(Written by Aine Vejby)
This past fall was a busy one for our NSSLHA chapter here at SF State. We kicked off the semester with a picnic social in Dolores Park to enjoy some of that San Francisco autumn sun and welcome our new, first-year classmates to the program. Our newly elected officers, full of energy and great ideas, set to work scheduling brown bag talks on everything from how to present oneself professionally to a parent’s perspective on Down Syndrome. We also had many helpful talks with faculty members, from both within and outside our department. Laura Epstein gave a presentation on the steps and requirements of applying to the graduate program – one of the more daunting tasks on the fall semester to-do lists of our senior classmates. We also enjoyed a discussion with Robert Williams, the chair of the Counseling department, who offered insight into an alternative career path some of us may choose to take. We also had a wonderful presentation from members of NSSLHA who had been lucky enough to attend the ASHA convention last year. They gave brief talks on seminars they attended and encouraged us all to try to go next year, as the experience was well worth the travelling and long hours spent at the convention center.
Our dedicated officers and members set to work, almost immediately, on preparations for the CSHA-sponsored CEU which focused on how speech pathologists can utilize all the dynamic tools that the iPad has to offer in their practice. We all learned a lot, both in preparation for putting on the event as well as in listening to the speaker and playing with all our Apple gadgets. The number of volunteers who turned out, in the wee hours of the morning, the day of the event was a great testament to the supportive student community we have in this program. Thanks to this wonderful CD team spirit and the excellent leadership from our NSSLHA officers and advisors, the event was a great success. Now, starting this new semester, we look forward to putting on our own Spring Conference with the same energy and enthusiasm that was such an integral part of the event this past fall.
Our Spring Conference will be centered on the topic of inclusion this year – a very relevant and much-debated topic today. We hope to include speakers with many different perspectives on the issue, from students to special education teachers, SLPs, and other collaborating professionals who have worked in schools where inclusion is common practice. It will definitely be a lot of work to put together, but with the assistance of our amazing student body and help from our ever-supportive faculty and advisors, we know we can make it the best Spring Conference yet!
We also have quite a few brown bag meetings lined up, with speakers discussing subjects such as feeding therapy, phonological disorders, and personal experience working in different capacities as an SLP. Our goals for this semester are to increase student involvement, especially in the first-year classes, encourage participation in fundraising and volunteer events, and become a recognized chapter at the ASHA convention this year. Last semester, a group of us attended the Bridge School benefit concert, a music festival put on every year to raise funds for a school for children with special needs. This spring, we hope to organize groups to participate in similar events, including a fundraising walk with Autism Speaks, a 5K run, and events with Support for Families. We hope to include students from other departments that are also involved in the world of education and people with special needs. Through our up-and-coming monthly newsletter, we hope to promote collaboration with other departments as well as spread the word about our great program and professional field. This newsletter will also be a great way to keep up to speed with recent events in our field, new studies, department deadlines, and volunteer and job opportunities that are available to all CD students.
As you can see, we have a lot on the agenda for this Spring! It’s going to be a busy semester for all of us, and we are sure to learn a lot through all of our endeavors. We look forward to seeing you in our weekly meetings and at all of the great events we have planned. Here’s to a great Spring 2013 semester!!
The 2012-13 SFSU NSSLHA Officers
(Front row, from left) Maria Lysenko, Aiste Markeviciute, Ariel Rodriguez, Aine Vejby, Nicolette MacLeod
(Back row, from left) Taylor Baldry, Michael Bloom, Stevy Shadwick, Nikol Juarez, Ricky De Leon, Stephany Tran
(Officer not pictured here: Kiiya Shibata)
CD Program News 