Name:  Amy M. Kemp
Earned Degree(s): M.A. in Communication Sciences and Disorders, B.A. in Intrapersonal Communications
Program of study/Year in program: Ph.D. Candidate in Communication Sciences and Disorders
Mentor/Advisor: Katy O’Brien
University:  University of Georgia
ANCDS Fellowship Mentor:  Melissa Duff
Area(s) of research, teaching, and/or clinical interest: Cognitive rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury, older adults/cognitive aging, and implementation science

Name: Rene L. Utianski, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BC-ANCDS
University(s) attended: The George Washington University (BA), Arizona State University (MS, Ph.D.)
Workplace: Mayo Clinic- Rochester, MN
Area(s) of clinical or research interest: Functional neurological disorders and progressive apraxia of speech

Name: LaToya Roberts
Earned Degree(s)/University: Bachelor of Science Speech-Language Pathology Delta State University
Master of Science Communication Science and Disorders Southern University A & M College
Current University/Degree Pursuing: University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Applied Language & Speech Science
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Cannito
Area(s) of research, teaching, and/or clinical interest: Motor Speech Disorders, Voice, Neuroscience
Role at ANCDS: Student Representative Communications Committee

The Honors of the ANCDS is the highest award bestowed by the academy. It is awarded to those who have displayed excellence in clinical assessment and treatment, research, mentorship, teaching, and service to the community and to the ANCDS. This year, the ANCDS is honoring an individual who, for 44 years, has made significant contributions to individuals who have neurologic communication disorders.

Written By: Jacqueline Hinckley, Ph.D., BC-ANCDS

In 2020, ANCDS released a statement in support of Black Lives and made a commitment to diversity following the death of George Floyd and rising issues of racial injustices voiced by persons within and outside of the field of speech-language pathology. In this statement, we reaffirmed our commitment to fairness and equity within the organization and pledged to establish a committee to focus on diversity and inclusion. The ANCDS Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity & Inclusion has been formed and is ready for action!

The first time I treated someone with known COVID-19, a patient in the ICU, I distinctly remember thinking, It’s here, right now. It’s here in this room with us. Another entity: The patient, myself, the speech-language pathologist who was orienting me as a new hospital employee, and the Newly Described Thing. Despite a definite diagnosis, despite knowing that diagnosis before entering the room, there was nonetheless a slow moment of reconciliation for me, where I had read about the Thing, I had heard about it, but to be in a room with it was wholly other. There was a feeling of matter for me then, of the voluminous—that is, this invisible Thing was crowding in—and inevitably that matter, that feeling of the voluminous, they ached and continue to ache with multiple meanings.

ANCDS Fellowship Mentor: Janet Patterson

Written By: Rebecca Goodridge, ANCDS Student Member

Written By: Written By: Katie A. Strong, PhD, CCC-SLP

Written By: Emily J. Braun, Maria Dekhtyar, and Swathi Kiran

Over the last three years, the ANCDS Certification Board has engaged in a range of activities to encourage SLPs to apply for board certification. These activities have included poster sessions and talks at state and national conventions, podcasts, and various forms of personal outreach.  One of the things that became evident from these different attempts was that many SLPs were aware that ANCDS offered board certification and aspired to such recognition of their clinical expertise, but they lacked the confidence that they could complete the process successfully. Most SLPs have never submitted a written or oral case study that would be subjected to peer review.