Today I speak with Julie Tracy, a mother of an adult son with high functioning autism. Julie talks about the foundation her family recently started: The Julie + Michael Tracy Family Foundation. It's aim is to provide residential, social, vocational, and mental health supports to young adults with Autism. I read about Julie's work last year in a local suburban paper and knew her story would be worth sharing here. It also doesn't hurt that Julie is a speech pathologist herself!

Links:

You can find the Tracy foundation's website here: jmtf.org

I also mentioned my new Facebook page. Here's the link:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Conversations-In-Speech-Pathology/752643058144503

You can also look for me on Twitter: @Jeff Stepen

Take care everyone!

-Jeff

CSP 015: The Julie + Michael Tracy Family Foundation

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

K-12

Educational Technology

Kids & Family

Health & Fitness

It's my pleasure to welcome back Rinki Varindani to the show! I first interviewed Rinki more than 2 years ago when she was working acute care in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Rinki has now relocated to upstate New York and working in...you guessed it- a SNF. What brought her to her present position, the adjustments she's had to make, and the initiatives she's since spearheaded are the subject of today's episode.

We also talk a bit about cognitive-linguistic disorders, resources for treatment, as well an interesting case.

Rinki's Bio: Rinki Varindani Desai is an ASHA-certified medical speech-language pathologist and BIAA-certified brain injury specialist, specializing in the rehabilitation of cognitive-linguistic and swallowing disorders in adults. She is a VitalStim® certified dysphagia therapist, trained in Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) and is currently pursuing Board Certification as a specialist in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders.

Rinki is the founder of the Medical SLP Forum, co-author of the mobile app Dysphagia Therapy, and co-founder of Dysphagia Grand Rounds. She currently serves on ASHA's SIG 13 Editorial Committee as Associate Editor of Perspectives, on the Dysphagia Research Society's Website, Communications, and Public Relations Committee and has been selected for ASHA's 2017 Leadership Development Program. She has presented at national and international conferences on topics related to adult dysphagia and written numerous articles for leading SLP websites and magazines. Originally from Mumbai, India; Rinki currently practices in Rochester, New York. Follow her SLP updates on Facebook and Twitter or reach out to her at rinkislp@gmail.com.

Links & References:

Rinki's Medical SLP Page

Medical SLP Forum

Dysphagia Grand Rounds

Dysphagia Therapy Mobile App

ASHA Resources for SLPs in Long-Term Care

ASHA Practice Portal for Dementia

ASHA Practice Portal for Adult Dysphagia

ASHA End of Life Resources

Day in the Life of a SNF SLP

Caregiver's Guide to Dysphagia in Dementia












 
















 

CSP 044: Rinki's in the SNF

Julia Kuhn was born with the travel gene. Luckily, she gets to be in a profession that makes it easy to work on a temporary basis in a variety of locales. (Hawaii anyone?)

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work in a series of temporary assignments? What about housing, medical insurance, and potential odd problems looming out there? Julia addresses it all! In fact, you can get much more in-depth on the matter by checking out her blog at thetravelingtraveler.com.

Credit: "Cute" by Bensound

CSP 043: The Traveling Traveler

Happy New Year everyone!

Today, on this first podcast of the new year, I welcome noted ASHA fellow Dr. Brian Goldstein to talk about bilingualism.

Brian is well known in our field for his work on bilingualism and in particular Spanish phonological development. He is the Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs at La Salle University and I'm told from first hand experience that he is an awesome teacher!

Here are just a few of the things we cover:

 	* When bilingualism became a focus of discussion
 	* How we define bilingualism
 	* The challenge of being a school-based SLP in a school with many spoken languages.

Hope you enjoy it!

Jeff

 

 

CSP 037: How We Approach Bilinguals (And What is a Bilingual Anyway?)

In this episode I’m asking an important question: Is it possible for a treatment methodology to be considered pseudoscience (at least today) and yet actually work for some individuals?

Yes, I’m delving into the world of RPM (Rapid Prompting Method), a controversial approach to educating and opening up the possibility of authentic communication among individuals with autism. We’re talking letter boards, torn paper, the whole works!

The centerpiece of my story is Benjamin, a teenager whose life has been changed by using RPM. Benjamin’s parents, Ashling and Jeff recount a story of frustration, misunderstandings, and ultimately hope. It’s the most powerful interview I’ve recorded in my podcast journey so far and I feel compelled to share it.

This episode will no doubt stoke a great deal of strong feelings (to say the least) among some listeners. Please understand that I know there is a lack of solid research on RPM (hence the pseudoscience moniker). But I’m not here to pass judgement one way or the other on the method’s global efficacy. Good research will hopefully answer those bigger questions in the future. Right now, I’m just interested in talking about Benjamin and opening up some conversations.

Finally, don’t forget to check out the show page for clickable links!  I’ll also be posting a couple of videos of Benjamin on my Facebook page!

Random Notes:

 	* This episode is over 2 hours long, but well worth the listen!
 	* I want to be clear that when I use the term "non-verbal", it should not be used to infer one's desire or potential to communicate. 
 	* I deliberately censored the names of Benjamin's therapists, schools, and towns of residence for obvious reasons.
 	* I'm sure I'll add more to this list later :)

Links:

Benjamin’s Website:

RPM’s Website

Here is the video on Benjamin learning about the U.S. Constitution:

Here is a link to the 60 Minutes video I referenced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfiap3a7Tuo

A paper published on RPM referenced by the RPM website

Some Interesting articles I’ve come across either on the topic of RPM and/or FC:

 	* From The Atlantic. This is mostly on persistence of Facilitated Communication (FC), but also mentioning RPM (which many critics view as two peas in a pod)
 	*  This video was sent to me in order to show how one might prove a facilitative effect in the use of a letter board. You be the judge…
 	*  There are many papers out there comparing FC to RPM. Here is one of them.
 	* A good summary of skeptics' concerns and a plea for research! http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/syracuse_apple_and_autism_pseudoscience

 

 

 

CSP 34: Benjamin's RPM Journey

I'm not sure what the profession looks like in the rest of the world, but here in the U.S. the field of speech pathology is getting harder to get into. There are currently more applicants than available spots in graduate school. What exactly are graduate programs looking for in candidates these days? Do grades and test scores still matter as much as other factors?

Today's episode can't begin to answer these questions definitively (I'm sure there are a wide range of requirements depending on the program). But I am happy to welcome Heidi Verticchio, a speech-language pathologist and graduate program/clinic director at Illinois State University's Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders. In our conversation, Heidi talks about what ISU's program looks for in a candidate, how undergraduates are prepared for the future application process, newer methods for selecting applicants, and more.

This episode was made possible in part by at least 2 listener requests. I hope they (and you) get something useful out of it.

Go Redbirds!

CSP 015: The Julie + Michael Tracy Family Foundation

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