DECEMBER
International Communication Project 2014
Public Lecture
The United States-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission together with the Department of Disability Studies, Faculty of Medicine organized a public lecture by Dr. Barbara Shadden, PhD (Emeritus Professor of Communication Disorders at the University of Arkansas) on 'Communication Across the Lifespan: A Critical Tool at Risk in Later Years' at the United States-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission Auditorium. The presentation offered an overview of aspects of Dr. Shadden's research and clinical work with normally aging individuals and those with specific communication disorders, as well as their caregivers. The focus of the lecture was on the central role communication plays in all of our lives, and the many ways aging jeopardizes our effective use of the communication tool. Societal attitudes towards aging and the elderly were also highlighted.
'A Voice for All' Conference
'A Voice for All' was the very first conference organized by the Department of Disability Studies of the Faculty of Medicine and consisted of pre-conference sessions on the 18th of December, the main conference sessions across two days on the 19th and 20th of December and two post-conference workshops on the 21st of December 2014. Our Guest of Honour at the inauguration ceremony was Ms. Kamini Gadhok MBE, Chief Executive Officer of the Royal College of Speech and Language therapists, UK. The Sheila Wirz Memorial Oration 2014 was delivered by Dr. Mary Wickenden, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Global Health, University College London, UK, who delivered 'A tribute to Prof. Sheila Wirz: her work and how we can build on it to make a better future for disabled people'.
Pre-Conference
Post Conference
MoU with the Center for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong
As part of the conference, Prof. Nilanthi de Silva, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Director of the Centre on Disability Studies, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Prof. Gladys Tang, Director of the Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The central aim of the centre is to promote research in the field of disability and diversity, with a particular emphasis on sign linguistics, deaf education and 'Deaf culture'.
OCTOBER
On a request by a group of doctors who were undertaking a healthcare programme at the Prithipura Child Development Centre in memory of a friend, we offered a screening programme to identify speech, language and communication difficulties among the residents of the centre. A small group of year 3 and year 4 students conducted this programme under the supervision of a member of staff. Ms. Lakshika Udugama offered a talk on speech, language, communication and ways to improve the skills within the centre to the members of staff to help raise awareness of communication difficulties.
SEPTEMBER
Hearing Screening Programmes
The final year Audiology students conducted a hearing screening programme on the 17th, 18th and 24th of September with 11 children at a Child Development Centre in Ragama, 45 teachers at Anuradha Balika Vidyalaya in Colombo and 33 students of the Heenkenda Primary School in Horape. The children of the Child Development Centre were chosen as they have limited opportunities to access Audiological services and because we were keen to promote hearing hygiene. The school teachers were chosen as they are often exposed to excessive levels of noise in the classrooms for long durations and hence can develop Noise Induced Hearing Loss. The children of the primary school were chosen as hearing difficulties can influence language development and access to the curriculum. We used the screening protocol of a brief history, otoscopy and distortion product otoacoustic emission screening. Participants who failed the screening procedure were referred to the on-going audiological clinics at the Faculty for follow-up diagnostic testing.
NOVEMBER
We initiated a monthly revolving poster awareness campaign, with a view to disseminating the findings of our final year research students as well as the research conducted by members of the staff. The posters will be presented by topic area, the first of which is on 'awareness of available services'.
AUGUST
Guest Lectures and Training Program
August was our month for lectures and training.
- Autism Awareness Guest Lecture
This was followed by a seminar by Nadhiya Ito (M.A., CCC-SLP) from the Los Angeles Speech & Language Therapy Centre, Inc., a private clinic founded by Dr. Pamela Wiley. In the seminar, Nadhiya shared her experiences of working with children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, explaining a variety of programmes offered at the centre, with an emphasis on working closely with families.
- Korean Foundation Guest Lecture
We started off the month with a visit by a delegation from the Korea Differently Abled Federation (KODAF), organised jointly with Wheels in Motion. Prof. Ahan introduced his organization and spoke on the disability movement in Korea. This was followed by an impassioned talk by Rev. Lee, who shared his experiences of being disabled in Korea and on his involvement with the disability-rights movement in his country. The delegates also found time to speak with the Dean on potential collaborative work in the future.
- Sign Linguistic Guest Lecture
We had the great pleasure of a visit by Prof. James Woodward, Co-Director and Adjunct Professor, Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Professor Woodward offered 'An Introduction to Sign Linguistics for Speech and Language Therapists' to practicing speech and language therapists as a Continuous Professional Development course. We were delighted to have the support of some of our colleagues from the Central Federation of the Deaf, Sri Lanka.
