Congratulations to Mr Le Khanh Dien (PhD Candidate, University of Newcastle, Australia) on presenting part of his PhD Thesis at the 31st World Congress of International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP) in Taipei, Taiwan in August. Although being worried beforehand he was confident during the presentation. He recounts:

“Prof Bronwyn was wonderful in inspiring and encouraging me with my presentation, as was the support from Dr Marie and Dr Ben. After the presentation, I received encouraging feedback from them and Prof Jose Centero, Dr Karen Wylie who has worked many years in Ghana, Ms Elizabeth Chafcouloff, Ms Ruth Bryce, two SLPs from the Philippines, two SLPs from New Zealand, and one SLP from the UK.

In the later discussions, Ms Elizabeth Chafcouloff and Ms Ruth Bryce who have both worked to support Speech Therapy in Cambodia mentioned it might be better to think about how to develop a new aphasia test for Cambodia instead of translation and adaptation. The SLPs from the Philippines also showed an interest in developing a new aphasia test. I was also happy to meet with Prof Sharynne McLeod and Dr Sarah Verdon.

It is wonderful attaining so much from this attendance, from how to organise the program, the helpful presentations and main reports, to the connections with many people from around the world (961 participants from 46 countries/regions).

I appreciate the great support from my all of my supervisors and the University of Newcastle for supporting me to revise my presentation and funding me for the trip.”