About me
I graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy from Charles Sturt University in December 2015 and am currently Associate Professor of Speech Pathology in the Faculty of Science and Health. I am speech pathologist, early childhood researcher and mother of 3. I am passionate about embracing the diversity of children from different cultures, languages, geographic areas, socioeconomic backgrounds and levels of ability to create equitable opportunities for all children to have a strong start to life and reach their full potential.
My research across six continents resulted in the development of a framework to guide culturally responsive practice when supporting children with communication needs. These principles have since been adopted as the basis of scientific research and professional development programs across a range of health and education disciplines both in Australia and around the world including the US, New Zealand, China, South Africa, Canada and Malaysia.
I am co-chair of The International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children’s Speech consisting of 60 experts in the fields of multilingualism and child speech from 30 different countries to support professional practice with children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
I represented Australia on the World Health Organisation Development Group for Autism Spectrum Disorder. I oversaw the development of the Speech Pathology Australia national position paper and clinical guidelines for “working in a culturally and linguistically diverse society” and host the “Talking Children Podcast”, a podcast designed to support caregivers and educators to give their children the best start to life.
I also run my own speech pathology practice in rural NSW to provide much needed services to geographical isolated children with communication needs.
In my spare time, I apply my research and skills in a volunteer capacity as a director of the Trinh Foundation Australia, an Australian-based international not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to develop speech therapy in Vietnam.
Podcast interview with Jenny Nechvatal; ‘Embracing Disability in Early Childhood Settings’
In this episode we welcome special guest Jenny Nechvatal to the show.
Jenny is an early childhood educator, disability inclusion advocate and mother who draws upon her lived experiences to provide support and advice for both educators and parents.
Jenny has a particular interest in Autism and collaboration between parents and educators to support early identification and early intervention.
You can learn more about Jenny’s work here: https://innovativedisabilitysolutions.com.au/
You can buy Jenny’s book here: https://innovativedisabilitysolutions.com.au/store/p/embracing-disability-in-early-childhood
You can book a workshop with Jenny here: https://innovativedisabilitysolutions.com.au/workshops
Parents of neurodivergent children can join her parenting hub here: https://innovativedisabilitysolutions.com.au/neuro-spicy-parent-hub
Hume Region Allied Health Conference 2025
The conference theme was ‘Insights into Influence: The Impact of Allied Health in Healthcare’.
The presentation was on the topic of; “Neurodiversity affirming practice in allied health”.
Attached below are the slides:
Little Learners Love Literacy Course
Emma and Lucia recently completed the ‘Little Learners Love Literacy’ professional development. Little Learners Love Literacy is a systematic synthetic phonics intervention program to best support clients with all things reading, writing and spelling.
Speech Pathology Australia Conference 2025
Sarah and Lucia presented on the topic; Neurodiversity affirming practice:
The next frontier in culturally responsive practice?
Attached below are our slides:
International Society of Autism Research: INSAR
Sarah and Lucia are very excited to be attending the International Society of Autism Research (INSAR) Conference in Melbourne, from the 15th -18th
of May! We are looking forward to sharing our learning.
https://www.autism-insar.org/page/2024AnnMtg
Sharing Best Practice
Sarah and Lucia recently attended the Sharing Best Practice conference in Wagga Wagga all about supporting children to read, write and spell.
https://www.sharingbestpractice.com/
Tedx Talk
View my Tedx Talk: “Challenging our disordered thinking about Neurodiversity” from November 2023 here: https://youtu.be/zxOFXiwmpsE?si=2ZPE2c5fV1nkGpSI
Asia Pacific Society of Speech-Language and Hearing, HCMC Vietnam
Lucia and I attending the APSSLH conference in Vietnam.
We shared two presentations:
Talking Children: Early intervention and access to services for children with communication needs.
Neurodiversity affirming practice: Building a stronger network between SLPs and the neurodiverse community.
View our poster here:
IALP Conference, Auckland New Zealand
In August 2023, I presented on two topics at the World Congress of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders.
The talks were titled:
Social justice in action in speech-language pathology: Exploring sustainable and culturally responsive international development through the first university degrees in Vietnam
and
A qualitative systematic review of
speech-language pathologists’ practice with people from humanitarian migrant backgrounds
I attended with my baby Ruby (sleeping soundly after a big day).
Speech Pathology Week 2023
Here is an opinion piece I wrote for Speech Pathology Week
New Book Chapter
My book chapter “A longitudinal exploration of the presence of a bilingual advantage in children” was recently published in this new book.
Associate Professor Sarah Verdon - Speech-Language Pathologist 