Bachelor of Speech Pathology
Australian Catholic University, Brisbane
Coursework across adult communication and swallowing, fluency, voice, paediatric and adult speech pathology, community engagement and clinical practice.
Ceila
Speech Pathology Student
Third-year Bachelor of Speech Pathology student at Australian Catholic University, Brisbane.
Brisbane, Queensland
So far my clinical experience spans adult communication, paediatric fluency and community-based practice. My interests include person-centred communication, aphasia, fluency and supporting participation in everyday life. I value collaborative practice with clients, families and other professionals, and enjoy translating evidence into practical, meaningful therapy.
Education
Clinical & community experience
Clinical placement
Adult communication — residential aged care
St Joseph's
Worked with an adult client with acquired aphasia following neurosurgery, with a focus on communication participation and quality of life. Planned and delivered person-centred intervention incorporating supported conversation, reminiscence, script practice and personalised visual communication supports.
- Used collaborative goal setting and patient-reported outcome measures to identify meaningful communication priorities.
- Developed an individualised life story resource and visual communication supports around personally meaningful topics.
- Adapted intervention in response to client preferences, moving from impairment-based activities towards participation-focused therapy.
- Used supported conversation strategies including increased response time, visual supports, repetition and forced-choice questions.
- Reflected on treatment outcomes using functional observations including communication initiation, repair and participation.
University-based clinical learning
Paediatric fluency
Australian Catholic University
Developed assessment and intervention planning skills for preschool children who stutter, including application of the Lidcombe Program.
- Developed skills in parent coaching and delivery of verbal contingencies.
- Used clinician and parent Severity Ratings to support measurement and treatment planning.
- Planned child-centred practice activities that respond to engagement and language development.
- Applied current fluency research to clinical decision making and parent education.
Community engagement
Primary school community setting
Windsor State School
Worked with primary school students across Years 3 to 6, developing experience communicating with children, adapting interactions across age groups and working within an educational environment.
Community project
Participation and post-school transition
Campus Life, Centre for Inclusive Supports — Australian Catholic University, Brisbane
Contributed to a community-focused project examining participation, communication and post-school transition for young adults with disability.
- Engaged with participants and staff to understand barriers and enablers to community participation.
- Considered communication, transport, social connection, employment and family support using the ICF and ecological frameworks.
- Used primary and secondary evidence to identify community needs and existing strengths.
- Contributed to the development of practical, participation-focused solutions with an emphasis on inclusion and independence.
Selected projects
Participation-focused intervention in acquired aphasia
- Situation
- An older adult living in residential aged care with acquired aphasia, where reduced communication was limiting social connection and day-to-day participation rather than only affecting language accuracy.
- Clinical reasoning
- Impairment-based drill would have measured well on paper but done little for the things the client actually cared about. Collaborative goal setting and patient-reported outcome measures pointed towards participation, so I shifted the emphasis of therapy towards conversation, connection and personally meaningful content, and built supports the client could use with staff and family.
Evidence-informed parent coaching for early stuttering
- Situation
- Preschool children who stutter, where the parent is the person delivering treatment day to day and the clinician's role is largely to coach and calibrate.
- Clinical reasoning
- The Lidcombe Program only works if verbal contingencies are delivered consistently and at the right dose, which makes parent confidence part of the clinical target rather than a side issue. Clinician and parent Severity Ratings gave a shared measure to plan against, and practice activities had to stay engaging enough that the child kept participating.
Community participation and post-school transition
- Situation
- Young adults with disability, roughly 17 to 25, moving out of school and into adult life — a transition where communication support often falls away just as the environment becomes harder to navigate.
- Clinical reasoning
- Framing this as a communication-impairment problem would have missed most of it. Using the ICF and ecological frameworks kept transport, employment, social connection and family support in view alongside communication, and made it clearer which barriers sat in the environment rather than in the person.
Skills
Adult communication
Fluency
Goal setting & outcome measures
Community & participation practice
Evidence-based practice
Clinical & professional
Memberships & checks
- Blue Card — Working with Children Check, Queensland
- First Aid and CPR certified