Sarah Verdon

Speech Pathology

Associate Professor Sarah Verdon

BHlthSc(SpPath)(Hons), PhD: Embracing Diversity – Creating Equality: Supporting the speech, language and communication of culturally and linguistically diverse children

Associate Professor in Speech and Language Pathology
Albury / Wodonga
Building 673 Room 407

Associate Professor Sarah Verdon specialises in research regarding children’s speech, language and literacy in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts. She is a speech pathologist and early childhood researcher who is passionate about embracing the diversity of children from different cultures, languages, socioeconomic backgrounds and levels of ability to create equal opportunities for all children to have a strong start to life and reach their full potential. Sarah is co-chair of The International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children’s Speech which advocates for professional practice with children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. She oversaw the development the Speech Pathology Australia national position paper and clinical guidelines for “working in a culturally and linguistically diverse society”. Sarah also applies her research and skills in a volunteer capacity as a director of the Trinh Foundation Australia, an Australian-based international not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to develop speech therapy in Vietnam.

Dr Verdon is experienced in teaching both face to face and online. She has taught subjects in the disciplines of education and speech-language pathology at the undergraduate and master’s level.

Her areas of expertise include child speech and languages, inclusive education and research methods.

Dr Verdon also supervises HDR students completing honours and PhD projects.

Dr Verdon is a mixed methods researcher with extensive experience in both qualitative and quantitative methods. She has undertaken research on 5 continents in a range of professional and cultural contexts.

Dr Verdon is currently on a 3 year research fellowship with the Faculty of Science from mid-2017 to mid-2020.

Her current research projects include:

  • ARC Discovery Grant 2018 - 2020: Vietnamese children's speech and language competence
  • Impact of 20 years of speech pathology at CSU upon the regional workforce
  • Investigating the health and wellbeing of regionally resettles refugees
  • Investigating Australia children’s speech and language development in the early years
  • Member of Speech Pathology Australia
  • Co-chair International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children’s Speech
  • Committee member Child Speech Committee – International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics
  • Member of Early Childhood Australia
  • Member of American Speech-Language Hearing Association