Research that aims to better manage communication impairments that affect one in five Australian preschool children has won a Charles Sturt University (CSU) student a national scholarship.
Jane McCormack, a PhD student based in the University’s Faculty of Education in Albury, NSW, won a nationally competitive scholarship worth nearly $30 000 from the Menzies Foundation to fund her studies into the impact of childhood speech impairments.
“Speech impairments, or difficulties in producing sounds, are the most common form of communication impairment in young children,” Ms McCormack said.
“Early intervention is recommended for children with speech impairment due to growing evidence of the potential long-term consequences of unresolved speech impairment, such as poorer school results which may restrict employment opportunities.”
Ms McCormack says traditional intervention has concentrated on correcting children’s production of sounds and words in the clinic, without addressing the full impact of speech impairment on a child’s life.
“In recent years, however, there has been a shift for health professionals to incorporate the views of their clients in intervention decisions and to develop a more holistic approach to intervention.”
Ms McCormack’s research will build on CSU research that is investigating speech impairment in early childhood through an Australian Research Council grant. Her work will be the first in the world to provide clients’ accounts of what it’s like to have this condition and to investigate how it impacts on their lives.
“As part of my studies, I am conducting interviews and running surveys with children of various ages, from preschool to adolescence, as well as parents and speech pathologists.
“I hope to help speech pathologists provide more timely, holistic and collaborative intervention that better addresses the needs of those with speech impairment.”
The Menzies scholarship is a competitive award available across Australia to health science graduates enrolled in a PhD at an Australian university and who have completed the first stage of their doctoral program.
Ms McCormack, who will receive her 2010 award in November this year, is the first student from CSU to receive this prestigious scholarship, of which only two are awarded nationally each year to allied health PhD students.
Ms McCormack is supervised by Professor Sharynne McLeod and Associate Professor Linda Harrison from CSU’s School of Teacher Education and Associate Professor Lindy McAllister from the University of Queensland.
No comments:
Post a Comment