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Melbourne Victoria 3000
T 61 3 9642 4899
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office@speechpathologyaustralia.org.au
www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au
How do I put together a client story?
Your submission to the Senate Committee will have much more impact if you include real
people’s stories. Below is a guide to putting together a client story.
STEP 1 – Identified Vs De-identified
The Senate Committee prefers to hear the stories of real people, and it is powerful if
clients have consented for you to use their story. If you are using a real person with real
details, you must gain the consent of your client.
Read the Guide to Consent for more information and use the consent forms available
from www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au.
In some cases, it is not possible to use a real client with their consent. You can include
stories without consent if client information is completely de-identified, including changing
names and all other identifiable details. Remember that other key details like your service
name may support identification of the client in question. If it is not possible to completely
de-identify the person, either get their consent as per above, or leave the story out.
STEP 2 – Planning the story
Think about:

What point you want to illustrate with the client story

How much detail do you need to include to make your point

How to sensitively convey your client’s experience
STEP 3 – Writing the story
Keep it simple. While retaining accuracy, use the simplest language possible and in a
narrative format. Think about how you would describe this client to a friend who has no
knowledge about speech pathology. For example ‘I just started working with Max, who is
82 and had a stroke 6 months ago which has affected his speech and language’ is clearer
and more engaging than ‘Max is a 82 year old male who suffered a left hemisphere CVA
resulting in aphasia and dysarthria.’ Make it personal and engaging. If relevant, write
about how you feel; this is the client’s story but it is in part yours, too.
Provide a context for the story including your client’s diagnosis (in plain English),
demographic and any clinical details that are pertinent to the point you want to make.
The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited
ABN 17 008 393 440
Keep the main point of your story in mind when choosing what information to include.
For example, if you want to illustrate that clients are being disadvantaged by waiting a
long time for services, make sure that the story includes information about how long this
client waited and what impact that had, both in clinical terms (e.g the impact of delaying
treatment on effectiveness) and personal terms (e.g., client having no support for
communication while waiting for services).
Make your point clear by stating it overtly. For example ‘Max would have had a better
outcome and would not have suffered months of distress and anxiety, if he did not have to
wait for so long for speech pathology intervention’. A direct quote from your client (or
carer) can be a powerful way to sum up their experience - if this is relevant and
appropriate, talk to your client to help them provide a quote that reinforces the point you
are trying to make. For example, ‘Max’s wife told me, “Waiting around for help after the
stroke was one of the most frustrating experiences of our lives.”
See examples of client stories on the next page.
Don’t forget that clients can also make submissions to the Inquiry - see ‘Tell your story –
information for clients and their families’ about how to support them to do this.
STEP 4 – Proof and edit
Ask someone to proof read your client story, and see if they can identify the point that you
are trying to make. If appropriate, ask the client for their sign off.
We’re here to help – if you need any help putting together a client story, contact Joanna
(1300 368 835 or jwood@speechpathologyaustralia.org.au) who can talk you through
each step.
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Client story examples
EXAMPLE 1 – Waiting List
“A single father phoned me regarding speech pathology services at his local school for his seven
year old daughter. When she was five, she was assessed and found to have moderate delays in
her speech and language skills. Because she was not assessed as severe, she was not prioritised
for support from the Department of Education speech pathologist visiting the school.
After waiting two years for treatment, the father took his daughter to a private speech pathologist.
This has really helped but she continues to have difficulty, particularly with literacy skills, and she
needs on-going speech pathology treatment. However, the father has recently become
unemployed and can no longer afford the private fees. He wanted to know if the speech pathologist
visiting the school could provide a service. I had to say that she still is not a priority for the services
within the education system as she is not severe enough and now is older than the priority group
according to Department prioritisation policies.”
EXAMPLE 2 - Tim
“Tim is a student in Year 8. He has always struggled with school and constantly wags class or else
gets asked to leave as he calls out and distracts others. No one knew what to do with him, and I
was finally called in to assess him after he was suspended three times in one term. I found that
Tim was a ‘hands on learner’ who was impulsive and had language processing issues. He did not
have the ability to problem solve or process cause and effect, hence predicting the consequences
of his actions. At one point he actually climbed out the window during class because the class was
laughing at him and he thought he was entertaining them. No teacher had ever suspected his
language problems as he was talkative and sociable - they just thought he was a ‘difficult’ student.
I have been working with Tim on developing his ability to process information and think about his
actions before carrying them through. We have also been working on reading others’ body
language to decide if his actions are actually funny (as he thinks they are) or annoying for others.
Without intervention, Tim will continue to find himself in trouble at school as he doesn’t have the
ability to quickly process information and has limited insight into how the actions he perceives as
being fun might result in trouble.”
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EXAMPLE 3 - Mark
“Mark is 22 and has a severe intellectual impairment. He was born into a low socioeconomic family
and was one of 13 children. His parents and siblings also have intellectual impairments. Mark
didn’t develop language as most children do – he was unable to communicate verbally throughout
his school years and this meant he struggled, attending education support centres through primary
school and then moving to a special school for his high school years. Neither his family nor his
schools were proactive in seeking speech pathology services for him, so Mark graduated from
school with virtually no verbal communication skill, nor an effective alternative
communication strategy.
After leaving school, Mark moved into a foster home but within weeks, his carers were pleading for
him to be placed elsewhere as his aggressive behaviour (hitting, pushing and spitting at his carers,
breaking furnishings and throwing food and faeces) were too much. His angry outbursts resulted in
Mark being deemed unsafe in the community and requiring two strong male carers on hand at all
times. Although not the typical situation in which carers would think to consult a speech
pathologist, the agency caring for Mark identified that his behavioural problems may have partly
been due to his poor communication skills.
When I first met Mark, he was confused and anxious when given directions; he had difficulty
understanding what people were telling him and could not process the information being directed
to him. Using strategies that supported the way Mark processed and understood information had
almost instant results and within a few days, he was already more relaxed and happier. Other
strategies such as a pictorial communication book helped Mark communicate with his carers.
It is now ten months since Mark first began speech therapy. In this time, Mark has learned to
engage in brief conversations, express his concerns and even tell jokes using his communication
book. We now aim to support Mark to use a voice output communication device to further increase
his independence and connect socially with people other than his trained carers. Since beginning
speech therapy, Mark has become more settled with his foster carers and has become a favourite
of the agency staff who help look after him. Even more importantly, Mark is able to regularly
participate in supported part-time work. The change in Mark’s behaviour is amazing –
since he has been able to communicate there have been no violent or aggressive outbursts and all
of the agency carers feel safe and comfortable working with Mark.”
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