Language Disorder Australia

Today, we had the pleasure of welcoming Kerry from The Brighton School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Language Disorder Australia during her visit to Australia.

It is fantastic to connect with colleagues from across the globe who share our passion for supporting children and young people with language-based learning differences. We loved spending time with Kerry, exchanging ideas and discussing all things language, dyslexia and education.

We also enjoyed showing Kerry around the beautiful Mancel College campus and sharing more about the work we do to support schools, educators and students across Australia.

Thank you for visiting, Kerry! We loved hosting you and look forward to staying connected as we continue learning from one another. 🌏📚💙

Day 3 at the Speech Pathology Australia Conference on Yugambeh / Gold Coast, and we are still feeling energised by the conversations, learning and connections happening around the theme Impact Through Speech Pathology.

A huge highlight for our team last night was celebrating our Senior Speech Pathologist Beth McBride from our Mancel College team, who received the People's Choice Award for her poster “Language Lizards: A whole-class approach to language intervention”. Beth’s poster received the most votes from conference attendees! This is an incredible achievement and wonderful recognition of Beth’s expertise, creativity and commitment to practical, evidence-based language support in classroom settings. We are so proud of Beth and the impact of this work. Congratulations, Beth! 👏

Our booth has also been buzzing! A very special highlight was welcoming Jenny Nunn to the Language Disorder Australia booth. Jenny is part of our early Glenleighden story as one of the first speech pathologists to work alongside our founder, Mancel Ellis Robinson OAM. What a privilege to connect our history with the work we continue today.

If you’re at the conference for Day 3, please pop by the Language Disorder Australia booth. We’d love to chat, share our new resources and connect with others passionate about supporting children and young people with Language Disorder to connect, belong and achieve.

Hello from Yugambeh / Gold Coast! 👋

Language Disorder Australia is excited to be at the Speech Pathology Australia 2026 Conference, where this year’s theme is Impact Through Speech Pathology.

Yesterday, we were grateful to be part of a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony, a meaningful opportunity to acknowledge the Yugambeh Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather, pay our respects to Elders past and present, and reflect on the deep connection between Culture, Country, Language and Community.

The conference is already off to a great start, including this morning’s keynote, “Building firm foundations: designing early years systems to promote robust and equitable language development.” It was a powerful reminder that early language development lays the foundation for education, health, wellbeing and participation and that supporting children’s language requires coordinated, equitable systems across families, communities, health, education and social care.

If you’re at the conference, please pop by the Language Disorder Australia booth to say hello! We’d love to chat, share our newest resources, and talk about ways we can continue supporting children and young people with Language Disorder to connect, belong and achieve.

Exciting times for Mancel College!

Join Emily Barnett (Senior Speech Pathologist) and Nicole Lindgren (Inclusion – Specialist Educator) in their webinar titled: Shifting the Focus: Broadening our understanding of Language Disorder and DLD. In this webinar, they will explore the different profiles of Language Disorder and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), and how students may present in varied ways across language, learning, behaviour, and social interaction. This webinar highlights the impact these differences can have on classroom participation and shares practical, inclusive approaches to support diverse learner needs.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
• Understand the importance of language and language development, and define Language Disorder and Developmental Language Disorder.
• Explore current research and contemporary understandings of Language Disorder and Developmental Language Disorder.
• Describe how Language Disorder may present across different profiles, including Language Disorder associated with biomedical conditions and DLD co-occurring with other neurodevelopmental conditions.
• Compare how different models of disability inform our understanding and support of Language Disorder.
• Analyse case studies and identify practical strategies to support students with Language Disorder in the classroom.

📅 Date: Thu 25th of June
⏰ Time: 3:30pm - 4:30pm AEST (Brisbane time)
💲Free registration
Register now: d1ba9d87-2146-41be-9d5c-a94317599e5f@8c86d36b-1be4-48fc-8eda-d29d4e0a9e49" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/d1ba9d87-2146-41be-9d5c-a94317599e5f@8c86d36b-1be4-48fc-8eda-d29d4e0a9e49

What an incredible two days at the ACEL Inclusion & Disability Conference in Adelaide.

As proud Bronze Sponsors, the Language Disorder Australia team loved connecting with educators, school leaders, allied health professionals and policy makers from across the country - all united by a shared commitment to inclusion.

Across the conference, one message came through clearly: genuine inclusion requires intentional design, collaboration, and a deeper understanding of the diverse communication needs of students.

We were especially encouraged to see conversations around:
✨ inclusive classroom practice
✨ accessible assessment and curriculum design
✨ Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and hidden communication challenges
✨ supporting autistic students
✨ building school-wide systems that scale inclusion effectively

A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth, shared their experiences, asked questions, and connected with our team. These conversations matter and they continue to drive the work we do alongside schools and educators across Australia.

We’re leaving Adelaide inspired, energised, and excited for what’s ahead.

⚫🟡🔴Today is National Sorry Day ⚫🟡🔴

The 2026 theme, “All In for Reconciliation”, reminds us that reconciliation requires everyone to learn, reflect and contribute.

In honour of this, we are sharing some information about Aboriginal English.

🗣️ Aboriginal English is a dialect spoken by many First Nations people in Australia and may be the first and/or only language variety used by some Aboriginal students. It can differ from Standard Australian English in speech sounds, grammar, vocabulary, meaning and storytelling practices, including yarning.

⬇️For further learning in this space, we have linked additional resources below:

📍National Sorry Day, The Healing Foundation https://healingfoundation.org.au/stolen-generations/national-sorry-day/

📍All In for National Reconciliation Week 2026, Reconciliation Australia https://www.reconciliation.org.au/all-in-for-national-reconciliation-week-2026/

📍Aboriginal English, The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) https://aiatsis.gov.au/blog/aboriginal-english

📍'Aboriginal English: It's All In the Yarning', from The University of Western Australia https://researchimpact.uwa.edu.au/research-impact-stories/its-all-in-the-yarning/

📍Aboriginal English in the global city: Minorities and language change, The University of Western Australia https://www.uwa.edu.au/projects/aboriginal-english-in-the-global-city-minorities-and-language-change

📍Capability Framework - Teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island EAL/D Learners, from the Department of Education Queenslandhttps://education.qld.gov.au/student/Documents/capability-framework-teaching-aboriginal-torres-strait-islander-eald-learners.pdf

📍English as an additional language or dialect (EALD), from the Department of Education Western Australia https://myresources.education.wa.edu.au/topics/english-as-an-additional-language-or-dialect-(eal-d)

English as an additional language or dialect (EALD) Tracks to two-way learning is a train-the-trainer resource which aims to improve quality teaching and learning of Aboriginal students through the 4 dimensions of Staff Knowledge and Practice, Community Engagement, Policy and Practice, Learner Engagement.

The Language Disorder Australia team has officially arrived in Adelaide and has set up for the ACEL Conference! ✨

Booth setup is complete, resources are out, coffee is needed ☕ — and we’re excited for a fantastic few days connecting with educators and leaders from across the country.

Here’s a little behind-the-scenes look at the setup process 🎥

As proud Bronze Sponsors of this year’s conference, we can’t wait to meet everyone, share conversations about inclusive education and language, and showcase the work our team is doing to support schools and students across Australia.

Come visit us at our booth and say hello! 👋

What a great day Mancel College team is having at The Education Fair today!

Communication may include spoken language, written language, sign language, gestures, or the use of a communication device. Multi-modal communication (MMC) is an umbrella term that describes all of these methods.

Join our Senior Speech Pathologists Jordan Wellington and Ashton Moncrieff for a practical webinar titled: Multi-Modal Communication in the Classroom. This webinar unpacks how MMC supports participation, engagement and learning for all students.

This session will explore:
- Types of MMC in the classroom
- The benefits of MMC and common misconceptions
- Practical, evidence-based strategies to integrate and support multi-modal communication in the classroom.

This webinar is designed for school staff, allied health professionals, and anyone supporting students across their schooling journey.

📅 Date: Tue 23rd of June
⏰ Time: 3:30pm - 4:30pm AEST (Brisbane time)
💲 Free registration

Register now: 10e26ee3-a1e9-4b21-8001-b3d0d855f0e9@8c86d36b-1be4-48fc-8eda-d29d4e0a9e49" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/10e26ee3-a1e9-4b21-8001-b3d0d855f0e9@8c86d36b-1be4-48fc-8eda-d29d4e0a9e49