben Phạm, Vietnam 
4. Speech-language pathology and its contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: Sharynne McLeod & Julie Marshall 
5. Listening to children’s voices in the Pacific: Holly McAlister, Suzanne C. Hopf, Sharynne McLeod 
6. Cross-linguistic transfer in multilingual children’s speech: Kate Margetson, Sharynne McLeod, Sarah Verdon 
7. Dental extractions and children’s speech: Caitlin Hurley, Robert, Sharynne McLeod 
8. Intelligibility and speech accuracy of Vietnamese-speaking children suspected to speech sound disorders: Ben Phạm et al. 
9. Developing normative data for The Vietnamese Language Assessment (VLA) for four-year-old children in Thua Thien Hue - Thi Thu Hang Dang, Sarah Verdon, Ben Pham
10. SLTs’ current practices and challenges for treating children with communication disorders across three Southeast Asian countries - Smith, G., Verdon, S., Chu, S. Y., Razak, R., Chow, D., Ruzli, Y.A., Pham, B., Triantoro, H. & Garraffa, M.
11. Evaluation of Vietnam’s first speech and language therapy degrees: perspectives of multiple stakeholders - Lindy McAllister, Sally Hewat, Adriana Penman, Sarah Verdon, Van Tran, Thuy Thi Thanh Nguyen, Dung Pham, Marie Atherton, Gwendalyn Webb, Joanne Walters
12. Validity and reliability of the Vietnamese version of the UTBAS-6 scale on adults who stutter - Hanh Tran Thi Bich, Nguyen Do, Laura Hoffman, Rachael Unicomb, Sally Hewat
13. A qualitative systematic review of speech-language pathologists’ practice with people from humanitarian migrant backgrounds - Sarah Verdon & Olivia Clark
14. Social justice in action in speech-language pathology: Exploring sustainable and culturally responsive international development through the first university degrees in Vietnam - Sarah Verdon, Sally Hewat, Lindy McAllister, Adriana Penman, Van Tran, Marie Atherton, Gwendalynn Webb, Joanne Walters

Additionally, Sharynne McLeod was the Chair of the Child Speech Committee and on the IALP Executive Board and Sarah Verdon is a member of the Child Speech Committee.

32nd World Congress of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP)

Congratulations ECIR members presenting at the 32nd World Congress of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) in Auckland, New Zealand: https://ialpauckland2023.org/

There are 950 delegates from 48 countries in attendance. Sharynne McLeod is the Chair of the Child Speech Committee and on the Executive Board.

ECIR member presentations:

• Children’s speech development across the world: Sharynne McLeod & Helen Blake (co-ordinators) 

• Speech-language pathology and its contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: Sharynne McLeod & Julie Marshall

• Listening to children’s voices in the Pacific: Holly McAlister, Suzanne C. Hopf, Sharynne McLeod

• Cross-linguistic transfer in multilingual children’s speech: Kate Margetson, Sharynne McLeod, Sarah Verdon 

• Dental extractions and children’s speech: Caitlin Hurley, Robert, Sharynne McLeod

Holly McAlister's presentation

Sharynne McLeod

Early Childhood Voices 2022 Conference (ECV2022)

 https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2022/

Over five days from 5 – 9 December 2022, the Charles Sturt University Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research (ECIR) Sturt Scheme held a global online conference titled Early Childhood Voices. It was their second bi-annual conference to share research about innovative methods, theories and partnerships with children, parents/carers and professionals that supported social justice and Sustainable Development Goals during early childhood or within the early childhood sector. ECV2022 was an opportunity for international researchers to present research in a virtual online space.

The six keynote presentations and 99 oral presentations from 25 countries were aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 3, SDG 4, SDG 10, and SDG 17. The conference program and proceedings were searchable using the SDGs.

The conference attracted 1,956 registrations from 72 countries. During the week of the conference there were 6,431 page views from 1,358 users. In addition, there were over 3,517 YouTube views of the presentations and 243 hours of viewing.

A popular initiative was the Children Draw Talking Global Online Gallery (https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2022/children-draw-talking-gallery-1-the-world/), which enabled children from across the globe to share images of themselves talking to someone, emphasising Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These galleries collectively were viewed more than any other presentation at ECV2022. Five yarning circles were held for synchronous conversations between conference participants on pre-determined topics.

The conference was free for presenters and attendees; drawing on Charles Sturt University’s motto “for the public good”. Conference presentations can still be viewed online https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2022/ 

Communication is a human right – but not everyone can communicate effectively

Sharynne McLeod has shared thoughts after her CSU Provocations Lecture: "Children should be seen AND heard: the importance of communication so children can thrive" Public Lecture on 20th April 2023.  Read them here https://provocationsqa.csu.edu.au/communication-is-a-human-right-but-not-everyone-can-communicate-effectively/

Provocations blog coming soon

Charles Sturt University will be launching a Provocations blog at Professor Ganna Pogrebna Provocations Public Lecture at Bathurst on 16 August. Professor Pogrebna will discuss behavioural data science as a game changer for understanding the interface between human and digital systems in the new digital economy. Tickets are available from  https://research.csu.edu.au/engage-with-us/provocations

Provocations will be a series of blogs written by prominent thinkers that seek to address the grand challenges confronting regional Australia and the world. How can we mitigate climate change and build climate proof, safe and sustainable communities?  Can First Nations ways of knowing, being and doing guide sustainable development? How can we reinforce Australia’s supply chains and sovereign manufacturing capability in a post-Covid world? Is it possible to achieve productive and circular agriculture? How can we reduce income inequality between urban and regional Australia and build more inclusive communities? Does liberal democracy need to be redefined in a post-Covid world? How can we build a knowledgeable, inclusive and resilient citizenry prepared for the challenges of the future? Does Australia’s relationship with China require a radical rethink? Is there a role for faith in contemporary democratic thought? 

Provocations will challenge orthodoxy through new thinking but will also revive policy ideas and political thought from the past for one more encore.

Further details to come.