Celebrating our Speech Pathologists this Speech Pathology Week - 20 to 26 August

Speech Pathology Week promotes the speech pathology profession and the work done by speech pathologists. This year, the theme for Speech Pathology Week is 'Communicating for life’ with the aim of highlighting the vital role speech pathologists play in supporting quality of life across an individual’s lifespan. The PHN would like to showcase one of our many speech pathology practices, A Growing Understanding, for their incredible work with our community.

Communication is a basic human right and Speech Pathology Week helps to raise awareness of communication disability and the role of speech pathologists. A Growing Understanding provide individualised speech therapy and services for children in the Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, and Maitland areas. With a combined passion for children’s communication and education, A Growing Understanding’s Speech Pathologists are committed to providing professional speech pathology assessments and supports.

Earlier this year, the Hunter New England Central Coast Primary Health Network (the PHN) was pleased to offer Allied Health practice managers/owners in the Hunter New England and Central Coast regions the opportunity to apply for one of ten Pride in Health + Wellbeing Lite Memberships valid for a 12-month period. A Growing Understanding children’s speech pathology service was one of the ten successful practices receiving the membership. Their practice staff have been upskilled through consultation and ongoing training and provided access to member-only resources including, the latest research, best practice information and networking opportunities.

Emma Hyde, A Growing Understanding's Clinical Director, said the Pride Lite membership has had a very positive impact on their practice. “Access to a Pride and Well-being Relationship Manager who was flexible with meeting times was hugely beneficial. The Relationship Manager supported the review of internal policies to reflect inclusive practices. The team were provided Inclusive Care Training and the response was amazingly positive.”

“Our recruitment processes have been reviewed and new documents have been created for any potential new team members outlining our commitment to inclusive care and the dedicated LGBTQ representative within the team who can be contacted regarding policy, procedures, LGBTQ resources and for any questions.”

Following the training, a gap was identified in the teaching of pronouns in an inclusive way as a part of children’s language development, so Emma has been inspired to write a children’s book to provide education on inclusive language which is currently under development. The team at A Growing Understanding have noticed they have developed a safe space and have had a number of client-initiated conversations including one child asking for the assistance with the appropriate language to talk to their family about their identity.

The book is being illustrated and will be launched in 2024.

Read more about A Growing Understanding

Learn More about Speech Pathologists Week 2023

Find out more about Communicating for Life including how certified speech pathologists work with people of all ages, seeing and choosing a speech pathologist , how to know if your speech pathologist is certified, how to know when to see a speech pathologist and questions to ask your certified speech pathologist.