Professional Travel Grants for Graduate Students
2016-2017
Assistive Technology Symposium 2017
7 years
O
n Saturday, March 11, 2017, I attended and presented at the Assistive Technology Symposium called CollaborATe: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Assistive Technology through the Lifespan at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU. As a speech-language pathology student, I focus a lot on assistive technology as augmentative and alternative communication and forget about other types of technology that can help individuals. I liked being able to hear from a teenager who uses several types of assistive technology and from her mother about cheap, effective ways to create assistive technology for her daughter. I also attended a session on GoogleChrome extensions that can be used in the classroom to help those with reading and writing difficulties. This was an interesting perspective because using extensions allows for more flexibility and variety than some of the standard software programs. Finally, I presented a poster, titled Accuracy of Speech Recognition Software (Apple versus Samsung): A Pilot Study, along with four of my peers. This project was conducted during our augmentative and alternative communication course, so it was nice to be able to share our results with professionals.
VAASL Conference 2016
7 years
Recently I was fortunate enough to attend the Virginia Association of School Librarians (VAASL) conference in Norfolk, VA. The conference took place over the course of three days with a wide variety of breakout sessions each day. Some of the sessions were for professional development while others were to help guide new librarians, such as myself. I learned about great apps to use with students in math and science, the importance of diverse books in the library, how to create student centered libraries at the elementary level, ways to engage students in the library, the importance of inquiry based learning, the future of school libraries and these were just a small fraction of the numerous breakout sessions available to attendees. There were amazing authors who shared their love of writing and books with us, and also keynote speakers who engaged us and talked of the future of school libraries. It was an honor to be able to attend this conference and be amongst this awesome group of individuals. I look forward to attending many more conferences in the future and continuing to learn and grow professionally from this group.
ASHA Convention 2016
7 years
This year I had the privilege of attending the 2016 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s annual conference. The conference was held in Philadelphia, PA at the Philadelphia Convention Center. I was in attendance from Thursday, November 17th to Saturday, November 19th and was able to sit in on 7 different seminar sessions.
Each of the sessions was very informative and full of new information to learn. A few of the topics discussed included behavioral regulation, core vocabulary, eliciting /r/, and strategies for articulation therapy. I enjoyed each session, but especially the one on behavioral regulation and how important it is for a child to obtain before academic gains can be made. The presenter was very knowledgeable and gave us several real-life scenarios in which we could use the techniques she was discussing.
I also presented a case study poster about a previously served client with three of my CSD peers. Our poster was titled, “Supporting Intelligibility in a Russian Speaking Adult with Repaired Cleft Palate.” I am very grateful for the opportunity to present at ASHA and look forward to similar opportunities in the future.
I am excited to return to the ASHA Convention for many years to come!
American Speech Hearing Association Convention
7 years
This past weekend, at the annual American Speech Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention in Philadelphia I had the privilege of presenting two posters. In-between presenting my posters, I had time to go to multiple sessions, explore the overwhelming exhibit hall, talk to future possible employers about my professional interests, and even explore some of Philadelphia. It was inspiring and exciting to be surrounded by so many energized people who share the same interests I do. It was also encouraging to listen to experienced professionals talk about specific articulation therapy targets that I struggle treating at my externship placement. I learned new strategies to help 3rd grade and older students acquire the challenging “r” sound. I look forward to implementing these new strategies with my clients. I will be sure to attend the ASHA convention again in the near future!
ASHA Conference 2016
7 years
My name is Moriah Chapman and I am a second year graduate student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program at Longwood University. I recently went to the American Speech-Langauge-Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention in Philadelphia, PA. I along with other graduate students presented at the Poster session. Our poster was titled “Supporting Intelligibility in a Russian Speaking Adult with Repaired Cleft Palate”. We completed the research over the course of six months at the Speech, Hearing, and Language Services clinic at Longwood University.
During the ASHA Convention, I attended many lectures and sessions regarding different issues that were related to speech-language pathology. One session that I found helpful was about the correct production and remediation of the “r” sound. I found all of the sessions and lectures to be helpful and I gained some helpful information from them. Overall, I greatly enjoyed my experience at the ASHA Convention!
ASHA Conference 2016
7 years
Dr. Kellyn Hall and Joyanna Struzzieri presenting their poster at ASHA.
Kelsey Dunbar and Joyanna Struzzieri had the opportunity to meet author and AAC user Martin Pistorius after his presentation.
Attending the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association (ASHA) national conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania proved to be an amazing experience for me that has impacted my future practice as a speech-language pathologist. I presented data from my ongoing research at a poster session. During the session, several attendees came to the poster to provide me with encouragement and advice for my research. To further my knowledge about speech-language pathology, I attended several sessions every day on anatomy, language, feeding and swallowing that will aid me when I graduate next year. I also obtained hands on experience practicing endoscopy with experts. In addition, I had the opportunity to meet some celebrities of my profession, including bestselling author and AAC user Martin Pistorius and Parkinson’s Disease voice expert Dr. Lorraine Ramig. The conference was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn information that will aid me as a professional and the experience will stay with me forever.
ASHA Conference 2016
7 years
This was my first time attending an Ame
rican Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Conference. I have attended the Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia (SHAV) Conference before, but this was definitely a different experience. The first adjective that comes to mind is overwhelming! There were over 16,000 people in attendance. At first, it was difficult to navigate through the Philadelphia Convention Center and the Marriott Hotel, it was crowded everywhere you went (even outside of the convention center), and sometimes you could not get into a session because there were too many people. Luckily, it did not take long for me to learn how to navigate the crowds and understand that I needed to arrive at least 30 minutes before a session to get a seat! Even with it being so overwhelming, I learned a lot of new information and networked with several speech-language pathologists (SLPs) throughout my time at ASHA.
One of the highlights of the conference was meeting and attending a session by Martin Pistorius. In my Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) class, we read his book, Ghost Boy. It was amazing to hear his personal testament about how SLPs impacted his life and provided insight on how I should work with people with complex communication needs. Some of the other sessions I attended were about working with children with Autism who have self-limiting diets, using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in conjunction with speech pathology, treating transgender patients who wish to change their voice, and opening your own private practice. One thing that I really liked about ASHA was the wide variety of topics discussed in the sessions. It was helpful to hear about specialty areas that we do not get to discuss during our classes.
One of the main reasons I attended ASHA was to present a poster. Three of my peers and I presented a case study about an adult client from Kazakstan with a cleft palate. We decided to present this poster because this client represented a rare case. It was difficult for us to find specific research about her needs, and so we wanted to share our clinical decision making process with others. Our hope was to provide information to others who may have a client similar to ours, and also to help students understand the decision making process to help them with any complex clients they may have. During our presentation, we had the opportunity to converse with a few professionals who specialize in craniofacial anomalies. It was great to hear their perspectives on what we did and hear advice about things to consider to improve our research in the future.
Finally, one of my favorite things about ASHA was being able to explore Philadelphia in the evenings. On the first day, I was able to see the historic side of Philly and I visited the Liberty Bell. It was also great to see the city getting ready for the holidays. Right downtown, where the iconic LOVE sign is, there was a small ice skating rink. While exploring the city, we also came across some Christmas lights on Franklin Square. At night they had an “Electric Light” show. And of course, we asked around to find the best place to eat a Philly cheesesteak. It was fun to attend an out-of-state conference because I learned a lot at the conference during the day, and I got to explore a new city in the evenings.
Virginia Counselors Association Conference 2016
7 years
I had the pleasure of attending and presenting a poster at the 2016 Virginia Counselors Association (VCA) Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia. The conference was excellent overall, and particularly in the focus on LGBTQ related issues and in social justice issues faced in the counseling profession today. My presentation, about trauma assessment measures that are commonly used with children, was well received. It was particularly rewarding to have conversations about this with fellow professionals in the field who do similar work to my work in the school system. The ability to share ideas with these people was the most powerful thing that happened at the conference. The exchange of immediately useful ideas and information changed how I respond to a couple of common daily occurrences at my school.
Spending time with the professors, alumni, and current graduate students at the school was another positive. It was enlightening to have professional and personal conversations with people and to talk about where the Longwood program has been and where it is going.
VCA Conference 2016
7 years
On November 9-12, 2016 the Virginia Counselor’s Association Convention took place in Williamsburg, VA. The event included two keynote speakers, Kevin Hines and Dr. Michael Gillette, and nine education sessions, each with multiple sessions attendees could choose from. Four Longwood students currently in the program-Chris Barnes, Jessica Hamlett, Brittany Bishop, and Cameron Patterson-joined many Longwood Alumni and Counselor Education faculty for the weekend. Chris Barnes and Cameron Patterson were both honored as VCA student fellows and Barnes presented a poster on assessing trauma in children. Dr. McCleskey, Dr. Wynne, and alum Amrita Sethi collaborated to present a session on counselors working as allies for LGBTQQI clients and students. Dr. Doyle presented updates from the Virginia Board of Counseling. The event was a great success for Longwood University in education and representation. The next convention will take place November 9-11, 2017 at the Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, VA. All Counselor Education students, faculty, and alumni are encouraged to attend and represent Longwood! 
VAASL 2016
7 years
The VAASL conference was a wonderful experience and I am so grateful for the opportunity to attend. I learned: how to access and view 3D Civil War photographs as primary sources, how to take a Virtual Field Trip, about the 1939 Sit In at The Alexandria Public Library, that a new book Shadow House, has an app to accompany the book, the power of conducting a Mock Caldecott award in my classroom or library, that two anonymous copied WalMart receipts can be used as primary sources, Encyclopedia Virginia has free lesson plans created by ODU students, to provide a copy of free wifi spots in the area around my school to my students, and that Google Cardboard combined with Encyclopedia Virginia and the StreetView app is a mindblowing experience!
One other interesting thing I noticed – when I have attended conferences with teachers in the past, the acquisition of handouts can be a cutthroat experience. At VAASL, if a presenter ran out of handouts, someone with a handout would say, “Here take a picture of mine.” Interesting, right?