Investigating Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care
Our Members
Professor Sharynne McLeod
BAppSc(Sp Path), MAppSc(Sp Path), PhD
For the past nineteen years, Sharynne's primary area of research has addressed children's communication; both from the perspectives of typical development and impairment. She has developed methodologies for listening to and researching with children who have difficulties communicating as well as with very young children. Sharynne's research foregrounds the right of everyone (particularly children) to participate fully in society. She applies the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF, World Health Organization, 2001) to children who have difficulty communicating focussing on aspects of Body Structure, Body Function, Activites and Participation, Environmental and Personal Factors and sees the interrelationship of each of these areas of inquiry are essential for envisoning full participation of children. Sharynne holds an ARC Discovery grant titled: " Children with speech impairment: A population study of prevalence, severity, impact and service provision" that addresses each of these areas. With IQECEC colleagues, she is also a chief investigator on the "What is life like for babies and toddlers in childcare?" ARC Linkage Grant.
Recently, Sharynne was the only Australian named as a contributor in the World Health Organization's children and youth version of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. She is an expert member of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Advisory Committee on Australian and International Disability Data (ACCAID). Sharynne is vice president of the International Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics Association, a Fellow of Speech Pathology Australia and is editor of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (www.informaworld.com/ijslp). Her recent books published in the USA are The international guide to speech acquisition (Thomson, 2007) and Speech sounds: A pictorial guide to typical and atypical speech (Plural, in press).