Our Blogs

In no particular order, here are they are! Our Top 10 of 2010 for Speech-Language-Hearing professionals:

1. ASHA Honors recipients–including authors and colleagues Drs.  Judy Montgomery and Wayne Secord!
2. ASHA Fellows–including inaugural and current EBP Briefs editors and colleagues Drs. Laura Justice and Chad Nye!
3. Noted author, researcher, and all-around gentleman, Dr. Ronald Goldman, was the 2010 Frank R. Kleffner Lifetime Clinical Career Award recipient. Congratulations, Dr. Goldman, it was well-deserved!
4. Mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android: Smarty Ears, Proloquo to Go, and many, many more. Apple also set up a section in their App Store called “Special Education: Learning for Everyone.”
5. Healthcare Legislation: love it or hate it– and there’s certainly no shortage of controversy– this was certainly a notable event this year.
6. Social Media goes mainstream: One word: #SLPeeps!
7. OASES record forms for children as young as 7. Ok. We know this one’s about us, but we’re excited about it. There are plenty of stuttering severity measures out there. Instead, OASES assesses the impact of stuttering on the person who stutters in multiple areas of life. By Dr. J. Scott Yaruss, Dr. Bob Quesal, and Craig Coleman.

Yes. That’s only seven. But we want hear from you– what are three more things you’ll remember most about 2010? Sound off in the comments.

A little Lighter Side for your Wednesday:

The ASHA-cappella Singers perform “When The Checks Come Rollin’ In” at the 2009 American Speech-Language Hearing Foundation‘s annual Founder’s Breakfast.

What do you think? Should they go on tour? We think so!

Another successful professional conference. Kudos to all convention/conference personnel who work so diligently to provide workshops, sessions, exhibits and accommodations that make our annual event a worthwhile investment.

Although I look forward to attending sessions related to my work setting, because they often provide practical information that can be taken back and implemented with the clients on my workload, I also look forward to sessions that keep me abreast of research in areas of Speech, Language and Hearing which are not the focus my daily practice. It’s part of lifelong learning. I always come away from these conventions feeling very proud to be part of a profession that offers so many opportunities for delivering services that make such positive change in a clients life. The exhibitors keep us abreast of the latest and greatest materials in our profession. Their generosity in sponsoring events, giveaways, little treats that sometimes have substituted for a missed breakfast or lunch (I believe that chocolate is part of the new government nutrition pyramid), conference discounts and overall congeniality is a proven hit with conference attendees as witnessed by the constant buzz on the busy floor.

Not to forget the all important networking with friends and colleagues. It’s not often that we get the chance to just sit and visit and what a setting! Cool patio breezes, clear warm weather, dining experiences and tropical refreshments…for a moment I was back there!

Thank you, Pearson for being an important contributor to the professions of Speech/Language Pathology and Audiology.

Photos from Pearson’s booth:

Photos from the PPVT-4/EVT-2/The Bridging of Vocabulary Launch Party!

My trip to Phoenix for the 2006 Schools ASHA Conference was a blast. I have never been to a national conference so I was really excited to learn that I had been selected as the winner of the scholarship. I traveled alone for the first 10 minutes of my trip. I met another speech path from a neighboring district in the airport before boarding the plane. We became traveling buddies and friends before the quick weekend was over. I heard many great and motivating speakers during the course of two and a half days.

The workshops that I attended covered teaching language through written context, using RtI to serve those simple articulation cases, and managing unmanageable caseloads. A roundtable discussion was held one afternoon and there I learned that my challenges are not unique to me or to my way of thinking. It was both reassuring and encouraging to discover that others encounter the same issues I do on a daily basis. Last, but not least, the exhibitor’s hall was a lot of fun. Vendors lined this huge room and I was able to see, touch and play with all kinds of speech pathology materials. Discounts were offered on all products as well.

The hotel was beautiful, the food was good and the company was great. I came home extremely relaxed and refreshed, but motivated and eager for the upcoming school year. I would recommend the ASHA schools conference to anyone contemplating attending. It was a definite energizer.

Having returned from Phoenix, AZ early last week, I’m still thinking about all the wonderful sessions and events that took place during the 2006 ASHA Schools Conference. From general school-based practice issues to vocabulary, caseload/workload, Response to Intervention (RtI), and much more, each attendee had numerous session options and great conversation opportunities! Jan McEver, our 2006 Schools Scholarship winner, will be writing next month with a few of her thoughts and reactions to her first Schools Conference. If you’re reading this and you had the opportunity to attend as well, please consider posting your new learning and great ideas on our SLP Discussion Center to stimluate ongoing, post-conference conversation.

Also, our National Speech/Language Advisory Board met the day before the Schools Conference and once again provided brilliant thoughts, creative ideas, and wisdom to six Pearson Education business units who were represented at the Board meeting. The day’s agenda was comprised of briefings from the Board to Pearson and vice versa, brainstorming, wishing and dreaming, and as always, discussion of the current trends of our day and what we might do together to help the professions serve the need of our clients more aptly. Additionally, feel free to let us know at any time any of your own thoughts about how we can better collaborate with you now and into the future.

In service,
Tina Eichstadt, MS CCC-SLP
Product Manager, Speech and Language
Pearson

December 15, 2005

Dear AGS staff,

I was extremely surprised when I received the telephone call that announced that I had won the the AGS Publishing scholarship to attend the national ASHA convention in San Diego this past November—I truly didn’t believe I had won until I received my plane tickets!

I have attended ASHA conferences in the past, but this trip was very special due to the wonderful AGS Publishing staff. I want to thank all of you for allowing me to attend this year. Even with my special needs, you made arrangements for me to be able to fully enjoy the convention. This has been an experience that I will always remember.

The poster sessions and short courses were excellent. The sessions concerning school based practices for stuttering and dysphagia were especially helpful in giving practical ways to show progress and involving other school staff in the therapy process.

Thanks again and bless all of you.

Sincerely,

LuAnn Dukes, MEd, CCC-SLP

Speech-Language Pathologist, Jesup, GA

AGS Publishing gears up for ASHA!

We are excited about the ASHA convention, and would like to present the following schedule of events to you. Feel free to print out this schedule and bring it with you to the convention, so you won’t miss a thing!

AGS Publishing Booth Events – Booth 1101

Although we’d love you to stop by any time, you want to be sure not to miss the following special events at the AGS Publishing booth:

Friday, November 18
All Day:	Get to know TheraSimplicity! Michelle Eral, creator of TheraSimplicity, will be a regular guest in our booth.
11:00 a.m.	Meet LuAnn Dukes, MEd, CCC-SLP, winner of the 2005 AGS Publishing convention scholarship
12:00 p.m.	Prize Drawing: Rollerbag giveaway
1:00 p.m.	Meet the Author: Dr. Ron Goldman
2:00 p.m.	Meet the Author: Nancy Lewis
3:00 p.m.	Meet the Author: Dr. Kathleen Williams
4:00 p.m.	Prize Drawing: Product giveaway
5:00 p.m.	Booth closes
Saturday, November 19
All Day:	Get to know TheraSimplicity! Michelle Eral, creator of TheraSimplicity, will be a regular guest in our booth.
11:00 a.m.	Meet LuAnn Dukes, MEd, CCC-SLP, winner of the 2005 AGS Publishing convention scholarship
12:00 p.m.	Prize Drawing: Rollerbag giveaway
1:00 p.m.	Meet the Author: Dr. Ron Goldman
2:00 p.m.	Meet the Author: Nancy Lewis
3:00 p.m.	Meet the Author: Dr. Kathleen Williams
4:00 p.m.	Prize Drawing: Product giveaway
5:00 p.m.	Booth closes
Sunday, November 20
All Day:	Get to know TheraSimplicity! Michelle Eral, creator of TheraSimplicity, will be a regular guest in our booth.
9:00 a.m.	Prize Drawing: Rollerbag giveaway
11:00 a.m.	Meet the Author: Dr. Ron Goldman
12:00 p.m.	Meet the Author: Nancy Lewis
1:00 p.m.	Pickup of product giveaways
2:00 p.m.	Booth closes

While you’re visiting us, remember to:

• Sign up for a door prize
• Pick up another booth schedule—just in case!
• Ask for your free gift
• Earn cash/credit for your site
• Place an order—you get 10% off orders placed at the convention AND free shipping of your US order!

In addition to our booth activities, you also don’t want to miss the following presentations:

Saturday, November 19, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Conference Center (CC), 7A
#0534 – Advanced Tools in Intervention: TheraSimplicity
Tina Eichstadt and Michelle EralSunday, November 20, 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Conference Center (CC), 31AB
#0742 – “Es muy hard”: SLPs and the Bilingual Assessment Team
Nancy Lewis

AGS Publishing offers and sponsors a number of special events at the convention, from workshops to receptions, and everything in between. These events have very specific audiences in mind, so be sure to check the schedule to see if the events pertain to you and your field of interest.

We look forward to seeing you at ASHA!

Dear Colleague:

In all the planning and busy times before an ASHA convention, it’s easy to forget that a relatively small portion of the speech-language-hearing community attends the annual convention each year. We wanted to take a moment to recognize each of you as active professionals in the speech-language-hearing field. In our recent scholarship contest, many of you wrote comments or notes to us about how much you’d love to attend the ASHA convention for the first time, for the second time, as a closing event to a successful career, and everything in between. We applaud you and regret that we cannot support all of you to attend. Thank you for your energy and strong desire to keep learning.

For those of you who aren’t able to attend convention, we’re thinking about how to bring the learning to you. One thing we can do is add a place in our www.speechandlanguage.com Discussion Center just for ASHA conversations. Maybe someone can share a great idea for funding a convention trip out of pocket (yours or someone else’s). Maybe someone attended a fantastic session and can post a message recapping the evidence-based practice insight or tidbit that was most helpful. Maybe someone can ask a question about a session they would have attended or post a link to a recap or an article on ASHA’s website. You can find a multitude of ways to learn collaboratively without traveling!

For those of you who will attend convention next week, we look forward to seeing you there! Safe travels to one and all. Please stop by and say hello to us at booth 1101.

What other ways can we add to the experience? Post your thoughts in the Discussion Center and we’ll do our best to support making the connections between those who attended and those who could not this year. Let’s put the SLP Forum to work for you, once again!

Respectfully,

Tina Eichstadt, MS, CCC-SLP
Product Manager, Speech and Language
AGS Publishing

Our schloarship winner for the 2005 national ASHA convention is LuAnn Dukes, MEd, CCC-SLP. LuAnn is a 30-year SLP veteran and has taught in a variety of settings. Currently, she works at James E. Bacon Elementary School in Jesup, GA. LuAnn has a Master’s of Education in Speech Pathology and teaching credentials for both Speech Pathology and Deaf Education.

LuAnn’s fabulous prize package includes:

• Round-trip airfare to and from San Diego
• Hotel accommodations at the San Diego Marriott, which is attached to the convention center
• Full registration privileges at the ASHA convention
• Meals at the convention

We look forward to seeing LuAnn and all of you at the convention!

AGS Publishing gears up for ASHA!

We are excited about ASHA, and as we finalize our schedule of events, we wanted to hit the highlights for you.

Presentations

Saturday, November 19, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Conference Center (CC), 7A
#0534 – Advanced Tools in Intervention: TheraSimplicity
Tina Eichstadt and Michelle Eral

Sunday, November 20, 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Conference Center (CC), 31AB
#0742 – “Es muy hard”: SLPs and the Bilingual Assessment Team
Nancy Lewis

AGS Publishing Booth Events – Booth 1101

• Get to know TheraSimplicity
• Meet AGS Publishing authors
• Enter to win one of several valuable door prizes
• Get a free gift just for stopping by!
• Receive 10% off orders placed at the convention AND get free shipping of your US order!

Special and Sponsored Events

AGS Publishing offers and sponsors a number of special events at the convention, from workshops to receptions, and everything in between. These events have very specific audiences in mind, so be sure to check the schedule to see if the events pertain to you and your field of interest.

Stay tuned—in the upcoming weeks before ASHA, we will be sending out a full schedule of activities for you to print and bring with you to the convention.