Most people underestimate the importance of a good night’s sleep. It affects your day-to-day function, including speech, and it’s no different for kids.
I caught up with Sharon Moore, a Speech Pathologist superstar, to talk more about the connection. She’s the founding director of Well Spoken, a private practice in Canberra servicing referrals from medical and dental specialists, for patients of all ages, and has dedicated 38 years to the industry.
Her background in the complex issue of sleep apnea and how it affects our speech stems from her training in Adelaide and a deep interest in Orofacial and Myofunctional principles. By integrating these into traditional speech pathology, Well Spoken takes a unique approach to managing disorders of the upper airway including breathing, swallowing, chewing, phonation, resonance and speech.
She also spent 10 years in child psychiatry, which she cites as her grounding for socio-emotional counselling, in understanding people and communication.
Sharon is also an international speaker, travelling for local, national and international conferences.
Her extensive knowledge and training has also resulted in her receiving an invitation to be on the trans-disciplinary team for Canberra Sleep Clinic.
On top of that, she is the author of Sleep-Wrecked Kids, which is aimed at helping parents raise happy, healthy kids one sleep at a time.
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Episode highlights:
- An insight into Sharon’s background – 38 years’ experience, trained in Adelaide
- About Sharon’s speciality – what a speech pathologist actually does
- Sharon’s primary area of interest – the upper airway health and function
- New research on upper airways – the connection to sleep apnea
- Being part of the Trans-disciplinary team for Canberra Sleep Clinic
- Society’s attitude towards sleep
- Feedback on Sharon’s book, Sleep-Wrecked Kids
- Developing a sleep screening tool with a specialist in Sydney, Dr Jim Papadopolus
- SSS-Disturbed Rest – developed for allied health professionals
- Screening children’s sleep is critical
- Many parents don’t know what to look for when looking at their children’s sleep patterns
- Sharon’s private practice clients – a mix of general sleep-related clients and higher upper airways clients
- The benefits of a sleep screening questionnaire
- How Sharon developed her business skills – learning from her “dumb mistakes”
- Where Well Spoken is headed next – global domination of sleep
- Glymphatic system – a newly discovered system in the brain that’s only there when we sleep
- Sharon’s global mission: increase parents’ understanding of sleep
- Parliamentary enquiry into sleep health awareness
- Sharon’s sleep tips for business owners
