Sunday 21 August marks the start of Speech Pathology Week across Australia. The week is an opportunity to make all Australians aware of those in our community who have a communication disability. We asked two of our experienced speech pathologists, Eva and Isabella (Izzy), to tell us more about their work at Aspect and how speech pathology can help kids and adults maximise their communication and quality of life.
Have you met Eva yet? Here's Isabella's journey!
Isabella, how long have you been working within our autism community?
I have been working with Aspect since 2017. I started with Aspect as a new graduate in the Murrumbidgee team.
Could you tell us a bit about your role with Aspect?
I am a speech pathologist on the Murrumbidgee team. I have supported people with Autism and their families through capacity building supports over the years. I have also supported participants and their support teams through providing positive behaviour supports as a behaviour support practitioner. For the last 2.5 years I have also supported participants and their families in Deniliquin through the AHA model. I travel to Deniliquin every 2 months (for up a week) to provide face to face supports and build programs based on goal setting with participants and families to be implemented through an AHA. I also team with the local community, building their capacity around Autism.
What do you love about working with Aspect?
I love the wealth of knowledge that comes from within Aspect. I continue to learn from my colleagues and find this the most valuable. I also love the opportunities I have had, such as delivering outreach.
Why did you decide to become an Speech Therapist?
When thinking about a potential career in high school mum told me about the time that my older brother required support from a speech pathologist as he had delayed language as a result of a hearing impairment. Mum talked about how much they supported my brother in being confident to communicating on his own. My brother had therapy supports for a couple of months and was then discharged. His language is incredible and one of the people I look up to the most. I thought “I would love to be able to support someone in feeling confident in communicating everyday”
The theme for SP Week this year is ‘ Good communication, better communities.’, how do you think Speechies help build better communities?
I believe the more awareness people have the better that we are able to provide support within our community. This comes down to good communication. As a speechie with Aspect, I capacity build families and support teams to be able to have the skills to create successful environments for people on the spectrum. This ultimately comes from good communication.
What do you enjoy most about your career in Speech Therapy?
I love observing participants families seeing their child communicate in their own way for the very first time. These memories are priceless.
I also love showing families that they are the change and they have the skills (with support from myself and other Aspect staff) to support their children to be successful.
If you’re working with an Speech Therapist who is just starting out, what are some of the things you’d tell him or her?
Be patient in developing your skills, listen to families, they generally have the answers themselves but just need a little guidance in accessing their skills 😊
Thanks for sharing, Isabella and have a fantastic Speech Pathology Week!
