Bachelor of Speech and Hearing Sciences and Masters of Speech and Language Pathology
For her PACE activity, Johanna Sciancalepore worked with CABDICO – OIC in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Their focus is to understand and develop the needs and resources required for speech pathology services in the country.
Johanna’s role was to conduct field research, analysis and reporting within the education, disability, and health sectors of Cambodia to determine the need for Speech Pathology services. Besides, she developed an interactive platform to present this information and also developed culturally appropriate resources for use as educational tools for local disability workers.
Through her PACE activity, Johanna learned invaluable life skills. By immersing herself in an unfamiliar environment, her confidence and social awareness strengthened. The experience reignited her desire for social justice, using her skills, knowledge, and passion to improve access to basic human rights and improve quality of life.
Since PACE, Johanna has started a business which focuses on normalising accessible products. The concept allows people who experience access barriers to be able to share experiences with others. For some time, Johanna continued as the Fundraising Coordinator for OIC which involved campaign management, communications marketing, and advocacy. Currently, Johanna is a Clinical Speech and Language Pathologist working within the disability and aged care sector, a blog writer for Speech, Language, Swallowing Connect Instagram, and Business Owner of SharePack Australia.
Johanna’s advice for future PACE students is to “keep an open mind and give everything a go! Take the most from the experience that you can and build connections with those you meet along the way”.