Blog

There is a 'joke' in the speechie world that we 'teach kids to talk back'. And it's true! Let me explain: We celebrate when a child demonstrates the skills to refuse or to say no, because this is clear advocacy for their own wants and needs! Self-advocacy! And here’s...

Her Excellency the Governor of Tasmania hosted a celebration of the collaboration between Tasmania’s Speech Pathologists and Catholic schools, at Government House on June 30.

  The Government of Tasmania has asked the community to give their views about literacy and what is to be done to improve it. We are grateful for the opportunity to set out our views in the link right here: 

I work a day per week in a school in a low ICSEA (Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage) area in Tasmania. The principal and staff are amazing. And so were the principal and staff before the current lot. They care.They trust each other and they work as a...

With our team of therapists growing, we find the need to make some changes to our Hobart clinic. Speech therapist Caroline Ross has prepared this social story ‘Different Rooms at SPT’ to help clients who might find it challenging to adjust to sessions in a new room.

School is going back and it triggered one of the lovely mums I (Rosie) work with to send me the most incredible, honest, vulnerable email. It's worthy of a wider read because she so beautifully captures the heart of many mothers I know whose children have differences...

SPT Business Manager Sharon Breen is excited about our team expanding and the potential to increase our capacity to serve more Tasmanians. 

Earlier this week I was in a zoom meeting with a clever, outgoing, French scientist. The conversation trip-trapped around to this topic of shared interest, then that… and somewhere in the midst he told me that he has dyslexia. Then completely matter-of-factly, he...

Here's a few of our great gang after finishing a Lifeline 'Accidental Counsellor' training together. Allan, in the blue on the right, was in the 'gang' for the day as our fabulous facilitator. But he's well and truly in our gang for life as someone who reverberates...

The kids are making so much rapid progress. They’re progressing faster than I’ve ever seen.

There are very few exceptions to the statement ‘everyone can learn to read and write’. Learning to read is one of the most studied human skills. We certainly now know enough about it to build a nation, which in practical terms is fully literate. This research has...

There is no one that teaches us more about the work we do than our clients themselves. This is true for any of the helping professions and is certainly true for speech pathologists. It is through our interactions and applying theory, practically, to the presenting...

Just Time and Juggling in Times of Covid (Or, you couldn’t write a manual to solve this!) We all maintain good health and hygiene practices, right? 1.5m apart, washing hands with soap, sneezing into elbow, staying at home if unwell, etc. It’s this ‘staying home if...

Above image: left to right: Linda McKillop, speech pathologist & Orton-Gillingham master trainer; Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Kate Warner AC, Governor of Tasmania; Rosie Martin, speech pathologist. “We’ve been talking about improving the literacy rates...

I first met my dear friend Linda McKillop more than 30 years ago. I met her in the waiting room at the then Clarence Community Health Centre. I was a 24 year old ‘speechie’ working there two days each week; she was a 22 year old speechie working for the Education...