Clinical Education Programmes
Catholic Education Speech Pathology Assessment Clinic
Classroom Partnerships Programme
Clear Speech Clinic
Speech Pathology Student Unit at St Patrick’s Special School
Clinical education is a crucial part of the curriculum, and is supported by numerous clinicans in a variety of field placments. In addition, in conjunction with a number of service providers, Flinders University has developed some clinical education initiatives which are described in more detail below.
Catholic Education Speech Pathology Assessment Clinic
In 2004 Catholic Education, SA joined the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology in a unique project. As part of their clinical experience speech pathology students were involved in assessing school age children (5 to 17 years). Eighty-four children were assessed in 2004 by third year Speech Pathology students in their first or second clinical placement.
Feedback from the special education unit in Catholic Education has been very positive about the quality of reports provided and Principals were enthusiastic about the therapy programmes given to schools.
Therapy programmes and recommendations have focussed on providing strategies that can be implemented within the classroom environment for primary school children.
Information for teachers about transitions to secondary school and learning strategies for students were provided for secondary school aged students.
Speech Pathology students enjoyed the opportunity to become very familiar with testing tools and to see a range of clients of different ages (5 to 16 years) and skill levels. They appreciated the opportunity to develop their report writing skills and to learn to work towards deadlines.
The clinic will be running again in 2005. The location of the clinic will change from being at Flinders Medical Centre to being based at a Catholic primary school. In this setting we will be able to provide a more naturalistic environment for the assessment of children.
Assessment data will be analysed by the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology and considered by Catholic Education in planning support services for children with language and literacy difficulties.
For more information, contact Kylie
Eddy
Phone 82045954
Classroom Partnerships Programme
In 2002, there was much discussion between Catholic Education, SA and the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, about developing models of professional development for teachers that focus on supporting them when working with children with language impairments in their classrooms. A programme was devised that met the needs of both organisations ie. practical and relevant support for teachers and rich learning opportunities for Speech Pathology students.
In 2003, the Classroom Partnerships Programme was trialed in 4 Catholic Primary Schools as a cost recovery student clinic. It provided intensive training for teachers and valuable experience for 6 Speech Pathology students (two fourth years and four third years) about working with children in a school setting. An interesting clinical education focus to the programme was the placing of third year students (in their first clinical practicum) in a school environment.
Feedback from the Junior Primary teachers, Principals, and Speech
Pathology students was very positive.
An outline of a day is as follows:
- Teachers attend the programme for the morning and observe the Clinical Educator working with a group of six children selected by the teachers to attend the group.
- The teachers then work collaboratively with Speech Pathology students with a pair of children on specific language tasks.
- The children then go back to the classroom and there is a debriefing session with all the teachers and Speech Pathology students, about the morning and how the strategies used can be made relevant to teacher’s practice in the classroom environment.
- After recess, the teachers return for a tutorial about a topic that they have selected prior to commencement of the programme. Eg “Identifying children in the classroom with language difficulties”
- After lunch, the Speech Pathology students go into classrooms and undertake a project that involves observations of educational practices that encourage language skills in terms of the classroom environment, teacher talk and student talk. This information is collated over a four-week period and presented formally to the teachers in the final week. Students also have the valuable opportunity to observe the child they work with in the morning, in a different context.
- When school has finished, the Speech Pathology students meet with their supervisor, and have time for tutorials or preparation.
- A presentation is offered to all the school staff and to the parents about the language demands of starting school and the impact of these on children with language difficulties. This occurred after school in the school recently visited. All the teachers attended and a small number of parents were present for their session.
There are many challenges in dealing with the specific needs of students and teachers. The enthusiasm of all involved compensates for working in an ever-changing school environment. Examples of challenges include the room you are working in being taken over by stocktaking of books, liturgies for Easter being planned at the same time as the group, and the Principal not being available to deal with an issue because the plumbing has burst in a classroom. All in a days work when you work in schools! It has been a great opportunity for Speech Pathology students to be professional, flexible, develop a good sense of humour and to appreciate working within an educational system.
The programme was continued in four more Catholic Education schools
in 2004, and will be running again in 2005. If you would like more
information, contact Kylie
Eddy
Phone 8204 5954
Clear Speech Clinic
The Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology is offering pronunciation clinics in 2005. This clinic is especially tailored for people from non-English Speaking Backgrounds (NESB) who find that others have difficulties understanding them.
Speech Pathology Student Unit at St Patrick’s Special School
St. Patrick’s Special School is a Catholic school which caters for 47 students with severe intellectual disabilities and associated disorders such as Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Down Syndrome. The student unit is a collaborative project between the university and the school, and has been running successfully since January 2003.
With a full-time equivalent Speech Pathologist / Clinical Educator at the school, there is a structured therapy programme in place which allows the needs of the children and the school to be met, as well as meeting the needs of the Speech Pathology students.
- intervention is provided in a variety of ways, with the children grouped together, or seen for individual therapy, depending on their strengths and areas to be targeted. Each child had individual goals for intervention which are linked into the school curriculum.
- individual sessions for those students who benefit from the one-on-one input;
- sensory groups for students with higher sensory needs and lower academic needs;
- social skills groups, particularly for the older students;
- picture exchange communication system (PECS) groups to transfer the use of PECS from the structured one-on-one environment to use in small groups and the classroom;
- speech and language groups;
- communication classes with each class (with a main focus on signing but incorporating all communication systems and needs within the class);
- parent signing classes.
The feedback from the Speech Pathology students on this student unit has been very positive, with the comment made that “all students should have a placement at St. Pat’s”. In particular, the students find it a very positive learning environment where they enjoy the opportunity to work closely with the teachers and school staff whilst feeling supported in their own learning.
For more information contact Chris
Brebner
Phone: 8332 1555