|
by Ellen Uffen
From Nov. 13 through Nov. 15, Chicago's population increased by a whopping 12,568 people—the number of attendees of ASHA's annual Convention, which, for the third year, comprised both the Audiology Convention (see story on p. 11) and the Speech-Language Pathology Convention.
The Convention offered a potpourri of intellectual—and social—treats. There was something, or many things, for everyone in every practice setting. There were more than 1,300 presentations, including workshops, short courses, computer labs, and posters that ran all day every day. Attendees learned how to negotiate the Convention at the First Timers Breakfast, met other researchers at the New Investigators Roundtable, offered their opinions at the Legislative Council Membership Forum, and consulted with experts on just about every professionally relevant topic.
And when they weren't otherwise occupied, attendees enjoyed the pleasures of Chicago itself—the architecture, the museums, the restaurants—and they went shopping at Marshall Field's to benefit the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation. Even the weather cooperated: The Windy City was mostly calm.
Not that anyone paid too much attention to meteorological happenings. There was too much else going on.
Research Symposium and Researcher-Academic Town Meeting
Before the formal start of the ASHA Convention, the 13th Annual NIDCD (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)-Sponsored Research Symposium took place Nov. 10-11 and the Researcher-Academic Town Meeting on Nov. 12.
The dual theme of the Research Symposium, "Outcomes Research and Evidence-Based Practice," was introduced by moderator Robert T. Wertz of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and keynoter Pamela W. Duncan of the University of Florida. The topic of clinical trials—the subject of the first day of the symposium—was addressed by Jeri A. Logemann of Northwestern University and JoAnne Robbins of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison. Robert Mullen of ASHA spoke on the National Outcomes Measurement System. The second day, devoted to the subject of evidence-based practice, included presentations by Randall Robey of the University of Virginia, Christine Dollaghan of the University of Pittsburgh, John Rosenbek of the University of Florida, and Christine Yoshinaga-Itano of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The combined Researcher-Academic Town Meeting—addressed by Elena Plante of the University of Arizona, Robert Ringel of Purdue University, and Nancy Creaghead of the University of Cincinnati—had as its theme "Sharing Resources," a timely topic now when the shortage of doctoral students is so severe.
Plante offered guidelines to consider when conducting collaborative research. Ringel proposed a new consortia model for communication sciences and disorders (CSD) doctoral programs that would take advantage of the resources of institutions in close proximity (watch for a detailed article on Ringel's proposal in The ASHA Leader of Feb. 3, 2004). Creaghead noted that the shortage of CSD professionals hits particularly hard at the K-12 level, where some states have had to resort to temporary certification to supply enough clinicians. She described a program developed by the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio university system to address the problem. The nine state institutions that have master's-level programs, she explained, worked together to develop a program that turned 80 clinicians who were working in the schools with temporary certification into fully certified speech-language pathologists.
Frontiers in Biology
The Convention proper, co-chaired by J. Michael Dennis for audiology and Ken Bleile for speech-language pathology and speech and language science, had as its theme "Exploring New Frontiers in Biology."
The theme was chosen, according to Bleile, because "biology will be to the 21st century what computer technology was to the 20th.
"But it will bring as many challenges as promises," he said. "For example, children are being saved now who would not have survived earlier, and this has great implications for our professions."
Dennis added that, from an audiology perspective, there are "astonishing" changes on the horizon: "Stem cell and genetic research will ultimately result in the growth of new hair cells in the cochlea and we're likely to see, in the near future, totally implantable hearing devices."
The Convention also marked the end of the 2003 ASHA Year of the Volunteer. Even before the meeting began, volunteers were treated to a special luncheon in their honor to thank them for their dedicated work on behalf of the professions. There was also a Volunteer Welcome Center located in the McCormick Place Convention Center. Volunteers visited the center throughout the Convention, received a gift, and signed up for raffle items donated by companies exhibiting at the Convention. Those who wished to volunteer their time in the future were able to submit their name to be informed of opportunities as they arise. Volunteers kept a higher profile than usual during the Convention—they were visible from the yellow ribbons on their badges.
During her welcome speech at the Opening General Session, ASHA President Glenda Ochsner recognized ASHA Executive Director Fred Spahr, who is retiring at the end of 2003, for his 34 years of service to the Association. She announced that, in Spahr's honor, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, through its Minority Student Scholarship award, has recognized its first Spahr Scholar—April Gibbs of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ochsner also paid tribute to ASHA's volunteers, past—"those capable individuals, the bedrock of our foundation, strong leaders who imagined, built, and sustained this Association"—and present—"They serve on boards, committees, and councils. They review practice documents, journals articles, and standards requirements…They teach children to read. They act as mentors to young people. They feed the elderly and sick. Some visit prisons. They do not seek to impose their values, their ideas, or their agendas. Rather, they find out what is needed and wanted and work to help make that happen."
The session also featured a keynote presentation by Benjamin Carson, director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. He is also professor of neurosurgery, plastic surgery, oncology, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Craniofacial Center. Carson is the recipient of 24 honorary degrees and author of numerous publications, including three popular books.
One of those books is an autobiography, Gifted Hands, about his journey from an inauspicious childhood in Detroit, where he was at the bottom of his class until his mother intervened, to his later professional triumphs. During his speech Carson related how his mother, determined to encourage her children's success, turned off the television. She then assigned Carson and his brother to read two books a week from the Detroit Public Library and write reports on them that she, with little education herself, could not read.
By giving him this basis for success, his mother empowered him to ignore his high school PEERS ("People who Encourage Errors, Rudeness, and Stupidity") and made him realize that "I could go anywhere. I could be anything…In the space of a year and a half I went from the bottom of the class to the top." His new academic prowess garnered him scholarships to Yale University and the University of Michigan Medical School.
Carson and his wife, Candy, are directors and co-founders of the Carson Scholars Fund, which awards academic achievement by providing funding and encouraging recognition of the pleasures and opportunities that may be derived from intellectual pursuits. The fund allows the realization of dreams. "It's so important to have a dream," Carson said. "A young person without a dream is a young person going nowhere."
Awards Ceremony
The Awards Ceremony recognized six individuals for lifetime achievement in the professions. The Honors of the Association, ASHA's highest tribute, were awarded to Diane M. Bless, Jerilyn A. Logemann, George T. Mencher, Harry N. Seymour, Jerry V. Tobias, and Donald W. Warren. In addition, 28 people became Fellows of the Association. Awards also were given for Special Contributions in Multicultural Affairs—Henriette W. Langdon; Dorothy Dreyer Award for Volunteerism—Fred H. Bess; Distinguished Service Award—Kenneth M. Heilman and David T. Kemp; as well as the ASHA Editors' Awards and Honors of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association.
Bob Love, who led the Chicago Bulls in scoring for seven straight seasons in the 1970s, received the Annie Glenn Award. The honor is named for the wife of Sen. John Glenn, who, after receiving help for her fluency disorder, dedicated herself to helping others overcome their own disabilities. The award is given to a person who best exemplifies Annie Glenn's courageous spirit. Before Annie Glenn presented the award, her husband introduced her, sharing stories about Annie and the difficulties she faced with stuttering. He told the audience, "The work you do in changing people's lives is just miraculous, and I congratulate you for that."
Annie Glenn then took the stage to present Love's award. "We honor Bob Love not for his basketball career, but for quite a different contest that he also won," she said. "Bob's work with a speech-language pathologist literally changed the direction of his life. Going from a person who stutters to a professional motivational speaker is a leap much higher than any he made on the basketball court."
Love overcame a severe stutter with the help of SLP Susan Hamilton. He eventually came full circle when he was hired again by the Bulls as their director of community relations. Love has since become an advocate for people with fluency disorders and speaks eloquently of speech as "life's greatest gift."
Accepting his award, Love shared stories about his personal life and his basketball career, and how stuttering affected both. He enthusiastically thanked Hamilton, who was in the audience, and all SLPs: "From the bottom of my heart, I'd just like to express my thanks to you, because you are the most wonderful people in the world to me."
|