Summer 2015 Newsletter

Jul

NEWSLETTER

Summer 2015

Volume 13 | Issue 1

A Message from the President

We are six months into an exciting year for ANCDS. It has been a year of considerable transition and I am happy to report that the transition has gone very smoothly. In December we thanked Frances Laven for her many years of service to ANCDS and in January we welcomed Sheryl Hazard and her staff at Association Development Services (ADS) of Minneapolis, Minn., who have taken on the administrative support duties for ANCDS. ADS is learning the new terminology surrounding all things speech-language pathology and neurogenics. Their expertise has been so helpful with updating procedures and practices in ANCDS. First and foremost was their assistance in revising our website.

Board Certification Committee

I am pleased to inform you, there are currently six board-certified applicants in different stages of the board certification process. Of these six, one applicant has passed both of the case study submissions and will progress to the oral defense stage in November during the ANCDS/ASHA Convention in Denver. Of the other applicants, three have submitted their first case studies and are in various stages of review by their assigned committee members. The remaining two applicants have had their applications approved and have yet to submit their first case study.

Communications Committee

The members of the Communications Committee (Edie Babbitt, Michael Biel, Renee Fabus, Miriam Krause, Katy O'Brien, Yvonne Rogalski, and Meghan Savage) have worked on many different projects within the past few months.

Membership Committee

The Membership Committee is pleased to report that membership applications are now submitted electronically though the ANCDS website (ancds.org/become-a-member). Since the online membership application process went live this spring, we have approved nine full memberships and five student memberships. Currently, we have 245 full members, 38 student members, and 14 life members, for a total of 297 members. Information about becoming a member can be found under the About Us tab on the ANCDS website.

Take the Member Survey

Last Chance! The ANCDS Board has been going through the process of strategic planning over the past several months. Now that we have transitioned to our new management company, we are ready to update our strategic plan and chart the course for the next few years of ANCDS initiatives. To that end, we are coming to you for your input. We have prepared a member survey to query you on your perspectives and needs as ANCDS members and professionals working with individuals with communication disorders in clinical practice and research. We would like your insights as we move toward developing our strategic plan, and request you complete this member survey by August 1, 2015. The survey should take 10-15 minutes to complete. We value your ideas and perspectives and truly hope that you will take a few minutes to participate.

Education and
Standards Committee

The 2015 ANCDS Annual Scientific and Business Meeting, November 11, 2015, the day prior to the ASHA convention, will be split between two topic areas. The morning presentations will focus on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Lenore Hawley and Jody Newman from Craig Hospital, a Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems institution located in Englewood, CO, will share their findings from a multisite treatment study targeting social competence in adults with TBI. In the afternoon, two separate presentations, one by Katerina Hilari from City University London, and the second by Carolyn Baylor of the University of Washington, will center on recent research targeting the nature and assessment of aspects of the quality of life for individuals with neurogenic communication disorders.

Evidence-Based Practice
Guidelines Groups

ACNDS has five active Evidence-Based Practice Guidelines Groups: Apraxia of Speech, Aphasia, Dementia, Dysarthria, and Traumatic Brain Injury. These committees were established in 2001 with support from the ASHA Executive Board of ASHA, ASHA SIG2, and the Department of Veterans Affairs National Speech-Language Pathology Organization. The scope of the groups was to examine practices related to treatment research and produce documents to disseminate in professional venues. The committees met this goal and continue to generate high quality review of scientific evidence related to assessment and treatment in order to, "link application of betters practices as suggested by the research literature and expert opinion, with the clinical ‘realities’ of service delivery." (Golper et al., 2001, p. 9). The products of these efforts are posted on the ANCDS website and also appear in other professional journals.

ANCDS Board & Committees

ANCDS Board Members

ANCDS Standing Committees & Chairs

Events Calendar

Check out the upcoming conferences
and events!

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