Great Careers Begin With Great Clinical Fellowships – Get the DVD – Our Compliments

Hundreds of future clinicians and new graduates were able to receive a complimentary gift that may turn out, in the long run, to be the best gift they received at ASHA 2008 Chicago – the DVD Stepping Stones to Success: The Clinical Fellowship. The DVD is intended to help guide current and future Clinical Fellows through their CF Experience and empower them to maximize this critical step in their career.

Although this video is sponsored by Progressus Therapy (and produced by National CEU), it contains insights from SLP professionals from several organizations. If you are now or will be going through your CF experience, this is a must-have DVD. You can order it at http://www.cf.progressustherapy.com/ . Send this link to your SLP friends and colleagues.

Progressus Therapy has nurtured the careers of literally thousands of clinicians. One leader at Progressus, Laurie McCloskey, was a key contributor to the Stepping Stones DVD. Here we have an interview with Laurie, where she discusses her own CF experiences and explains her motivation for participating in the video.

Winning New Logo

A new name for the professional logo was unveiled last month for the Occupational, Physical and Speech Therapist Job Provider. 'Amelia' was the creation of Clinical Coordinator Katie Staniszewski's meaning industrious, striving and hard working. With over 100 entries, this was selected to remind people of Amelia Earhart and the symbol of the adventurous spirit.

Returning From ASHA 2008 Chicago With the Winds of Change at Our Backs

After a week and a Thanksgiving break to absorb it all, there’s no doubt about it: ASHA 2008 in Chicago was memorable. Not only were many sessions more interactive and thought-provoking, as shown by the solid attendance at sessions, but we witnessed an inspirational talk from famed actress Julie Andrews, who received the “Annie” award for her work to advance speech-language therapy while surmounting her own personal voice health misfortune. The award was personally presented by Senator John Glenn and his wife Annie, the award’s namesake and courageous advocate for people with communication disorders after overcoming severe stuttering. Easily enough inspiration to last us to the next ASHA Convention in New Orleans…!

Many had a chance to find out more about ASHA’s new, green facility in Rockville, MD, and their new governance structure, mission, and vision. Estimates are that Chicago saw over 12,500 attendees -- impressive in light of the shaky economy. That also means that many of our SLP friends and colleagues did not have the opportunity to attend and take advantage of the resources there, including what we believe are the most exciting offerings from Progressus Therapy ever.

Over the next several days and weeks we’ll share with our online community information and resources that we brought to our fellow ASHA convention goers. We’ll tell you more about the sessions lead by Progressus Clinicians, which were especially focused on how SLPs achieve success in their careers. We’ll also share the insights and impressions of many of our colleagues. Find out more about our Clinical Fellowship DVD, Stepping Stones to Success, which received great attention from students, clinical fellows, and other practitioners who seek a better CF Experience for themselves or others they care about. And we won’t leave out a few snapshots of the fun our fellow ASHA attendees had at our various Progressus parties and get togethers!

Bronx Therapy Center for Special Needs Children Opens

Three years ago, special needs children at Intermediate School 180 in the Bronx just had a single room and an old mat for their physical therapy.

School officials last Friday debuted a new, five-room therapy complex featuring a Pilates room, wheelchair-compatible treadmills, interactive computer programs and more high-quality equipment.

The Larry B. Seabrook Occupational and Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Center -  will serve 60 middle school students with disabilities, including cerebral palsy, neurological disorders and Down Syndrome.

The former classrooms now feature colorful mats, exercise balls, treatment tables, small weights, trampolines, and other equipment.

Students come to the ground floor facilities once or twice a week for 30-minute sessions to work with a therapist on mobility or sensory issues that can help with everything from sitting in a chair to copying work from the blackboard.

"For the kids, it's motivating," said physical therapist Kam Johal. "It's not like going to the gym; it's fun therapy, and it will help them in school."

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GMU's Speech Accent Archive

George Mason University's Speech Accent Archive allows you to listen to people from all over the world read the following paragraph: 

"Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store:

Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and

maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We also need a small plastic snake

and a big toy frog for the kids. She can scoop these things into three red

bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station."

The paragraph is designed to make a speaker's accent stand out and can be useful in areas of speech therapy and linguistics.

Musical Injuries and Occupational Therapy

A violinist, an obo player and a pianist...not your usual occupational therapy patients?

For Christine Guptill, an Occupational Therapist, musical injuries are a very real thing and can possibly be treated with OT.

Christine developed carpel tunnel syndrome from playing the obo. This injury inspired her to pursue a PHD in OT, specializing in musical injury treatment.

She has identified four determining factors which contribute to musical injuries:

1. Musical Instrument Played
2. Age of the Musician
3. How Often the Instrument is Played
4. The Style in Which the Instrument is Played
   

New Name for Professional Logo

Progressus Therapy has unveiled their new professional logo, naming it ‘Amelia.’ This new logo stands for the notion of flying free of bounds. In July team members submitted suggestions for a name and after 100 entries, Clinical Coordinator Katie Staniszewski’s ‘Amelia’ was selected.

“Amelia Earhart is such an iconic name and it gave me the feeling of flying or moving forward. After doing some research on her I found that she had a remarkable life. She had to overcome barriers to reach her goals and so do the districts and students we work with. Progressus helps find solutions so that the job speech therapists, occupational therapists and physical therapists do can be successful," said Katie.