Friday, September 28, 2012

A Child's Journey out of Autism

A Child's Journey out of Autism, by Leeann Whiffen

It's Friday again!  Time to (hopefully) find some time to rest and relax.  I want to end this week with a book recommendation that will let you in to the life of a family who raised a child with autism.  The story follows Leeann Whiffen, a mother who did everything she could to conquer the challenges that autism can bring.  I read this book last year, and it's such a wonderful story about a parent who became their child's greatest advocate and made a huge difference.

I encourage you to check it out if you ever find some free time or even need a book for a class.  I really enjoyed it, and I'm sure you will too!


Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Parents and early speech therapy

Deciding whether or not there is something abnormal happening with a young child whose language isn't developing normally is a scary thing for a parent to face.  Should they seek help or wait out the problem?  Here's one mother's interview about what worked for her and her child.

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE

Come Learn Something New!

SPAUD Students--

This Thursday, September 27, Erica Newberg will be speaking in Room 230 at DeVos Communication Center. Erica is a speech-pathologist at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. Erica specializes in tracheotomies and ventilators, in which she will be educating us on!

Come, listen and learn something new!

See you tomorrow in Room 230 in DeVos!

Monday, September 24, 2012

Treating Individuals with Aphasia

Happy Monday, speechies!

I can't believe September is already almost over.  It's been a crazy month for me and I'm sure for most of you as well.  I came across this article as I was doing an assignment for my aural rehab class.  The author writes about information and advice regarding the treatment of individuals with aphasia in an audiological setting, but the information is applicable and valuable to any professional working with such a person.  I've provided the abstract at the bottom of the post, but here a few highlighted strategies to share:

-SLOW DOWN!  Present language clearly and slowly, but not in an unnatural manner
-SIMPLIFY the message: make it less complex in terms of amount of information presented and grammar or vocabulary used
-SUPPLEMENT spoken language with other modalities (ex. writing, gesturing, communication devices)
-REPETITION: to assure they're truly understanding you
-INVOLVE other individuals, namely family or close friends - they know the person better than you do and can facilitate more effective communication strategies
-DIRECT your attention to the person as much as possible: these individuals have acquired a communication disorder and we need to respect their humanity and independence

As professionals, our main concern should always be helping individuals improve on their particular needs to the best of our ability.  As Christians, we should hold ourselves accountable to provide the most caring, empathetic, and effective treatment as possible.  While you work in clinic, medical, and school settings or learn in a classroom to prepare to do these things, keep information like this in the back of your mind always! :)


Silkes, J. P. (2012, June). Providing Audiological Services to Individuals With Aphasia: Considerations, Preliminary Recommendations, and a Call for Research. American Journal of Audiology, 21.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

"Don't Waste Your $$"

As alternative medicine has become increasingly popular within the past decade, it has sparked conversation within the news headlines and research regarding the effectiveness of the treatment. Most of us know individual's who have dementia, or a family member that fears the neurological degeneration. A large study was conducted overseas, finding that ginko biloba (a herbal remedy) had no significant effects in regards to protecting against Alzheimer's or slowing down the progression of the disease. As future clinicians, it is important that we stay up on current/hot topics and have data/evidence to support our recommendations.
Click Here to Read This Article

Friday, September 14, 2012

Picnic Success!

Thanks to all of those who came to the picnic. It was so much fun and we are looking forward to seeing your faces around DeVos this school year!

(Check to see if you're in any of the pictures!)

 The Calvin College Clinic Director catches up with some students

Speech Pathology undergraduates





Vice President and Treasurer 

Graduate students back from their internships!

Graduate students fueling up before class!

NSSLHA's new Bag of Tricks!


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Yogi Bears

Throughout the years research has demonstrated  how and why exercise is beneficial to one's health. Here is an interesting article that discusses the initial/upcoming research regarding stroke and yoga! This is an area of research to continuously monitor, as it has the potential to be addressed within a multidisciplinary team!

Click here to view this article!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Encouragement for the Upcoming Semester

So... the first week of classes is officially over. Syllabi have been handed out and now we all know just how much work is ahead of us this semester. Sometimes, it seems like that mountain of work ahead of you is overwhelmingly abstract and impossible to tackle. Why even bother? One answer to that question may help get you through this semester of tough classes.

As Speech Pathology & Audiology students, we are privileged to be headed into a pre-professional program that prepares us to learn the skills we need for our career. We also have the privilege to learn about how to help people. On top of that, you are bound to find a population to work with that impassions you and interests you. We are being trained to be communication specialists. Does that mean we like to talk and socialize? Most certainly. And that will be part of our lives everyday. Something we get PAID to do.

Of course, we’ll learn that there’s a little more to it than talking... but essentially it comes down to your meaningful interactions with individuals.  

Although you may not see the application of some of your classes when you begin your freshman or sophomore year, by the time you reach graduate school, all the knowledge becomes fairly applied. You’ll start working with clients and realizing that one day, when you finally graduate, you’ll get to do that everyday. Pretty cool deal.

If you are looking for a story or example of just how cool Speech Pathology can actually be, keep checking this blog. We are going to be posting our favorite speech related books, articles, news stories etc. to help bring the academic side of things to real life.

So, remembering why exactly you are slaving over your readings and assignments might help you make it through a particularly tough day or week or... semester. Having a reason behind the stressful student life can motivate you to power through.  
If that’s not enough... here are some quotes that might help... 



It's never too late to be what you might have been. - George Eliot

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go. - Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. - Confucius

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. - Theodore Roosevelt

Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. - Mother Teresa

For most of history, Anonymous was a woman. - Virgina Woolf

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

-quotes courtesy of Goodreads.com-


Thursday, September 6, 2012

NSSLHA Incentives Program

SPAUD Students,

For those of you who are returning students, there is an important change for NSSLHA this year that you need to know about. For those of you who are new, this will be helpful for you too.

We are proud to introduce our Incentives Program to encourage attendance at NSSLHA organized events. Here’s how it’s going to work.....

Active Membership:
An individual qualifies as an active member by attending 3 events per semester (1  service learning; 1 educational; 1 fun/social).

Certificates of Active Membership will be distributed at the closing event for each semester. A small token of appreciation will also be distributed with the certificate at each of the ceremonies.
In the fall semester, this event is the Christmas Party.
In the spring semester, the last event has yet to be determined.

These certificates will substantiate any claims made on your resume about NSSLHA involvement.

Biannual Raffle:
At each of these certificate ceremonies, raffle prizes will be given to active members only.

  • 3 winners will be chosen.
  • Your name at an event = 1 ticket in the drawing.
  • You cannot win more than 1 prize. If your name is drawn twice, it will be counted only once and another ticket will be drawn.

Prizes:
$20 gift card to Starbucks/Panera
$15 gift card to Starbucks/Panera
$10 gift card to Starbucks/Panera

We are very excited to be able to reward at least some of you for your devoted attendance to NSSLHA events. (We have a feeling that some form of a giveaway will be handed out to everyone at the Christmas party as well.....)

On an unrelated note, tonight is Cokes and Clubs - from 5:30 to 7:30 on Commons Lawn. We will have candy and valuable information waiting for you at our table. Can’t wait to see you all there!!

-Your NSSLHA Leadership




Quote of Today: Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.  Albert Einstein

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Words of encouragement at the start of this brand new school year...

Hello SPAUD Students! Welcome to NSSLHA's brand new blog! As this is our first post, we will reintroduce ourselves. Your 2012-2013 board is:

  • Carrie - President
  • Dana - Vice President
  • Tessa - Secretary
  • Adria -Treasurer
  • Emily - Service Learning Coordinator
  • Allison - Underclassmen Representative
We all look forward to meeting and connecting with you throughout this upcoming year at NSSLHA events. Speaking of events, here is a little reminder of what's in store for the month of September.... 

COKES N’ CLUBS
  • Where: Commons Lawn
  • When: Thursday, September 6, 5:00 PM
  • What: Chance to meet the NSSLHA board members and other students interested in the same thing as you!
NSSLHA Welcome Back Picnic!
  • Where: DeVos Lobby
  • When: Wednesday, September 12, 5:00 PM
  • What: FREE FOOD (and an opportunity to meet your peers and professors.)
Service Learning at Holland Home
  • Where: Raybrook Manor, Holland Home (across Burton from Calvin)
  • When: To Be Determined
  • What: Chance to reach out the community and to pad your resume
Guest Speaker
  • Who: Erica Newberg, M.S. CCC-SLP – Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital
  • What: Information on Tracheostomy/Ventilator Dependent Children and Infants in regards to Feeding, Swallowing, and Speech/Language.  
  • Where: DeVos Communication Center (classroom details to follow)
  • When: Thursday, September 27, 6:30 PM
You can always check out our Google Calendar on Google+ and our website OR the calendar we will post on the bulletin board in DeVos for any events we have scheduled!

Another important beginning of the year piece of info for you all is that our tote bags are officially shipped and on the way!! Each "bag of tricks" costs $15. They are the perfect size for fitting in your school supplies, measuring 18" x 13" with 20" straps. We will have sign up sheets at our table at Cokes N Clubs, at the Welcome Back Picnic, and one at Evelyn's desk in the upstairs lobby of DeVos.  We are accepting payment until September 21st.   




We are so excited to welcome you all to the Calvin Speech Pathology & Audiology Program. Please contact us if you have any questions about anything - as your student organization, our role is to function as a resource for you. We want to connect you with other students who are interested in pursuing the same career as you. We want you to feel welcome and at home. Being involved with NSSLHA also serves to "pad your resume". We will be posting about our brand new incentives program for encouraging attendance later this week. Stay tuned!  

We sincerely hope that your first days of classes are going well! The beginning of the semester tends to be a stressful time. Our advice? Buy a good planner and stay organized so you can worry less about assignments and responsibilities and invest more in enjoying your time at Calvin! In other words.........



-Your NSSLHA Leadership.