SLP Mommy of Apraxia

Category: ASHA convention

  • All it takes is a spark, to light a match, to ignite a fire.

    All it takes is a spark, to light a match, to ignite a fire.

    Once upon a time, there was an 18 year old girl who received a full ride scholarship to her local metro university.  She took public transportation to get there since she couldn’t afford parking, and simultaneously worked 30 hours while going to school full time.  Each day she walked onto the train, she wasn’t sure she would actually receive her bachelor’s degree, but she decided she would take it day by day, one step at a time, and see where life led.

    One day, 4 1/2 years later, she boarded the same train with a cap and gown in hand riding to the downtown convention center.  This center, the location of her graduation from Metro State University for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communications.

    She could hardly believe it.  Walking across the stage, surreal. She had accomplished something she was never sure she would achieve, and it felt awesome.  This was the end of her academic career to be sure.  Though her emphasis was in disorders and she had taken the coursework to be certified as a Speech/Language Pathology Assistant, she would use her umbrella “Speech Communications” degree to now move up in the car dealership in which she was working to become the customer relations manager.

    Insert recession.  The car dealership was turned upside down.  Future plan….shattered.

    Cue phone call from local school district inquiring about an interview as she was one of the few to complete the SLPA certification and they would like to interview her for a new position.

    Complete interview and accept new position.

    Introduce Deborah Comfort and Roberta Fehling.  Two seasoned SLP’s.  Pioneers.  Feminists.  Glass ceiling breakers.  I was to work under them.  They both would laugh at this description, but I can tell you I was in awe of them.  I didn’t even think I would complete my bachelor degree and I’m a millennial.  These were two baby boomers who had not only completed their Bachelor Degrees but had Masters Degrees.

    The Spark

    I was inspired by them.  Their accomplishments ignited a spark in ME.  A spark, I wasn’t yet willing or ready to realize.  I tried to push it down and blow it out.  Graduate school wasn’t meant for people like me.  I grew up in a humble and modest home, with a common phrase of my dad’s being “poor people have poor ways” and I can tell you, graduate school is NOT one of them.

    Long story short, they both believed in me.  They both urged me to continue my education, but there was no money for grad school and women like them wouldn’t understand that “poor people have poor ways.”

    Deborah decided to push harder.  I arrived to work one day with her personal recommendation letter along with applications and GRE dates to get into graduate school.  I remember scanning the paperwork and then scanning her face.  She really believed in me that much, and just to be clear, Deborah was TOUGH.  I knew she didn’t do this to just anyone.  Why did she believe in me, I wondered.  Could I really be like her and have a professional degree and job?

    The flame.

    I applied to one distant learning school so I would still be able to work and earn an income.  It’s hard to get into graduate school for speech, and most applicants apply to many schools.  Oh well,  if I didn’t make it, it wasn’t meant to be, I reasoned.

    Well, here I am, so I guess you know by now I made it.  I completed it. However, I never attended the graduation ceremony……. and I regret that.

    This past year, the American Speech/Language Hearing Association (ASHA) which is the governing body that certifies SLP’s, gave me an award for media outreach champion for my encounter and subsequent press coverage of Ronda Rousey and Childhood Apraxia of Speech.  I was to be recognized at the annual ASHA conference in November.  I wanted to go sooooo bad, but finances aren’t great.  Therapy, and doctor copays for a child with global apraxia are pretty crippling.  There were other personal circumstances as well that made it seem out of reach.

    I kept thinking about how I regretted missing my Master’s degree graduation. It felt silly, but I didn’t want to regret another thing.  Have you ever heard of this by Paul Coelho?

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    I believe it.  Oh my goodness do I believe it.  Problem is, I have to be willing to listen to the Universe.

    Case in point?  My husband’s incredibly giving extended family from out of state offered to pool their money and pay for it knowing we were kinda strapped for cash in this particular time of our lives.  I rejected it.  I felt it was charity and if I really wanted to go I could charge the entire thing on a credit card.  They offered one last offer, and I STILL declined it.

    I was talking to someone about it, and she challenged me on this.   She urged me to accept the offer with grace, knowing I would make the same offer to someone else if I were in the position to do so.

    Yes, of course I would, but I don’t know.  It still felt silly.  Accept money from people so I could go receive an award?  It seemed self-serving and somewhat selfish.  I can’t say it didn’t poke at me though.

    A good friend and fellow apraxia mom Linda Power, offered to go and pay for the hotel.  She had lived in Philly for a time, knew her way around, and was excited to go back.  In this way, I would have a companion, and would only have to pay for the price of my plane ticket and ASHA registration.

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    Hmm….that offer was tempting.  Plus, I don’t believe in coincidences.  What a coincidence Linda lived in Philly for four years and she’s a close friend of mine and would like a quick girl getaway.  Hmmm…November happens to be my birthday month.  I could ask everyone to just give me money instead of presents to pay for my plane ticket.

    I asked my mom if that was rude.  She didn’t think so, so there we were!  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!

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    SUCH an amazing time!

    The fire

    I attended the ASHA convention last year, and I never thought to attend the award ceremony, which is ironic, because it’s the ONLY reason I went this year and that’s only because I was part of it.

    I left soooooo inspired.  I heard story after story of SLP’s in the field and their lifetime accomplishments.  The stories were personalized and part of a video montage.  Each story was unique and touching.  I had tears and Linda had tears.  I couldn’t believe this girl from Colorado who never truly believed she would finish college was sitting in a room with these esteemed people.  If you ever attend ASHA, I highly recommend going to the award ceremony.  It will make you proud to be in this field.

    Also, it made me want to do even better.  It made me want to aim even higher.  More importantly, seeing the stories of these ordinary people who did extraordinary things, made we want to be more like them.

    I don’t know what the future holds.  I guess I’ll just do what I have always done, starting from that highschool graduate who stepped foot on public transportation to go to college.  I’ll keep putting one foot in front of the other, day after day, because if I do that, I don’t know where it will take me but it takes me further than I am now.  It take me further AND my sweet girl Ashlynn.  Kids learn through example, or I learn from her.  It seems like a mutual enterprise in this house.

    That’s what she does though.  She wakes up every day putting one foot in front of the other, and for her, even THAT simple act isn’t easy….yet she does it.  So again, I have to ask myself,

    What’s my excuse?

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  • ASHA 2015: Conference Takeaways!

    ASHA 2015: Conference Takeaways!

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    Wow!  I just completed a whirlwind three day national speech conference called the ASHA convention.  ASHA stands for the American Speech/Language Hearing Association, and it is the association that certifies SLP’s.  That CCC behind our name (i.e. Laura Smith MA. CCC-SLP) is from ASHA in case you have ever wondered.

    I’ve never been to ASHA before because it’s usually extremely expensive and somewhere to which I would have to fly. It has never really been in the cards for me.  However, this year, it came to Denver!  My friend in Syracuse always tells me “Everything comes to Denver!”  lol    It never felt like it before, but I am definitely riding the high of it now!

    Though Cody is convinced I only go to “play with my friends” it’s only partly true.  Those friends are the only group of people who love talking about speech pretty much 24/7.  It’s hard to nerd out on speech stuff with anyone else but a group of SLP’s!

    Okay so anyway, conference takeaways…..

    Informational

    I spent a lot of time updating my knowledge of Assistive Technology.  Not only do I see a lot of device users in the school, but assistive technology can and should be an important option when a child with apraxia is still non-verbal or minimally verbal.  Assistive technology is a dynamic and changing field.  The very word technology should allude to the fact SLP’s should be staying on top of this if they are working with device users because technology inherently changes very quickly.

    I learned that there is a raging debate between two theoretical perspectives in this field.  One group highly believes in the use of using only core words to start, adding in fringe and content specific vocabulary later; and another group believes in using more content specific words to start.  Though I do see both sides, and used more content specific 8 years ago, I really see the value and purpose of using a common core.  This is a set of words that the child starts with that comprises 75% of adult speech, with the theory being that chances for not only direct instruction, but modeling and exposure can occur throughout the child’s entire day.  One common example was with the word “turn.”  Turn is a core word that can be used in many different situations and even be a different part of speech.  Many of the talks provided a practical framework for SLP’s and special educators to implement.

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    It’s always good to have your current knowledge reinforced also in different areas. For me, it’s good to continue to go to talks on apraxia and have reinforced current best practices and diagnostic criteria.  The best talk on apraxia was by non other than David Hammer.  I’m not just saying that.  It was a packed house
    and no one left.  I have attended his talks before I went to bootcamp, and remember being slightly confused about his therapy that I couldn’t remember all of his activities.  Now that I have a solid understanding of the goal for apraxia therapy, I could attend his talk and soak in ALL of his creative ideas for making therapy fun and hopefully transfer that to my current practice!  Plus, it was fun to take this picture with him!  He is definitely a celebrity in my book!

    Puzzling

    Of all the talks I attended, the one that was by far the most puzzling was that of Susan Rvachew and Tanya Matthews who were giving a talk on Differential dx of Severe Phonological Disorder and Childhood Apraxia of Speech.  It’s probably never good when you start out your talk with the fact that you know people are expecting you to explain the difference based on your title, but that you were probably just as confused.  Not exactly a great way to earn credibility.

    The talk had people leaving left and right, with others just politely sitting on their phones scrolling through fb or planning out their next session.

    I genuinely wanted to hear their perspective, but it was hard to follow and confusing.  Of all things confounding was a new term I had not yet heard entitled, “Phonological planning deficit.”  Basically, they listed all the characteristics of mild to moderate CAS, called it phonological planning deficit, and then treated it successfully with the principles of motor learning theory that has been proved to help kids with CAS.  No wonder they were confused.  I was happy to get out of that room!

    Thought provoking

    A debate within the apraxia community pertains to that of autism spectrum disorder and a co-morbidity of CAS. Some are adamant it rarely occurs together, with yet others convinced there is a motor planning deficit present in so many.

    Shelley Velleman is definitely a name in this area who had done the most research surrounding this particular area. I attended her talk about ASD and motor speech and prosodic deficits.  The children in her study really didn’t display pure characteristics of CAS, in my opinion, but they definitely exhibited errors with prosody including timing, stress, and pitch deviations.  It’s interesting because many of the kids had good articulation but just deficits in prosody, and we currently believe prosodic errors to be a key feature in CAS.   This could be a different motor speech area that is new and fascinating.  A motor speech disorder NOS maybe since these kids don’t fit in a tidy definition of CAS or dysarthria.

    Powerful

    Perhaps one of the most powerful talks was moderated by Edythe Strand out of Mayo who created the program DTTC for kids with apraxia which her colleague Ruth Stoeckel once outlined in an interview I did here:

    DTTC: Evidence Based Practice in Childhood Apraxia of Speech

    She invited two parents to come speak to SLP’s about the parent perspective.  You know honestly, I was so proud to be part of the apraxia community professionally and personally in that moment.  I believe apraxia is the only speech disorder currently, second to stuttering, that has really taken into account the importance of SLP’s knowing about the family experience.  These two mothers shared their heartbreaking experiences.  To SLP’s, this is a job.  They care, and some care an awful lot, but some just do not realize the pain that an apraxia dx brings and the financial and emotional toll it can take on a family.  These two women had ended up divorced.  The toll just too much for each of their marriages.  I was brought back to bootcamp with Dave Hammer emphatically expressing to us that we should be open with parents and encourage them to take care of their marriage.  It was so great for SLP’s to hear this. Edythe Strand wiped away tears as did many others.  Fostering that understanding and empathy in SLP’s is something I am so proud of the apraxia pioneers for recognizing and doing.  I can’t help think Sharon Gretz, the founder of CASANA has had something to do with that.  She has been so open with her own child’s journey she has undoubtedly changed the course of the profession for the better.

    Impressions

    Yes many of the SLP’s come to play with their friends.  But there is more to it than that.  These “friends” are the only people who truly understand speech and who can hang in conversation of highly technical, possibly nerdy, speech talk.  Also, SLP’s are normal people too and many would probably prefer a nice vacation instead of leaving their families and holing up in a hotel for no other purpose than to continue their education.  In short, these people CARE. I care.  I love all of my clients and students.  We are in this field because we care, not because we don’t.  Some kids keep us up on night.  Some kids challenge us.  We go to these conventions to learn, to network, and to problem solve with the only other people on the planet who know our job like we do.  There is power in that.  Everywhere I went I saw professionals taking notes, talking about clients, talking about their job.  We as SLP’s do that because we care. My daughter’s SLP was there.  She’s a veteran, she’s amazing, she’s one of the top SLP’s in my opinion, but she always knows she can learn more and do better.  There were hundreds just like her, hopefully including me.

    I will close how the president of ASHA closed her letter in which she said Dr. Seuss perhaps said it best,

    “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It’s not.”

    I saw and was part of thousands of professionals who care an awful lot, and I can only believe things will get better, it can’t help but not.