LT COL ROBERT A. SHULL

A graduate of the USF Audiology Program, Lt Col Robert A. Shull is the Senior Military Advisor for the Warfighter Interface Division at the 711^th Human Performace Wing at Wright Patterson AFB, OH.  He is the senior advisor to the Division Chief and four Branch chiefs, helping guide the professional developmemt of 35 military members.  Lt Col Shull also acts in an advisory role to the DoD/HA, USAF/SG, HQ/VA, Director DoD/HCE, service laboratorys, industry and academia regarding auditory issues/research. Lt Col Shull provides audiological cousel to the Directorate and is the Analyst Test Bed (ATB) advisor to the Division Chief.  Lt Col Shull is also the Air Force Surgeon General’s Associate Corps Chief and military consultant for the Audiology and Speech Pathology career fields, responsible for 47 healthcare providers world-wide. 

"I can't say enough about USF's Speech Clinic"

Wow, as a mother I can't say enough about USF's Speech Clinic.  At a time when I felt hopeless, they gave me hope! And how do you put that into words... We'd been to multiple programs in the area and really didn't feel like my son was getting the help he needed. But, the day I met Kathleen Sills and the USF students that changed.  Their level of expertise was superb but it was their level of "heart" that was unmatched.  My son is part of their "family" and as a mom it is comforting to know there are people who care as much as you do.  Not only do they meet his needs and continue to challenge him, but they have taught me important lessons, too.  Now, Nick and I have new ways to communicate and everyday it gets better. I see excitement in his eyes now, instead of frustration... It's like a whole new World has opened up to him thanks to our time at USF's Speech Clinic.  "Thank you" just doesn't seem to say enough...   

Kellie Lightbourn

Darla Freeman-LeVay's NSDA Update

Since 1999, the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association (NSDA) takes great pleasure in bestowing The Midge Kovacs Annual Awareness Award.  In doing so, we honor the outstanding work of an SD support group. 

For their work in 2011, this award this year is given to Co-Leaders, Ron Langdon and James Anderson, of the Tampa Bay SD Support Group.  They follow in the footsteps of the late pioneering SD advocate, Midge Kovacs.  Midge encouraged all of us with SD to think beyond our individual voice problems. 

In December, 2011, the Tampa Bay SD Support Group conducted a three-mile walk to benefit the NSDA which raised over $ 6,000.  Support Group Co-Leader, Ron Langdon, commented:  “Our group in Tampa greatly appreciates all that the NSDA does, and we are thrilled to make this contribution!”  Advocacy Leader, Emma Mattes, described it this way:  “This was one of the best things that our group ever did, and we are so fortunate to have the most phenomenal members in Florida.  It started out as such a simple premise of ‘let’s give something back’. We cannot express our amazement at the support that we received from our families, friends, and co-workers.  We raised more money than we ever dreamed possible, and we didn’t even have corporate sponsors.  I say, ‘let’s take this national next year’.”

Tom Hofmann will accept the award for this support group since the Tampa co-leaders can’t be with us.  Tom participated in Tampa Bay’s fundraising walk.  Thank you, Tampa Bay SD Support Group, for your inspiring work which encourages all of us to “speak out for spasmodic dysphonia”.

Our Faculty Presenting at FLASHA May 25-26

Session 124: Focusing on the "Person" with the Hearing Loss: The Ida Experience

Speaker: Theresa Hnath Chisolm, PhD, CCC-A, FAAA

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The impact of a hearing loss can be devastating, no matter the age of the individual. Whether it is a child born with a hearing loss or an adult with an acquired hearing loss, the journey from awareness to diagnosis to intervention is a complex one, often riddled with uncertainties.  The mission of the Ida Institute, a non-profit organization, is "To foster a better understanding of the human dynamics associated with hearing loss."  Through a focus on collaborative learning designed to enhance and faciliate exchange amount thought leaders, scholars, practitioners, educators and professional advocacy groups, the Ida Instiute has developed several clinically useful tools that will be introduced in the session. In addition to presentation about the Ida principles and philosophy, specific attention will be given to the Motivational Tools for counseling, the My World pediatric tool, and the Living Well tool designed for use in counseling.

 

Session 125a: Techniques for Evaluating and Training Accent Modification

Speaker: Darla Freeman-LeVay, MA, CCC-SLP

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Training accent modification to individuals who present as English as second language speakers begins with a comprehensive evaluation followed by a uniquely developed plan.  Services provided by speech language pathologists have become an intricate part of training accent modification.  In order to work successfully with this population, speech language pathologists must have an understanding of and ability to apply linguistic and speech processing to improve a client’s concept and production of the English language. This presentation was developed to provide an overview of the methods for speech language pathologists during the evaluation process and treatment options for these clients.  The Compton Method of Pronouncing English as a Second Language will be highlighted along with several resources including demonstrations will be offered in order to increase learner understanding. 

 

Session 204: Assistive Technology: Improving Reading and Writing in Persons with Aphasia

Speakers: Donna Polelle, PhD, CCC-SLP, and Cheryl Paul, MS, CCC-SLP

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This session describes the use of assistive technology in the rehabilitation of persons with aphasia, acquired reading disorders, and acquired dysgraphia with emphasis on text-to-speech and speech-to-text software. Both clinic-based and home applications will be described including  use of software for a repeated oral reading intervention, use of word prediction for improving spelling, and use of scripts for improved oral language and writing. Resources for assistive reading and writing technology will be provided. 

Audiology News

Audiology Alumni Scholarship winners:

Kyle Clifton was given the 2nd year award for Excellence in Clinic.

Amanda Cooley was given the 3rd year award for Excellence in Leadership.

Student presenters at the FL-ASA meeting:

Makenzie Kline with a poster describing her Audiology Doctoral Project, "Physiological & Behavioral Correlates of Binaural Temporal Processing." She is a 3rd year Au.D. student.

Amy Murray (pictured, left) and Susanne Sparkman (right) with a poster describing their Audiology Doctoral Project, "Effects of Auditory Training on P3 in Older Adults." Both are 3rd year Au.D. students.

Cori Dobrzanski, M.S., CCC-SLP & USF Alumnus

Learning Gate Community School is an Environmental K-8 Charter School. We offer speech-language services to students with IEPs for the Speech Impaired and Language Impaired Programs. Being a charter school, the speech-language caseload is typically smaller than a traditional public school allowing for smaller therapy groups (2-4 students) and even one-on-one therapy with students. Externship students benefit from this setting because it allows planning time in the schedule as well as the ability to really put their skills to use. Additionally, externship students are able to easily build a rapport with students as well as the staff because of the sense of community our school maintains.

Intensive Summer Fluency Program 2012

PATS - Program for the Advanced Treatment of Stuttering 　
Program Summary: PATS is an intensive, summer day-program for pre-teens, teens and adults with persistent stuttering. Discover and gain control: Get to know your speech mechanism, and your speech attitudes. Then, build a new speech toolbox. Each day you will learn new speech tools, giving you more and more control over your fluency and stuttering. Because the program is fast-paced and lock-step (each new skill builds on a previous skill), full atten-dance to the program is required. Succeed through practice: Practice your new speech tools in a supportive group environment, and on "speech outings" on the USF Tampa campus. A group format encourages social interac-tion and teamwork. Participants work together to achieve speech targets. Become your own speech clinician: Learn to evaluate your performance, positively and productively, as you work toward daily speech targets. By the time you leave the clinic, you will be your own speech clinician, armed with the knowledge and skills to maintain your new speech tools in the long term. 　
Program Information:
Dates: July 9th-27th, Monday-Friday
8:45 a.m.-4 p.m. Location: University of South Florida, Tampa Offered to*: Pre-teens, teens and adults with persis-tent stuttering. *Participants from last summer may en-roll in a "refresher" course Cost: $550 for new participants*.
$150 for "refresher" course.
*Cost includes ~90 hours of treatment, a treatment manual, and snacks. Partici-pants must bring their own lunch. Program director: Nathan Maxfield, PhD, CCC-SLP
Assistant Professor, USF
813-974-6190, nmaxfield@usf.edu To enroll, please contact: Kathy Wasson
813-974-9844, kjwasson@usf.edu 　
Program Outcomes: PATS
Learn about speech anatomy, speech sound formation, and behav-iors that define stuttering.
Dissect your stuttering to under-stand exactly how and why your speech gets interrupted physically.
Begin to take control of your stutter-ing by modifying it.
Learn how to speak with greater flu-ency through careful planning, shap-ing, and highlighting of utterances.
Learn how to maintain your new skills by setting realistic goals, un-derstanding how stress affects speech tool use, and learning to con-quer fear in speaking.
*participants will... PATS is a less intensive adaptation of Pat Sacco’s residential Fluency Manage-ment Program. We are grateful to Mr. Sacco for sharing his expertise and his program materials.