S.Balandin@fhs.usyd.edu.au

Username: S.Balandin@fhs.usyd.edu.au

Participant details

	Network Member	Susan Balandin
	Organisation/Institution	University of Sydney
	Department/Centre	Communication Sciences and Disorders
	Lab
	Website	http://
	Research area	Speech Science and Technology Speech Pathology
	Research keywords

Research Interests

My research informs a current program of NHMRC funded research into the health and well being of being of people with no or limited functional speech who need or who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. It includes a project to meet the challenge of training undergraduate nurses in AAC and one to optimise participation by women with disabilities who use AAC in mammography screening. I have just completed two innovative projects that focused on the health interactions of older Indigenous people and their health care providers. These will help establish seminal knowledge about system adaptation and the training required for successful AAC use by Indigenous people. In particular, older people who have acquired or degenerative disability and younger people with traumatic brain injury. My colleagues and I are developing an AAC training package for court personnel. The Attorney General?s Department will implement the outcomes of this project throughout NSW. I am working with colleagues at the University of Dundee to develop a joint Australian European program of research to create new AAC technology for use in hospital settings and a project to develop web based software to enhance the participation of adolescents in their educational planning and assessment procedures.