CSD ‘Brings Home The Gold’ at the 2019 SHAV Conference

At SHAV, first-year graduate students present their research projects and compete against other graduate students from CSD programs throughout the state of Virginia. Longwood students, Shannon Graham, Courtney Kaczmarek, Lizzie Llewellyn, and Payton Yates were awarded first place during the research poster presentations. Their award winning research was titled, “Effects of Instruction Method on Competency and Perception of Proloquo2Go.”

In addition to winning first place in research, another Longwood CGPS student received an award. Lucy Wallace, a senior in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program, was recognized with the SHAV Outstanding Student Leader Award. “As a Longwood student of the CSD program, I had an array of opportunities and experiences available to me…highlights include serving as an executive officer in the Longwood National Student Speech Language Hearing Associates (NSSLHA) chapter for four years, collaborating with the Farmville Lions Club and Longwood Student Government Association to establish a Longwood Lions chapter, and working with the Infant and Toddler Connection of the Heartland’s annual Christmas Giving Tree program,” Wallace stated. Wallace attributes a large part of her success to the faculty and staff in the Longwood CSD program, stating, “They are committed, passionate, and genuinely interested in preparing students to succeed.”

Dr. Mani Aguilar, Clinical Audiologist at Longwood’s Speech, Hearing, and Learning Services, received the State Clinical Achievement Award at the 2019 SHAV Conference. She was recognized for her partnership with the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, offering a Technology Assistant Program at Longwood. Longwood now serves as a demonstration site for assistive listening devices for persons with hearing loss. This partnership has generated over 200 patient visits, with the dispensing of such devices as personal amplifiers, visual alert systems, and captioned telephones. “Mani created a support group for persons with hearing loss that has a regular participation of 25 members in each monthly meeting,” stated Dr. Lissa Power-deFur. “The persons with hearing loss in Southside Virginia are so fortunate that she is here.” In response to her recent achievement, Aguilar recognized the amazing support she has received from her department at Longwood. “The award I recently received from SHAV was possible because of our wonderful leader, Dr. Lissa Power-deFur, as well as the efforts of our entire team of faculty, staff, and students!”