Korero Connect

06/06/2026

Meet the newest member of our whānau, Betty. Never imagined myself as a miniature dog lady, but here I am ordering a soft bag to carry her around in 🤭

After another long three-months off work, I'm so happy to share I am slowly returning to the kaupapa. I still have the Nasal Gastric Tube but we're rocking it like an everyday accessory now.

I'm not yet sure exactly what mahi looks like across private and contract work yet, but I'll definitely be back at Massey, in the privileged position of helping shape and influence my future SLT colleagues.

SLT can be fun, challenging, inspiring, insightful and meaningful work, but not when you've run your reserve tanks empty. Take care of yourselves out there, my SLT mates. I know that's easier said than done. This time round I'm coming back with a real awareness of my hauora, making sure I don't get lost in the demands.

Do you recognise when you're running on reserve?

See you out there very soon, people.

13/05/2026

I saw this on Pukenga today and related it to our ever evolving practice. Kōrerorero and wānanga are such powerful tools to further develop our clinical reasoning, culturally aligned services and understanding of others and their lived experiences in relation to our own. I'm so grateful for all the amazing SLTs I can have rich, honest and sometimes challenging conversations with. I deeply value your perspectives and whakaaro and the influence they have on my mahi.
Ngā mihi e hoa mā for all the precious kōrero 🙏🏾

10/05/2026

Reflecting on AI and Māori Knowledge.

Fellow, SLTs. I urge you to read this whakaaro and move critically in kaupapa spaces when using AI. The harm is already happening for indigenous populations over the globe. I fear that relying and encouraging the use of AI to interpret kaupapa māori will become an acceptable and perhaps even encouraged practice in our profession. There is already significant research and information to steer us away from this.

Many of the systems and frameworks we use professionally are built on Western knowledge, values, and assumptions about what counts as ‘normal,’ valid, or evidence based. Because of this, AI interprets information within dominant Western contexts.

This becomes important when using AI to interpret or engage with kaupapa Māori, te reo Māori, whānau interaction, or Māori ways of being and doing including clinically. Māori concepts are often deeply relational, contextual, and grounded in whakapapa, tikanga, and lived cultural understanding. These are things AI will not recognise or interpret accurately as it has not been developed from within those knowledge systems. As a result, AI generated interpretations of kaupapa Māori will be incomplete, oversimplified, or shaped by Western assumptions rather than Māori worldviews.

Indigenous data sovereignty is important here too. Māori should have authority over how Māori language, stories, knowledge, and information are collected, interpreted, analysed, stored, and used. This helps ensure Māori knowledge is understood within the right cultural context, rather than filtered through systems that were not designed with Māori perspectives at the centre.

Rather than using AI, connect with people you know and trust to support your understanding of kaupapa concepts and their clinical implications. I could almost guarantee AI will give very different perspectives.

Mauri ora e te whānau

18/12/2025

Before we move fully into whānau mode, I want to pause and thank my profession for holding such gentle, caring, and understanding space for me this year.

As many of you know, this year I experienced three life-threatening treatment injuries and spent around five of the past twelve months admitted to Auckland Hospital. Throughout this time, the speech-language therapy profession of Aotearoa has shown me immense respect and care. Not only while I was very unwell but also on my return. You've been so grateful and graceful not only for the work I have been able to do, but also your deep and genuine compassion and patience for the work I have not been able to do while healing.

I have truly felt the aroha from many, and I hold such appreciation and respect for the kindness and care you've consistently offered. My whānau and I are eternally grateful.

As I look ahead to 2026, my intention is to continue getting stronger and to promise myself that I will only take on what I can safely manage, without compromising my health or the wellbeing of my whānau. I hope in 2026 you are able to offer yourselves the same compassion that you have so generously shown me.

Meri Kirihimete, my friends and colleagues.
I leave you with this hue my husband made, a symbol of light, even in our darkest times.

Arohanui
Tracy

20/10/2025

Piki Kotuku Speech Language Therapy doing the mahi e te whānau. If you aren't already follow them to see more of Nicky-Marie's mean as SLT mahi.

🌿 Enabling ako through kōrero – Pilot PLD 🌿
Had a wonderful afternoon in the whare peaceful and quiet space for our teachers and speech language therapy kaupapa lead by Nicky-Marie and supported by Nichole Gully 💛
Another day apopo

16/10/2025

Kia ora e te whānau o ngā Speech-Language Therapists,

I’ve just read a post that really resonated with me, and I want to share it with you all. Below is the post and the resources that were attached.

Please remember — when your work involves someone else’s trauma, that story is not yours to tell. It's was lived by and belongs to the community in which it came from. Sharing = retelling = reshaping whakapapa. It is triggering and harmful.

I encourage you to read Paul Ekuru’s post below and spend time reflecting on his resources. Sit with yourself and notice your first emotional response. Is it discomfort, defensiveness, or agreement, then ask yourself why. That’s where the real learning begins - the places where māhaki live.

Āta haere — move gently with stories that aren’t yours to tell.

**Post and Resources Below**
Paul Ekuru

The Human Cost of Unethical Storytelling

A story can move donors, raise awareness, even win awards; and still leave quiet harm behind.

· When someone relives trauma for our cameras.
· When their voice is edited out.
· When an entire community gets reduced to “poverty,” “victim,” or “need.”

Every photo, quote, and headline for that impact story shapes more than perception. It shapes lives. And ruins others in some cases.

In these 8 listicles, I break down the human cost of deficit storytelling, how good intentions can still hurt, and shifts that can be made to avoid harm while communicating impact.

I’d love to hear your thoughts: what deficit storytelling practices have you seen or experienced?"

13/09/2025

Sally Kedge was awarded The New Zealand Speech-language Therapists' Association kaupapa Māori Tohu award. This award is decided on by the Māori SLT Leadership Rōpu. As a team of Therapists we supported Sally on stage receiving this award and apprecate her dedication towards Talking Trouble Aotearoa NZ being a more Tiriti responsive Communication Assistant Service.

"Sally Kedge is being recognised for her leadership and commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi at Talking Trouble. Sally leads a team of Speech-Language Therapists with manaaki and kaitiaki. Her leadership shows real action in decolonising practice and is creating culturally safe environments.Sally contracts specific kaupapa Māori kaitiakitanga, a form of clinical supervision. Māori staff are both supported and properly resourced in a dedicated reindiginisation space. She has commissioned a collective to develop Talking Trouble's Te Tiriti o Waitangi policy.

Sally's work shows how Speech-Language Therapy services can be transformed through genuine commitment to Te Tiriti principles".

12/09/2025

This year’s New Zealand Speech-language Therapists' Association Conference was such a powerful space for Māori Speech-Language Therapists to catch up, connect, and kōrero. Decolonising practice was a clear theme throughout – and what stood out was how many of our tauiwi colleagues genuinely want to walk alongside us in developing kaupapa that are not only safe, but excellent for whānau.

Five years ago, I would never have imagined standing in front of a full room of SLTs and speaking openly about the colonial blueprints that shape our mahi. Today, I can – and not only can I, but people listen, reflect, and respond with gratitude and grace.

Is there still mahi ahead? Absolutely. But today, we should celebrate how far we’ve come. Our profession is transforming into one that is more inclusive, diverse, and critically reflective – and so many of us are here for it 🙌🏾

02/07/2025

After 9 months off work following a series of life altering treatment injuries, I am back to mahi on Monday. Although speech-language therapy has taken a backseat the community and kaupapa remained consistent. There's already lots of kaupapa on the tepu but whānau hauora will be given the highest priority. I'm feeling nervous and excited at the same time. See you soon speechies 🙏🏾

18/06/2024

I presented today at the Australasian Intermediary Conference on Decolonising Communication Assistance : Aotearoa as a global blueprint. I addressed being the only indigenous presenter in the only concurrent slot 👀, perpetual recolonization through assessment and reporting, data sovereignty & manamotuhake, people, power and policy and Te Tiriti as a global blueprint.