Although there are more than 1.2 million Australians living with some form of speech impairment, communication disability still remains largely invisible in the wider community.
Speech Pathology Week is an opportunity to spotlight speech pathologists, who help ensure people have equitable access to communication.
Communication involves two people; meaning it’s more than just speech. This year’s theme, ‘Good Communication, Better Communities’ aims to highlight that for communities to thrive, awareness and boundaries need to be pushed to discover everyone’s communication potential.
Peninsula Health Speech Pathologist Grace Palmer said there should be more inclusive ways of communicating in order to enhance the sense of belonging for people with a communication disability.
“In addition to written and verbal communication, we should incorporate other means of communicating through imagery, braille, auditory methods, and even simple gestures,” she said.
Ms Palmer said people were often unaware of other people’s speech impairments.
“Communication disability is often invisible to most people,” she said.
“Our hope is that by broadening the awareness of communication disabilities, people will feel empowered to seek the help they need, as communication is a basic human right.”
Our speech pathologists work with children and adults who may have communication or feeding difficulties. This may include difficulties producing speech sounds, understanding and using language to effectively communicate, voice difficulties and stuttering.
For further information on our services, visit https://www.peninsulahealth.org.au/services/services-a-e/allied-health/speech-pathology-2/