There weren't as many professionals in New Orleans for the ASHA convention as there have been in past years. Many of the presentations that I wanted to attend were cancelled. One of my panel sessions was cancelled because half of the presenters could not attend the convention this year. I was disappointed.
Personally, it was odd not having to wait in line for an hour for a cup of coffee, a table at a restaurant or the restrooms. In a way it was nice. Meeting new people, seeing friends, and catching up with my past students are always fun activities for me and this convention was no different.
There were some good papers and poster sessions that made the convention for me. I love poster sessions. They are a great way to meet people and discuss similar interests. I learn so much just from hearing other people talking with the presenter of the poster. If you have a special project, this is a wonderful way to present your work and meet other clinicians who have similar interests. We really do need to see more presentations by clinicians who work with Hispanic children. You might think about the possibilities and collaborate with coworkers on that program you developed or the screening instrument that you use or the intervention program that you've worked on for the past 2 years. Try it for next year in Atlanta. The deadline is April and you can submit your paper via Internet.
One of my students, Verlee Neha, presented her thesis on the assessment of Navajo children in northern New Mexico. She was amazed at the interest in this topic. She met clinicians from across the country that work with bilingual Native American children who are from different tribes and reservations in Canada and the United States. Meeting other Native American clinicians was the best part for her.
I did learn a few things about grant writing, preschool testing and screenings, and also found some great resources for clinicians and parents. The best resource that I found was a poster session by Kristine Yont (Harvard University Graduate School of Education) and Glen Tellis (Indiana University of Pennsylvania). The title was Developmental language disorders: Internet resources for speech-language pathologists and parents. I want to give you some of the resources. If you would like the whole presentation you can write Dr. Yont at Kristine_yont@gse.harvard.edu. Hope these will be helpful to you.
General Information
What is Language? What is Speech? Provides a general description of language and speech. www.asha.org/public/speech/development/language_speech.htm. (Spanish version is also available.)
Language Development: This summarizes language development and the role of parents in children's development. www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart.htm. (Spanish version is also available.)
Pragmatics, Socially Speaking. Describes rules for appropriate language use. www.asha.org/public/speech/development/Pragmatics.htm.
Child language Research
Center at the University of Iowa. They provide
information on language disorders and projects; links to
presentations and publications.
www.uiowa.edu/~clrc/
Language Disorders
Early identification of speech-language Delays and Disorders. Identification procedures, purpose of speech language treatment, and questions parents can ask SLPs concerning their child's evaluation.
www.kidsource.com/ASHA/early_identification.html
Kidsource: www.kidsource.com/NICHCY/speech.html
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