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Medical Staffing International - NZSTA Post-Graduate Award

Downs Syndrome researcher wins Medical Staffing International Scholarship.

A study described as both having national and international importance for children with Down syndrome is receiving assistance from Medical Staffing International and the NZSTA, following its success in the Medical Staffing International - NZSTA Post-Graduate Award.

The project, which researches literacy development in children with Down syndrome, is the first of its kind and is supported by primary schools throughout New Zealand.

It is spearheaded by Anne van Bysterveldt, a fulltime doctoral student at the University of Canterbury. Anne is a trained Speech & Language Therapist, who also has a degree in education. She worked as an early childhood teacher in special education services with high risk children and their parents, as well as mainstream pre-schools and daycare centres, before shifting to Christchurch and commencing a Bachelor's degree, which led on to a Masters and PhD.

Anne was inspired to do the research when she worked with children with Down syndrome during clinical placements as an undergraduate. Her Master's project involved seven children with Down syndrome in an intervention aimed at facilitating early literacy skills. While relatively little is known about literacy development in children with Down syndrome, Anne hopes to uncover more through her investigation, and is completing two studies for her PhD.

One of the studies involves children at the Champion Centre and focuses on simultaneously facilitating speech sound development and early literacy skills. "Children typically know more than they can say and this is even more pronounced in children with Down syndrome. On top of that many children with Down syndrome can be difficult for others to understand," says Anne, who hopes to be able to help children with Down syndrome improve their speech intelligibility before they begin school.

In addition, 150 children with Down syndrome from Year one to Year eight are currently involved in a national survey. The survey targets aspects of the child's engagement and involvement with literacy in the classroom and in the home environment as well as investigating the children's current literacy skills. The survey has been designed to be user friendly to encourage teachers and parents to participate.

The prize money, received from Medical Staffing International, will go towards her research costs.

Anne, who has so far been a straight A student, is highly deserving of the Award, says Kirsten Thomforde, Director of Medical Staffing. "Her commitment and calibre was evident from her entry." Anne shared her findings established so far at the NZSTA Conference in April, and will present a paper at the Speech Pathology Conference in Australia this May. She also has a journal manuscript under review with the International Journal of Disability, Development and Education.

Bronwyn Kelly, last year's award winner, will be submitting her thesis within three months.

Bronwyn won the 2005 Award for her research into the cortical involvement in the co-ordination of breathing and swallowing across the human lifespan, with the University of Canterbury's Department of Communication Disorders. Bronwyn has since moved to Lower Hutt.

Similarly, Dean Sutherland, winner of the 2004 Award, is nearing the completion of his PhD. Dean hands over his thesis in the end of May, but is moving to Perth with his family in April. Dean says that his research has uncovered that children with speech impairments do tend to have issues with decoding of words and phonological awareness. Like Bronwyn and Anne, Dean received $1,000 which went towards a conference in Brisbane, and the purchase of a very well used dictionary, a voice recorder, and a work diary.

Kirsten Thomforde of Medical Staffing International says that when she instigated the Awards program with the NZSTA, Anne, Dean and Bronwyn were exactly the kinds of people she was hoping to assist. "All three recipients have proven themselves, and through their research given something of importance to the greater good," she says. "I'm delighted that Medical Staffing International has been able to support them towards their long term goals."

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