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ASHA's 75th Year Anniversary a Huge Success!

Nearly 12,000 speech and language professionals and their guests flocked to the Convention Center in Washington, DC to help celebrate ASHA's 75th year - and AGS was pleased to be among them. The company was honored to present two exceptionally well-attended workshops, in addition to meeting and greeting attendees in our exhibitor's booth.

Drs. Ronald Goldman, Macalyne Fristoe, and Kathleen T. Williams teamed to present a session on GFTA-2 Developmental Norms by Gender and Sound. Former ASHA president Judy Montgomery was session chair. Their early-morning session drew participants away from their lattés to explore the consonant sound acquisition data gathered in 1999 during the revision of the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation. Dr. Goldman was genuinely humbled by the audience response. He was overheard saying, "I never thought statistics could take the place of a wake-up call and be so well-received." The immensely popular authors, Goldman and Fristoe, received further proof of their charm when attendees flocked to the AGS booth to obtain autographed copies of the GFTA Supplemental Developmental Norm Booklets. The excitement was obvious as students and professionals waited by the booth late Saturday afternoon to meet the authors and discuss their new findings.

Dr. Kathleen T. Williams presented an additional "day opening" session on Friday morning, discussing with her audience the process of developing a fair test. A wonderful dialogue and idea exchange ensued over this vital issue, addressing test bias and reviewing the appropriateness of testing norms within diverse populations. ASHA's volunteer session chair, Bertha Clark, promised participants she would recommend a panel discussion on the same topic for next year's convention. (Mark your calendars now for November 15-18 in New Orleans, LA.)

A true highlight for AGS was the Company's opportunity to partner with the ASHA Foundation and the Dreams and Possibilities Campaign, by joining the Investors Circle with a pledge of $100,000. According to ASHA Foundation Director Nancy Minghetti, this participation has enabled the Foundation to reach $1.5 million raised towards its goal of $2 million to be used for nurturing students in the field, supporting research, and recognizing outstanding clinical achievement. Said AGS President Larry Rutkowski, "In making our contribution to this worthy campaign, our goal is to further the work of educators and professionals who develop human potential."

AGS congratulates ASHA on it's 75th year, and is eager to reconnect with attendees at next year's Grand Event, where our new Sounds and Symbols Early Reading Program will be a feature. Watch for news of this exciting product in upcoming issues of SLP E-News, as we prepare for an August 2001 release date.