In each newsletter, we will feature an ANCDS member.  This quarter we're talking with Kelly Knollman-Porter, PhD, CCC-SLP, an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Speech Pathology & Audiology and Director of the Concussion Management Program at Miami University.

Kristen Ackley, B.A., B.S.
Master’s Student at Pennsylvania State University

Jenni Shafer, MS
Doctoral student in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Ryan S. Husak, MS, CCC-SLP
Doctoral Candidate in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Kentucky

We are very fortunate that Sarah Wallace, Ph.D., has joined the ANCDS Communications Committee and is now co-editor of the ANCDS Newsletter.  Many of you know Sarah because she is your colleague, mentor, committee member, or running partner.  Sarah is an Associate Professor and Program Director for the Adult Language and Cognition clinic in the Speech-Language Pathology Department at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Dr. Wallace also directs the Communication and Cognition Lab at Duquesne.  She has published extensively in the areas of multi modal communication and aphasia along with other publications in the area of neurogenic communication disorders.

Welcome to the first ANCDS newsletter of 2018. It is my privilege to be serving as president this year and I am looking forward to helping advance the important work of our organization. I’d like to extend my gratitude to our Past-President, Richard Peach, for his invaluable efforts on our behalf last year. Thanks to his leadership, our operations have been substantially improved.

Education and Standards Committee:
One of the major roles of the Education and Standards Committee is to develop and implement the educational program for the Annual Scientific and Business Meeting.  In completing this task for the 2017 meeting in Los Angeles, the committee members (Jennifer Horner, Isabel Hubbard, Diana Petroi, Gail Pashek, JoAnn Silkes and myself) discussed several themes.  When identifying appropriate themes, the committee considered previous meetings topics, survey results from attendees of the 2016 meeting, potential presenters from the California regional area, guidance from the ANCDS Board liaison to the committee (Julie Wambaugh), and the collective knowledge of the committee. 

Dear Members, I hope you all have been enjoying this fine summer. But for any of you who have been affected by the severe floods, fires, tornadoes, or heat that we’ve witnessed this summer, please accept my best wishes that you’ve found the help and support you may have needed to get through the challenges these events have created.

Finance Committee:
Jacqueline Laures-Gore was selected in April as Committee Chair for the new ANCDS Finance Committee. Committee members include Rebecca Shisler Marshall, Melissa Duff, Hsinhuei Sheen Chiou, and Sarah Schellinger. The committee has begun to develop ideas to help ANCDS increase revenue to support its mission and subsequent activities. 

This November, I attended the ANCDS conference as a student fellow. As a second year master's student with strong interest in treatment for neurogenic communication disorders, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to attend a conference with detailed, evidence-based information about primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Each speaker's presentation covered a different topic regarding evaluation and treatment for PPA; however, the conference was incredibly cohesive. At the time, I was completing my clinical externship at a skilled nursing facility, and was able to bring back what I learned and apply it clinically the next week.

Greetings. It’s been a year since our last newsletter was published so I have much to share with you about the work of the Academy. First, I want to express what an honor it is to have been elected president of ANCDS. Being a member for almost 30 years, I’m proud of the accomplishments of this organization and am excited to now have the opportunity to serve in this role. I also want to express my appreciation, on behalf of all of the members of the Academy, to Past-President Kathy Yorkston who oversaw a year of impressive change and growth within the organization.

Board Certification Committee:
Congratulations to Karen Copeland, M.A., CCC-SLP, who achieved board certification in adult neurologic communication disorders on 11/16/2016! Karen currently works as an SLP in the outpatient rehabilitation department at St. John Medical Center in Tulsa, OK. Her work responsibilities are divided between patient care and coordination of educational activities for the rehab services department, including student clinical rotations and inservice education for rehab therapists. Karen is also an adjunct instructor for Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, where she has coordinated Cowboy Aphasia Camp for the past 5 years. She is a Past-President of the Oklahoma Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and a former Chair of the Oklahoma Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology. Karen's research interests include quality of life outcomes for people with aphasia, and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

My Beautiful Broken Brain: Continuing Life After a Brain Hemorrhage

“Who am I? I’m someone who has a huge amount of friends, is very hard working, travels all over the world, loves to read. . . . (but) what if all of that evidence is removed? What does that make me?”

Karen Copeland ANCDS Interview

Tell us a little bit about your background as a speech-language pathologist. How long have you been in the profession and what kind of clinical settings have your worked in? I’ve been an SLP for over 30 years. Most of that time has been spent within a medical SLP setting across acute care, inpatient rehab, outpatient and home health. I’ve also had the wonderful privilege of being part of the adjunct faculty at two local universities. Most recently, I’ve worked to organize Cowboy Aphasia Camp in the summers at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, where we pair graduate clinicians with people who have aphasia for a week of mutual learning. During the week of camp, I have to pinch myself just so I know it is real, because we are having so much fun that it doesn’t seem like work at all!

Barbara Shadden ANCDS Interview

What led you to career as SLP?  My path to speech-language pathology was anything but direct. It began with a deep desire to become an MD, transitioned to psychology and a wish to pursue social work, and then an unexpected leap of faith into the world of speech-language pathology. I knew nothing about the field but remembered being fascinated by reading the work of Roman Jakobson on the nature of this strange thing called aphasia. And once I returned to the university, I realized I had found the profession for me. When I reflect back on this path, every step served a purpose. I became a different kind of doctor and have used my psychology and social work background daily in my work as an SLP. And of course, aphasia eventually became my passion as my career evolved.

Amy Vogel-Eyny, Doctoral Candidate and
2015 ANCDS Student Fellow
Graduate Center, City University of New York
Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences

What a wonderful annual meeting we had in Denver in November! The topics were interesting and speakers were very engaging. Have we ever had an ANCDS luncheon in such a spectacular location?! The snowy Rocky Mountains on a sunny day are majestic. And what fun it was to surprise Anita Halper from the Rehab Institute of Chicago with the Honors of ANCDS!