Speech pathology and telehealth: from assessment and intervention to community capacity building Presentation at the Successes and Failures of Telehealth Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 2017 by Silvia Pfeiffer

1. Speech pathology and
telehealth
From assessment and intervention
to community capacity building

2. Who are we
Dr Silvia Pfeiffer
š CEO Coviu Global Pty Ltd
š CSIRO/Data61 Coviu Project Lead
š PhD Computer Science
š Ex Google / Mozilla
š My company wrote the software.
Dr Antoinette Redoblado-Hodge
š Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist
š Children’s Hospital at Westmead
š Child Development Unit
š Neurodevelopmental Disorders Clinic
š Research into validity of telehealth
outcomes.
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3. Projects
Sounds, Words, Aboriginal
Language and Yarning
sway.org.au
NSW Centre for Effective
Reading
cer.education.nsw.gov.au
Joint research project
Centre for Effective Reading
Centre for Effective Reading

4. Project Focus
Community
Capacity
Building
Language, Cognitive,
Speech and Educational
Assessments
Intervention
Remote Standardised
Cognitive and Language
Assessments Validation
Centre for Effective Reading
Centre for Effective Reading

5. Joint Scientific Research Project
Assessments

6. Research Participants
Westmead Children’s Hospital:
š Hodge MA
š Sutherland R
š Jeng K
š Drevensek S
š Ganesalingam K
š Williamsz M
š Silove N
CSIRO/Data61:
š Pfeiffer S
NSW Education Department
š Bale G
š Batta P
š Geier P
š Kass C
š Matheison S
š McCabe M
š Micallef K
š Mollomby K
š Pope S
š Tait F

7. Goal of the Research Study
Investigating the reliability
of standardised cognitive
and literacy assessments
delivered via telehealth to
children living in rural and
remote parts of NSW,
Australia.

8. Research Setup
Children’sHospital
Dubbo
Manly
Wagga Wagga
Westmead
Research Assistant
Speech Pathologist
or
Teacher
with
Children
at
Remote Location

9. Research Methods
1. Intelligence Test: Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for Children-V
WISC-V
2. Reading Tests: Woodcock
Reading Mastery Test-III and
others
3. Feedback from assessors and
parents

10. WISC-V Setup
1. Block Design:
Document Camera
2. Figure Weights:
Document Sharing
3. Matrix Reasoning:
Document Sharing
4. Visual Puzzles:
Document Sharing
5. Vocabulary:
Document Sharing

11. Woodcock-RMT III Setup
1. Word Attack:
Document Sharing
2. Passage Comprehension:
Document Sharing
3. Word Identification:
Document Sharing
Completely clean user interface at child’s end

12. Research Results Intelligence Test (WISC-V)
High correlation between
scores obtained by face to
face and remote assessors
Wechsler Intelligence
Scale for Children V
Correlation
coefficients
Block Design 0.99
Similarities 0.96
Matrix Reasoning 1.00
Digit Span 1.00
Coding 0.90

13. Research Results Reading Test (Woodcock)
High correlation between
scores obtained by face to
face and remote assessors
Woodcock Reading
Mastery Test-III
Correlation
coefficients
Word Identification 0.99
Word Attack 0.93
Passage
Comprehension
0.99

14. Comments about the cognitive and
education assessment sessions
š Parent: " Great Idea!! My son was very excited to do it
and really enjoyed it. Commented on the way home
it was "Awesome!" Thanks"
š Parent: She enjoyed doing it on the screen. She said
she could clearly understand what to do.
š Assessor: "Assessment setting worked well"
š Assessor: "All went well. Clear & efficient!"

15. Research Result Interpretation
š Pilot results indicate that telehealth cognitive and literacy assessments are equivalent to
conducting face to face assessments for children with learning difficulties.
š The use of telehealth for such assessments is promising and may have future implications
for providing timely and affordable access to services for those living remotely.
š Coviu provides custom functionality such as reduced interface at child end, split screen
between block image and block camera, click markers, which help replicate exact
assessment setup.

16. Speech Pathology
Intervention
NSW Centre for Effective Reading

17. Goal of CER
Speech Pathology Support
š The Centre provides direct assessment
and intervention services for primary
school aged students with complex
reading difficulties living in rural and
remote areas of NSW.
š The goal is to leave no student behind in
their learning progress.
Centre for Effective Reading
Fiona Eastley
Speech Pathologist
CER Manly
fiona.eastley@det.nsw.edu.au

18. APPROACH of CER
The NSW Centre for Effective
Reading is a specialist service
providing:
š information about teaching
reading and supporting students
with complex reading difficulties.
š direct support for rural and
remote primary school aged
students with complex reading
difficulties and their teachers.
Four Hubs:
š Dubbo
š Wagga Wagga
š Manly
š Westmead
Centre for Effective Reading

19. APPROACH of CER
š The CER has speech pathologists
available in 4 Hubs.
š The CER delivers cognitive, language,
speech and educational assessments
of children across the state.
š The speech pathologists deliver
standardised speech and language
intervention sessions using Coviu and
Adobe Connect to students in rural
and remote NSW.
Four Hubs:
š Dubbo
š Wagga Wagga
š Manly
š Westmead
Centre for Effective Reading

20. Results with Coviu at the CER
In 2017, more than 150
remote therapy sessions
have taken place across
all hubs.
The speech pathologist
and teachers collaborate
so the sessions reflect the
classroom curriculum.
Centre for Effective Reading

21. Results with Coviu at the CER
Students enjoy interacting
with the speech
pathologist and using the
writing and drawing tools
to demonstrate their
learning.
Coviu’s easy-to-use and
interactive user interface
helps engage the students.
Centre for Effective Reading

22. Teacher Comments about the
speech and language sessions
š We have long waiting lists in the country for
these services and if it wasn't for this time
with Fiona Alex would not have the
opportunity with a Speech Pathologist.
š …has led to improved literacy and
communication skills as well as building his
self confidence.
š ….has improved from a child who mumbled
and was difficult to hold a conversation with
to a boy who is pronouncing his words and
starting to put full sentences together on a
given topic.
Centre for Effective Reading

23. Sounds, Words, Aboriginal Language and Yarning
Community Building

24. SWAY – The Core Team
Eileen Kalucy
Early Childhood Educator
RFW School
Manly
Joanne Blackbourn
Speech Pathologist
BSc (Human Communication
Science)
Lois Birk
Aboriginal Educator
RFW School
Manly

25. GOAL of SWAY
š SWAY aims to improve the oral language and literacy outcomes of
Preschool and Kindergarten students within rural and remote
communities.
š Low Socioeconomic status has been identified as a significant risk factor in terms of
children’s language and social proficiency.
š Early literacy difficulties are more prevalent among children in low SES communities.
(Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, June 2009).

26. APPROACH of SWAY
š SWAY is an evidence based Oral Language
and Early Literacy Programme based on
Aboriginal knowledge, culture and stories.
š A key focus of the programme is to build the
capacity of teaching staff through practical
professional development and ongoing
mentoring.
š Participating schools are encouraged to
work with the local AECG (Aboriginal
Education Consultative Group) and build
relationships with local elders and families.
MODULES:
š Me and my body
š My school, my community
š My land, my Australia
š My family, my home
š My culture, my history
š Our journey

27. APPROACH of SWAY
š Initial 3 day SWAY training at lighthouse
school, Glenroi Heights Public School in
Orange.
š Ongoing teacher mentoring via the
Coviu video interface with standard
computer and Webcam.
š SWAY reaches out to elders and their
families for a rich sharing of local
knowledge, culture and stories.
MODULES:
š Me and my body
š My school, my community
š My land, my Australia
š My family, my home
š My culture, my history
š Our journey

28. SWAY Participants
š In 2016, the SWAY programme was rolled
out to 5 Sites + Manly
š 13 Teachers, SLSOs, AEO’s attended the 3
day initial SWAY training
š 96 Children received targeted speech
pathology intervention
š Visited Walgett, Bourke, Orange and
Bowraville aboriginal communities.

29. DELIVERY of SWAY
š SWAY is delivered as a whole class
programme and targeted intervention
programme.
š The targeted intervention programme
consists of a Speech Pathologist
delivering a 15-20 minute small group
therapy session, supported by a SLSO
(School Learning Support Officer)

30. Intervention Objectives
1. Reinforce the oral language and early
literacy goals of the SWAY classroom
programme.
2. Enable the SLSO to gain competence
and confidence in supporting children’s
oral language and literacy development.
3. Speech Pathologist to observe ‘at risk’
students, flag specific concerns, provide
strategies and onward referral.

31. SWAY Achievements
š Within the past 3 years, the SWAY programme has provided professional development
training and mentoring to over 26 rural and remote teaching staff.
š Over 240 children have received targeted speech pathology intervention via COVIU.
š 418 Intervention Sessions were held in total.
š The efficacy of the SWAY programme as a teacher training and mentoring programme is
currently being formally evaluated by the ACU University.
š Coviu interface is particularly useful because it doesn’t require special equipment or
software. It’s easy to set up and the user friendly interface enables the speech pathologist
to deliver fun, interactive and engaging sessions with minimal additional preparation.

32. Summary
Community
Capacity
Can be built remotely
Intervention needs
identified
Language, Cognitive, Speech
and Educational Assessments
can be delivered
Intervention can be delivered
Remote Standardised
Cognitive and Language
Assessments are reliable
Centre for Effective Reading
Centre for Effective Reading

33. Summary
Contact:
Eileen.kalucy@det.nsw.edu.au
Contact:
Fiona.Eastley@det.nsw.edu.au
Contact:
Antoinette.Hodge@health.nsw.gov.au
Centre for Effective Reading
Centre for Effective Reading
Contact: silvia@coviu.com