|
Joel speaks up in Canberra |
|
|
|
|
Written by Jennifer Sharpham
|
|
 Joel Sturzaker Inclusive Learning Unit student, Joel Sturzaker, represented Karratha Senior High School at the AGOSCI (Australian Group on Severe Communication Impairment) conference in Canberra last week by presenting his communication passport to the delegates.
Joel has autism and Joel’s mother, Sharyn Sturzaker, and her friend, Laura Coakes (speech pathologist), collaborated to begin work on “Joel’s book” last year so Joel had something he could use to communicate with people about himself.
They are a great tool for people with communication difficulties to share information about themselves and their personalities and they enable others to get to know them better.
Sharyn is a tireless, enthusiastic and outstanding person who goes out of her way for Joel and this is only a small example of this.
As part of Joel’s Individual Education Programme in the Inclusive Learning Unit at Karratha SHS, his teacher, Jenny Sharpham, had a strong focus on speaking and listening, public speaking in particular.
In the last year Joel has been developing these skills so that he was able to present his “book” at the conference with confidence, concentration and clear speech.
It was also very important for Joel to keep on track while he spoke and not be distracted or take off on a tangent about unrelated topics and so he worked very hard on achieving this during his work at school.
Joel was to address the conference delegates on the Friday afternoon, so during his free time up until then he saw the sights of Canberra and learned (what every Australian should learn) about our nation’s capital.
Joel and his teacher, Jenny visited the Australian Institute of Sport and saw where all the athletes train, eat and sleep and even saw the Canberra Raiders Rugby team practicing.
They also went to the top of Black Mountain Tower to see the view of Canberra and identify the significant landmarks and to the Australian War Memorial where Joel saw all the names of the soldiers killed in war and was told how important it is to remember and honour them.
He saw where the Prime Minister works at Parliament House, which stands tall and proud over the city and can be seen from just about everywhere.
Joel loved his visit to Questacon, the science museum, where everything is hands on and he was able to learn about dinosaurs, earthquakes, weather, feelings, the jungle and visual illusions.
His favourite was the earthquake house where a simulated earthquake takes place while visitors are sitting inside and the lightning cage where every few minutes lightning strikes.
Once the day of the speech came, Joel was very excited and almost ran to the convention centre to meet up with his Mum and Laura.
Laura presented the facts on how to use a communication passport and Sharyn spoke about her personal experience in putting one together for Joel.
Their presentation was professional and informative and gave parents, carers and teachers alike a real feeling for how they could use the passports with the people they were involved with.
Joel then presented “Joel’s book” in front of 40 or more people, he started with “I’m Joel and I’m cool” – he was putty in their hands after that.
He talked through his book about himself and who he is using the pictures inside as a guide.
He was fantastic and received a huge round of applause at the end – it was quite an achievement for anyone to speak in front of a large group, but extra special for Joel.
He celebrated that night with everyone from the conference at the conference dinner and danced the night away on the dance floor.
All those involved in making this happen should be commended for their hard work and enormous effort, especially Joel, he is a superstar. |
More LOCAL News 