International Association of Communication Sciences andDisorders (IALP)PRESIDENT’S LETTER
April 2024
Dear IALP Individual Members, Colleagues of the Affiliated Societies and Friends of IALP—
I hope this communication finds you well!
The IALP Executive Committee (EC), Board, and many IALP members have been busy since
my last communication. Below please find some of the major activities and initiatives
undertaken since my last communication in December 2023.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IALP’S CENTENNIAL EVENTOur Association will celebrate its 100th birthday in June 2024. To celebrate this importantmilestone for the organisation, IALP is organising a scientific event at the Haus der Inginieure
Vienna, Austria between the 27th and 29th June 2024. This event, entitled “ContemporaryPerspectives in Communication Sciences and Disorders” will consist of a full scientific programon speech-language therapy, audiology, swallowing and voice disorders spread over two anda half days. Early Bird Registration will remain open until 30 th April 2024. Registration islimited to under 200 participants. Dr Antony Duttine, Technical Lead for Rehabilitation at theWHO has confirmed his attendance. A Social event is also being organised on 28th June 2024
at 19.00 at Stiegl Ambulanz, a famous Viennese brewery. We hope to see many of you inVienna to celebrate with us!

IALP VALUES STATEMENT WORKING GROUP
The IALP Values Statement Sub-Committee composed of Board members: Tamer Abou Elsaad(EG), Fernanda Dreux (BR), Mershen Pillay (ZA), Thomas Law (HK) and Debbie Phyland (AU)met in January 2024 to deliberate and formulate IALP’s values statement based on thesurvey/data collection effort provided by the IALP membership when they were surveyed in2023.
The members of the sub-committee recommended to the Board the Values Statement
below as part of the IALP Strategic Plan 2023-2028.
VALUES
1. We believe communication is a human right and collective responsibility.
2. We are an inclusive community, committed to collaboration across diverse contexts.
3. We value research, education, and practice grounded in evidence.
4. We are committed to advancing equity and access to services and resources globally.
These statements were approved by the IALP Board as IALP’s Values on 30th January 2024 andwere added to the IALP Strategic Plan 2023-2028. I am attaching herewith another copy ofthe Plan.

MENTORING PROGRAMS➢ Transforming Faces (TF). The third year (2023-2024) of the TF Mentoring Program
began in October 2023. The program, which is being coordinated by the Cleft PalateCommittee under the leadership of Valerie J. Pereira (HK), has 22 mentors and 22mentees from India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda,Tanzania, Fiji, Bolivia and Mexico. IALP offered the mentees one full year of IndividualMembership. Several members of the Cleft Palate Committee have assumed roles asmentors on the TF mentoring programme. A Webinar for TF-IALP Mentoring programis being planned to take place later this year.

➢ Tavistock Trust for Aphasia (TTA). The second year (2024-2025) of the TTA mentoring
programme is underway. TTA is facilitated and coordinated by the IALP Aphasia
Committee through its committee members Abena Asiedua Owusu Antwi (GH) andRoxele Ribeiro Lima (BR) under the leadership of the Committee Chair, Marian Brady(UK). The second cohort of the TTA program consists of 10 mentors and 10 mentees.
An inaugural meeting for both mentors and mentees was held in March 2024.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)At its 154th Executive Session in January 2024, the Executive Board of the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) renewed IALP’s status as a Non-State Actor in Official Relations withWHO would continue. Antony Duttine continues to serve as IALP’s WHO Designated TechnicalOfficer (DTO).
In February 2024, IALP was represented at the Rehabilitation Workforce Evaluation: Training
Workshop in Hong Kong. Dr. Min Ney Wong (HK) attended the first training workshop on theGuide for Rehabilitation Workforce Evaluation (GROWE) held between 27 and 28 February
2024 in Hong Kong.
GROWE is one of the technical products that have been developed as part of theRehabilitation 2030 Initiative. It is a comprehensive set of resources that employs a labour
market and competency analysis approach to help stakeholders capture the current state of
the rehabilitation workforce, understanding the challenges and opportunities faced by thesystem and its workers. By undertaking a rehabilitation workforce evaluation using GROWE,
stakeholders can access valuable information that supports the planning and advocacy ofrehabilitation services at national and subnational levels.
The workshop brought together 20 instructors and trainees from around the world to provide
them with the knowledge and skills necessary to implement the GROWE tool effectively.
Amongst the instructors and trainees were speech therapists, physiotherapists, occupationaltherapists, social workers, rehabilitation workers and technical advisors representing variousorganisations including rehabilitation related societies and associations, World HealthOrganization (WHO) and United States Agency for International Development.
Representatives from countries that have used or are using GROWE also attended theworkshop.
During the two-day workshop, participants were guided through both theoretical andpractical aspects of GROWE implementation. They gained valuable insights into evaluating
the health labour market, competency profiles, population needs, and labour market failures
specific to rehabilitation. The training equipped participants with the confidence andexpertise required to carry out rehabilitation workforce evaluations in their respective
countries.
The WHO plans to conduct similar training workshops around the world in the coming years
as an effort aiming to strengthen the global rehabilitation workforce and improve access toquality rehabilitation services for all.

The workshop is featured on the WHO website here:
https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/growe-ing-the-rehabilitationworkforce
Information on GROWE may be found at WHO website or via the link below:
https://www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/sensory-functions-disability-andrehabilitation/guide-for-rehabilitation-workforce-evaluation

World Rehabilitation Alliance (WRA)
As reported in my previous President’s Letter, many IALP members currently serve on theestablished workstreams of the World Rehabilitation Alliance (WRA). Additionally, I serve as
an appointed member of the WRA’s External Relations Workstream whose mission is to (a)oversee the other workstreams’ roles in advocacy initiatives, (b) develop an overarching
Communications Plan, and (c) implement the Plan for philanthropic purposes with key
stakeholders worldwide.

IALP COMMITTEES
Our 14 committees continue to be very active.
Below are highlights from just a few of our committees.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Committee – Chair, Janice Murray(UK):
3 key activities which resonate with IALP’s strategic plan and objectives:•••

develop an international roadmap for understanding skills/knowledge
competencies/peer reviewed publication in AAC;
support WHO in their development and dissemination of TAP screening and learning
modules in AT (AAC) - Communication (this activity also involves Pam Enderby andJulie Marshall);develop a website section that guides and raises awareness of AAC.

Autism Spectrum Disorders Committee (ASD) – Chair, Kakia Petinou (CY)
Committee members were involved in the following publications:•Focus on issues and solutions in Autism (Kakia Petinou (CY), Yvette Hus (CA), Osnat
Segal (IL)): Dove Press, Neuropsychiatric Disease & Treatment, Vol. 2022:18 Pages
2273 — 2277.

•Autism, the disorder without borders and geopolitical variations; Dove Press,
Neuropsychiatric Disease & Treatment, Nov 2023-Feb 28, 2024: In Press

Audiology Committee – Chair, Mridula Sharma (AU)••Recent newsletter of the Audiology Committee - Hear It, February 2024;
Webinar to celebrate World Hearing Day on 3rd March 2024.
Appreciation goes to Mridula Sharma (AU) and Katrin Neumann (DE) who took thelead in organising a virtual event to celebrate World Hearing Day on 3 rd March 2024.
This webinar, entitled Changing Mindsets: Let’s make ear and hearing care a reality
for all, was a collaboration between the IALP Audiology Committee and UEP Hearing& Language Committee and focused on giving students from Australia, New Zealandand India and professionals from countries on different continents where hearing andaudiology care is not yet as established as in high-income countries an opportunity toparticipate in this event. All webinar recordings are available at:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX51qxN9Bu0oNti3qo5lT1g.

Phoniatrics Committee – Chair, Matthias Leonhard (AU)The Phoniatrics committee is working on establishing modern, video-based information onphoniatric topics and activities on the IALP sub homepage in order to improve awareness andcollaboration between phoniatricians and other professions caring for communication andvoice disorders, swallowing and hearing disorders. To this end, within the next 3 months
committee members will develop 2-3 episodes of the new video format for online publication.
It is desired that the promotion of collaboration through a network of phoniatric professionals
builds an online repository of video expert knowledge for the IALP Phoniatric Committee. ThePhoniatrics Committee also plans to translate non-English webinar content into multilanguage content to improve international access.
Motor Speech Committee – Chair, Dora Knezevic (CR)The current projects of the Motor Speech Committee include:•••

Collecting data on various standardized and non-standardized tests, tasks, andquestionnaires that SLPs use in different languages for motor speech disorders.
Developing clinical practice guidelines for evaluating motor speech disorders that canbe used in multiple languages (i.e., regardless of language) and cultures.
Creating educational resources (e.g., what are motor speech disorders? how to
improve comprehensibility? what can others do to help these patients?) in multiplelanguages.

Multilingual and Multicultural Affairs Committee (MMAC) – Chair, Lemmietta McNeilly (US)The MMAC is working on:• developing a list of vetted AI tools – practical, guidance for clinicians across the globe
re: culturally responsive clinical application e.g., translation.
• Creating guidance for using generative AI in research and practice with multilingual
individuals with communication needs.
• Sharing generative AI resources for multilingual populations.
• Conducting a 2-part webinar regarding Artificial Intelligence for Multilingual andMulticultural Speech-language pathologists with invited speakers. (Two 90-minutezoom webinars).
• Increasing access to resources that speech-language pathologists can use withmultilingual and multicultural children and adults with communication needs.
Writing an article regarding artificial intelligence applications and guidance withmultilingual populations with communication needs.
The next President’s letter will include the work of some of the other IALP Committees.

IALP Membership Renewals

Ms Kamini Gadhok, MBE, Vice President of Membership and Partnerships has worked
closely with IALP CEO, Vanessa Ebejer to take forward some key strands of the IALP Strategic
Plan specifically related to membership and partnerships:
New membership benefits information for the different IALP membership categories havebeen developed.
To date, we have the following active members:
59 Affiliated Societies
269 Individual members
32 Mentees from Low and Middle- Resourced Countries
16 Student members

WORKING WITH AFFILIATED SOCIETIES
Meetings have been held with Dr Sean Pert (UK), Board representative for Large-size affiliatedsocieties, Mami Kaneko (JA), representative for Medium-size affiliated societies and Cristina
Politi (GR) representative for the Small-size affiliated societies.

The focus of these meetings has been to discuss and make progress on a framework tosupport our affiliated societies with the development of clinical guidelines. An update anddiscussion of this project and other areas of work led by IALP was presented at a meeting for
all affiliated societies on 13 March 2024.

MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING (MOUS)
We have recently signed MOUs with the following organisations:•••International Society for Audiology (ISA)
Cochrane Rehabilitation
International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI)

Other Potential International Partnerships

In line with IALP’s Strategic Plan 2023-2028, we will continue to build our strategic allianceswith a range of related professional organisations and corporate entities which align withIALP’s mission, vision, and core values. A number of these organisations have been contacted
to set up meetings and discuss potential joint working.

IALP PUBLICATION – THE UNSERVED – ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF THOSE WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

This publication, authored by members of the 14 Committees of the IALP, and edited bySandra Levey and Pamela Enderby presents ideas to assist all those who work with children
and adults who have difficulty in communicating or swallowing in order to improve services
for unserved and underserved communities. It offers strategies to address disorders andconditions that affect many areas of everyday life, and which are exacerbated by lack ofadequate health, education and social services. A print copy of the book is available for salethrough the IALP Office (office@ialp-org.com).

IALP 2025 WORLD CONGRESS
Preparations for the 33rd World Congress of IALP are underway. We invite you to Save theNEW DATE and VENUE of the IALP Malta 2025 Congress. Please stay tuned for more
information through the Congress website which will be launched soon.

As you can see, IALP continues to thrive on a number of levels. This is due to the active
involvement of the Executive Committee, the Board, and the many Individual Members andAffiliated Societies who continue to take active roles in advancing our mission, vision, andcore values.
I look forward to welcoming you to our Centennial event, June 27-29, in Vienna.

Brian B. Shulman, PhD, CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow, FASAHP, FNAP
President
President@ialp-org.com