"Beyond Words”, the 8th National conference of the Australian Aphasia Association, was held in Sydney on 27th and 28th September, 2010. The overwhelming feedback from delegates was positive and the conference was a huge success. My reasons for saying this are set out below.

Over 170 delegates attended from all over Australia and New Zealand. A pre conference social event was held at the venue, Paddington RSL, on Sunday 26th September. This was a great opportunity for old friends to catch up and for delegates to familiarise themselves with the venue. The performance of mime by final year drama students from NIDA, was a colourful demonstration of what can be said, “Beyond Words.” The post conference social event, a Sydney Harbour lunch cruise, was held on Wednesday 29th September and provided a wonderful day for our “out of town” and local delegates as well as a well earned rest for some of the organising committee and some of our student volunteers.

When the organising committee began meeting in January 2009, one of our first tasks was to set goals for the conference.

Firstly, we aimed to provide a forum for individuals with aphasia, their carers and interested health professionals, to meet, share ideas, stories and resources. With over 170 participants from across Australia and New Zealand, this was achieved. The youngest person with aphasia was seventeen and the oldest, eighty six. Many people with progressive aphasia also attended and in many cases they brought several family members and friends with them. Participants also included academics and health professionals from nursing, occupational therapy and social work. Some 30 student volunteers from University of Sydney, Macquarie University and Newcastle University, mentored people with aphasia and performed many of the tasks necessary for a smoothly running conference. The breakdown of delegates can be seen in the pie diagram below

Our second aim was to promote aphasia awareness. This was achieved by our fridge magnet campaign and the establishment of the aphasia conference website. These two strategies have meant the terms “aphasia” and “AAA “ have been communicated to a vast number of people with aphasia and health professionals across Australia and New Zealand. Initially one thousand calendars were sent out. The demand was so high that another 250 calendars were printed and distributed. The domain name www.aphasiaconference.org was purchased for the AAA and set up as the ongoing conference website. As from December, the Sydney conference presentations will be posted on the website and the Melbourne committee will be able to commence posting preliminary details of the 2012 conference.

Finally, we aimed to facilitate the establishment of a NSW chapter/branch of the AAA. A group of about thirty people expressed an interest in being involved in this. I am happy to inform you that, on the final day of the conference, we received a commitment from the Agency for Clinical Innovation and its Stroke Services NSW to support, practically and in spirit, this initiative. In the next few months, we will move to set up a day seminar to advance this initiative.

Highlights

• The Buddy system: students were assigned to assist people with aphasia who were speaking at the conference. Students who attended were highly visible in their “buddy” t-shirts.
  • Comment: “The Buddies were brilliant. And I think it was entirely different. Good to other ideas.” Jim Folwell. NSW
• The Carers’ sessions: separate sessions were held to talk about some of the special issues of carers.
  • Comment: “My wife loved the split session. It gave people a chance to hear something different.” Barry Cappe, NSW
• The Scientific presentations: leading academics in the field of aphasia, from University of Queensland, Macquarie University and University of Sydeny, gave presentations.
  • Comment: “Overall it was great. The aphasia stories were inspirational and the educational presentations were very useful.” David Munroe,NSW
  • “We both enjoyed it and we’d do it again. Very informative as well. We learnt a lot.” Michael Galanos, NSW
• The personal stories of aphasia: people with aphasia inspired us with their positive stories of life Beyond Words.
  • Comment: “Its been really good. I was most inspired by Jack” Lloyd Knight, VIC
  • “It gives you hope and determination. That’s what the conference did for me.”
  • “A wonderful few days. Thank you.” Mary Rampant, VIC

The successful staging of the Beyond Words Conference would not have happened without the hard work and innovative thinking of the Conference organising committee, and as the convenor, I extend to them my sincere thanks. Many of the participants also asked me to pass on their gratitude and appreciation to the organising committee. The organising committee:

Alexis McMahon, Julia Murphy, Rachel Miles, Sue Ellen Hogg, Jade Stockill, Wendy Relf, Susan Starr, Emma Power, Dominique Scholl, Sarah Hobson, Julie Gillian, Chris & Judi Green, Morag & Garrey Maxwell, Kirrie Ballard, Linda Jones and Jim Grainda.

Thank you and congratulations to all our presenters, student volunteers, sponsors and delegates.

………………...

Finally, these last few comments of our delegates sum up the feeling at the conclusion of the Sydney Beyond Words Conference:

“This one was fantastic. They were all fired up ….everybody was fired up till the end.” Judy Green, NSW

“This is the best that I’ve been. Enjoyed it. It never faded. It was constant. Right to the very end it was still incredibly good.” Christopher Green, NSW

“We didn’t want it to end.” Judy Green, NSW

“Lovely, really good.” Lyn Munroe, NSW

“Memorable.” Colin Cussen, VIC

“Congratulations on the conference but badly need many many more people with aphasia attending. Ways and means of resolving that need to be met.” Rod Dennis, New Zealand

“It gives you hope and an understanding that what the doctors say is not necessarily correct.” B. Cole, VIC

“Trying to get everyone relaxed- talking to people- it was great.” Catherine Rampant. VIC

“People- beautiful- happy. And I liked all the people around.” Rajko Spasovic, NSW

Prof Linda Worrall, Dr Bronwyn Davidson, Alexis Mcmahon, Dr Christopher Green, Lisa Springer and Cathy Taylor (front) at the Sydney “Beyond Words” Conference, 2010

Cathleen Taylor

Convenor

AAA Beyond Words Conference, Sydney, 2010



A forum for people with aphasia, their families, and interested professionals, to meet and share information and experiences.

Want to Volunteer at the Aphasia Conference?