Dr Isabelle Rousseau
Dr Rousseau is Canadian trained, French/English bilingual speech pathologist and is a Certified Practicing Member of Speech Pathology Australia since 2000. She is the Founding Director of Orthophonie Sydney, an established speech pathology practice in Sydney.
With over 25 years experience helping individuals with speech, language or learning difficulties both in Canada and in Australia, Dr Rousseau was able to combine her special education and postgraduate speech pathology training with her native French background to develop and grow a unique speech pathology offering in Sydney. Her passion for bilingualism has driven this effort, so that families with children and adolescents who present with a communication difficulty and also speak French at home and/or school can now access services in this language if they need to.
Background
Upon arriving in Australia, Dr Rousseau worked as a clinical researcher for the Australian Stuttering Research Centre (ASRC), previously at the University of Sydney, for about 8 years. During this period, she also obtained a scholarship to complete her PhD. Part of her research included running a large prospective clinical trial of the Lidcombe Program, an Australian-developed treatment for children who stutter. Working closely with the treatment developers, her study was the first to establish clinical benchmarks for the delivery of this treatment, benchmarks still used today by clinicians around the world.
Along with the training of clinicians, Dr Rousseau has been involved in the training of speech pathology students at The University of Sydney’s School of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Macquarie University’s Speech and Language pathology Master’s program. She presented at several conferences, both nationally and internationally, published articles and book chapters, and gained international recognition in the treatment of stuttering for people of all ages, particularly children.
Dr Rousseau previously also enjoyed managing a program of research for a not-for-profit organisation dealing with deaf children, working as a French teacher with profoundly deaf adults using sign language, being a sign language interpreter and working with children with learning difficulties.
Her current professional interests include stuttering intervention for different age groups, the development of speech and language in relation to bilingualism/multilingualism, and treatment efficacy.
University Education
• Doctor of Philosophy (2004) – Speech Pathology, University of Sydney, Australia
• Masters (1999) – Speech Pathology and Audiology, University of Ottawa, Canada
• Diploma (1997) – Linguistics, University of Montreal, Canada
• Bachelor of Science (1995) – Special Education, University of Montreal, Canada.
Awards
• 2000 – 2003: Australian Stuttering Research Centre Postgraduate Award, University of Sydney, $17,000 p.a.
• 1997 – 1998: School of Graduate Studies and Research Grant for Excellence in Studies, University of Ottawa, $5000.
