29/08/2025
Wonderful story from JCU Speech Pathology alumni, Aimee Morrison. Great to hear about the fabulous work you do in FNQ 😁
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BHMpwpEM9/?mibextid=wwXIfr
To celebrate Speech Pathology Week 2025, we’re sharing inspiring stories from various school Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) across the state. ⭐
The theme for today is 'Opportunity through communication' - Opening pathways in education, work, and community life and this is Aimee’s story. 🤝💛
It’s been 12 years since Aimee first began her journey as an SLP, and 5 years with the department. Over the past 5 years Aimee’s caseload has been diverse. She’s worked in primary schools, special schools, small schools, high schools including schools in the Northern Peninsula Area at the tip of Queensland. Aimee currently works back in Far North Queensland, where she grew up, and absolutely loves it.
‘I began my career in a much bigger city than I live in right now. I never imagined myself settling in the small country town I grew up in. But five years ago, I moved back and now I am the school speech language pathologist for both the primary and high school I attended,’ Aimee shared.
A lot of Aimee’s day-to-day work involves helping students to build their communication skills to best support their future as independent individuals.
‘There are lots of different ways I support students to build communication skills. One area that is crucial for independence, is supporting students who use no or limited speech to have access to robust communication. Through using dedicated devices that generate speech, communication boards, and/or signing it is important that these young people have the same access to communication as their speaking peers.’
‘There’s still a belief that people who ‘can’t talk’ have nothing to say, and that’s just not true! By supporting both students and the adults who are helping them learn every day, we can prepare these young people for a life where they know that their thoughts matter. They can share their ideas and feelings with the people in their lives and feel included within their communities.’
In life, connection is crucial, and without communication connection to community can be extremely challenging, which is why Aimee’s work is so important.
Aimee asked us, ‘did you know that speaking home language (or your first language) is important for people who speak English as an additional language or dialect?’
‘There is a lot of research behind the importance of feeling connected to your community. I often work with students who speak a different language at home. There is a misconception that students with learning difficulties or language disorders should ""only focus on one language"", when in fact evidence suggests the opposite. Students who speak their home language (as well as Standard Australian English for school) are far more likely to have academic success and stronger foundations for learning. Plus, it’s just really cool to speak multiple languages! Part of my role is advocating for the importance of home language for learners with speech language communication difficulties, and helping teachers understand how they can value home language while providing language rich learning environments to support student learning,’ Aimee explained.
Aimee had an array of incredibly inspiring stories to share, and this was one of her favourite memories as a SLP.
‘I once worked with a Year 8 student who had spent their whole schooling thinking that they weren’t a learner, no matter how hard they tried. We investigated the student’s challenges and were able to identify that they had dyslexia! Understanding what your challenges are, and why you’re not successful is so powerful. I’ll never forget the meeting we had with the student, their parents and the school team where we discussed the difficulties with learning, and all the next steps we were going to be able to take to support the student in the future. The student’s mother cried and cried, saying to me ""no one has been able to figure out what the problem was before now"". Even now, whenever I see the parent somewhere, she says to me: ‘you changed my child’s life!’ 💗
Thank you, Aimee and departmental SLPs, for your time, your beautiful stories and your dedication to opening pathways for students and allowing them to confidently and independently communicate.
