Welcome Back!

After a quick, yet hopefully refreshing break NSSLHA shouts, “Welcome back COMD Students!” We hope you had a relaxing, fun and stress-free vacation and are ready to jump back into ear canals, laryngeal areas and neurotransmitters!

Have a great summer quarter and best of luck!

Congratulations Graduates!

To all of our graduates,

NSSLHA congratulates you on your achievements and wish you the best in your future endeavors!

We share (again) with you, a special poem that one of our honored guests presented at the graduates' banquet on June 2, 2006~

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel unsure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

by Marianne Williamson
A Return to Love

Good Luck on Finals!

NSSLHA wishes everyone in the COMD department the best of luck on finals! Believe in yourself and know you always know more than you think you do. Trust in yourself, your knowledge, your abilities and your studying! You can do it, you will do it and before you know it Friday will be here and it will be time to play!

May Meeting is a Success!

On Monday, May 22, NSSLHA held its last meeting for the quarter/school year. Congratulations to those who are graduating! We wish you the best in your endeavors!

For the last meeting of the quarter, NSSLHA invited Ms. Melea Balwan from Casa Colina in Pomona, to present her experiences about working in an acute rehabilitation center.

Ms. Balwan has been an SLP in the medical setting for approximately five years now. Upon graduation, she began working at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey. Last year, she began working at Casa Colina. Casa Colina is well known for its continuum of care, from hospital care to outpatient services to residential programs.

Casa Colina’s inpatient services (hospital) include acute rehabilitation, ventilator weaning, and a senior evaluation program. Ms. Balwan works in acute rehabilitation, where “everyday is different and every patient is different; every time you see a patient it’s a different experience. It makes it exciting, challenging and tough.”

In Casa Colina’s acute rehabilitation hospital, patients come from a variety of injuries, but all are “medically stable.” Because of the setting, the length of stay depends on the diagnosis upon admittance and severity level of the injury. Most patients stay between two and four weeks. Unfortunately, the short stay causes quite a challenge for the teams.

A typical day for SLPs consists of seeing 6 to 7 patients in a very diverse setting. Depending on the patient, SLPs will see patients either individually or in a group setting. SLPs work with patients who have suffered from a wide array of deficits: cognition, speech, language, dysphagia, trachea decanulation, spinal cord injury, ventilator weaning, voice, etc. Because of the variety of patients, SLPs collaborate with teams of professionals on a daily basis. The teams typically consist of medical doctors, occupational therapists, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, nurses, and other specialized clinicians. Although Casa Colina’s inpatient rehabilitation hospital consists of 68 beds, the SLPs are not on all of the cases. SLPs provide services as needed; typically, they carry approximately 75% of the cases. Currently, Casa Colina employs 4 inpatient and 3 outpatient SLPs.

At Casa Colina, dysphagia is a condition that the clinicians place extreme importance on. Each new patient receives a dysphagia evaluation, whether it is a doctor’s order or not. In addition, much treatment centers on dysphagia. For example, there is a daily treatment session at lunch time for patients with a certain severity level of dysphagia (e.g., thin liquid diet). Because most patients have concomitant disorders, one of the challenges for an SLP is deciding how to spend the one hour of treatment. Treatment goals closely relate to the priorities and goals of others involved such as the family, occupational therapist, and physical therapist.

Ms. Balwan concluded that the medical setting is extremely lacking SLPs. If interested in working in a medical setting, Ms. Balwan recommends observing and finding information on cognition and other neuro-trauma topics that are not typically covered in a course

For more information or questions, please contact Ms. Melea Balwan at mbalwan@casacolina.org

Pizza & Presentation

As we wrap up the Spring quarter, we invite you to join us on tonight, Monday, May 22, 2006 from 6:15 - 7:00 P.M. for the last meeting of the quarter! We have invited a very special guest from Casa Colina, Ms. Melea Balwan. Casa Colina is well recognized as a hospital, outpatient center, transitional living center, and children's service center. Ms. Balwan will share her personal experience and insight on the acute rehabilitation center.

From Casa Colina's website:

"Inpatient services are provided in a new state-of-the-art hospital for a wide range of medical conditions that include brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, stroke, orthopedic conditions, respiratory disorders, multiple trauma, neurological diseases, wounds and burns."

We are quite honored to have Ms. Balwan. We hope you will join us tonight in KH B-111 from 6:15 - 7 P.M. to hear this special presentation .... and have the dinner of champions -- PIZZA!

See you there!

Big Sunday '06...is this Sunday, May 7!

From BigSunday.org:

On May 7, 2006 up to 25,000 volunteers (!) of all ages will join Mayor Villaraigosa and volunteer at more than 200 different non-profit sites. It’s all part of BIG SUNDAY ’06, L.A.’s Annual Day of Service.

BIG SUNDAY volunteers come from neighborhoods all over Los Angeles – and volunteer in neighborhoods all over Los Angeles. There are volunteer opportunities for every passion, every talent, and every age. Projects are scheduled throughout the day to work with any schedule. Projects can last anywhere from one hour to all day.

Everything about BIG SUNDAY is completely non-denominational, non-political and free. All anyone is asked for is their time and their talent. The day is totally underwritten by private, corporate, and foundation grants and donations.

BIG SUNDAY projects are designed to be completed in one day; however, for many, BIG SUNDAY is just the beginning of an involvement that continues throughout the year.

BIG SUNDAY is not just a community service day. It is a community building day, too. You see, the idea behind BIG SUNDAY is that no matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter what you do, everyone has some way they can help someone else.

YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW

BIG SUNDAY started in 1999 as Temple Israel of Hollywood’s Mitzvah Day. By last year, BIG SUNDAY had evolved into an annual, city-wide volunteer day involving more than 8000 volunteers from more than 100 different synagogues, churches, schools, offices and clubs at nearly 150 different non-profits!

At the same time, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has – first as city councilman, then as mayor – sponsored nearly one dozen very successful and popular local community days of service. Last fall, at his first Citywide Day of Service, more than 7500 volunteers worked together to do dozens of projects at six public high schools across Los Angeles!

Now, it is with enormous anticipation and excitement that Mayor Villaraigosa’s office and Big Sunday have joined forces for BIG SUNDAY ’06, L.A.’s Annual Day of Service. Our goal is to become the largest citywide volunteer day in America, not in response to a man-made or natural disaster, but simply because that is the kind of people we are, and this is kind of city we live in.

Please join us. After all, whoever you are, whatever you do, we can use your help.

Everyone helps, everyone wins.

For more information on the over 230 volunteer opportunities in and around LA for Big Sunday '06, please visit here.

Next NSSLHA meeting on May 22, 2006 in KH B-111 @ 6:20 P.M.

Hello!

Please note that rather than meeting on the first Monday of the month (as usual), we are holding a special End-of-the-Spring-Quarter meeting!

Stay tuned for more news on what specialties we will feature at the next meeting, on May 22, 2006!

Good luck with midterms and congrats to the future first-year graduate students on their decisions for this Fall!

Team NSSLHA @ the MS Walk

After months of preparation, fundraising, and anticipation, Team NSSLHA at Cal State LA represented at the National Multiple Sclerosis Walk! This fantastic team raised $2,222.00!

Although the MS Walk was set to begin at 9 AM, walkers actually officially began at 8:45 AM. At 8:47 AM, half of Team NSSLHA was already separated from the other half.* Oops! That wasn't because they were racing to the Finish Line to be first in line for Louise's Trattoria...that was because the walk was supposed to start at 9 and some of us really wanted our free chocolate protein bar, bottled water, and fruit!
*The unlost half is represented in this picture. The gentleman in back is NSSLHA Vice-President's significant other, not a random picture-crasher.

See NSSLHA Treasurer in the blue? She is looking out for her lost team members. What a sport! She helped reunite the team. Phew!






Hundreds of volunteers and corporate sponsors supported the thousands of walkers. With so many people walking, there was no way we could have sprinted if we wanted to! Instead, we leisurely strolled past the LA Memorial Coliseum, tyco drummers, Exposition Park, many babies in strollers, the Natural History Museum, groups of volunteers with cookies, water, and fruit, and the California Science Center. Team NSSLHA is proud to say that even though we strolled around and through USC, we did not cut corners! We walked every bit of the 5K route. :)

Some of us (i.e., our awesome Team NSSLHA Co-Captain who doubles as our NSSLHA Newsletter editor)* were so excited to see the Finish Line (not because it was such a long walk, but because we felt a great sense of accomplishment) that we started taking pictures when we saw the Finish Line. The other Co-Captain commented, "Um, shouldn't we actually cross the Finish Line?"

*She was not the only one. She just happened to be singled out because we love her so much. :)




So we did and kiddo volunteers awarded each walker with medals! We are truly winners!*

*Sans NSSLHA President and a loyal NSSLHA member, this is a picture of the lost-for-a-few minutes half.





What a success Team NSSLHA was!

Next year, we hope you will join us when we are even more prepared with matching bunny ears or shirts, balloons, NSSLHA signs along the route, and an airplane banner message to cheer us on.

Okay, we're slightly kidding about the latter, but definitely serious about the former.

Thanks again to all participants and donors for truly helping the National Multiple Sclerosis Society fight and find a cure.

NSSLHA presents Marilyn Van Dyke, SLP & Mother of Child with Asperger's

In honor of April being Autism Awareness Month, NSSLHA invited Marilyn Van Dyke to speak at yesterday’s meeting. Van Dyke is a speech-language pathologist, CSULA Special Education professor, and mother of a 15 year-old teenager with Asperger’s Syndrome. As if that weren’t enough to keep her busy, she is also currently pursuing her Doctorate’s Degree in Special Education through a joint UCLA and CSULA program.

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Both autism and Asperger’s are classified under Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). Oftentimes, Asperger’s is considered a mild form of autism or Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A key characteristic of Asperger’s is that the individual generally communicates different to the accepted norm. People with Asperger’s generally lack understanding of social customs and will “freely speak their mind.”

For the Van Dykes, parenting a child with Asperger’s was almost like reliving their youth. Both parents began informal treatment early on with getting their son extremely involved with peers on a regular basis. They knew that peer interaction was key to helping him improve his social skills (pragmatics!). When their son was younger, the Van Dykes would fearlessly bring him to regular outings and birthday parties to engage him in any activity that would facilitate social interactions and friendships. As kid Son grew older, Mom and Dad got “hip” with the times and learned (and played) Pokemon cards and video games with their Son to help him “fit in with the crowd.” As kid Son matured into a young teenager, Mom and Dad found themselves learning about text messaging and even going to rap concerts for their Son’s sake. Pursuing these interests gave their Son a way to engage in successful social interactions with peers.

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Future Dr. Van Dyke also gave a brief breakdown of autism. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), the three diagnostic criteria for autism are:

1. Impairments in social interactions. In particular, eye-gaze, reciprocity, and joint attention are key characteristics to note. At as early as a few months old, researchers have noted how “different” babies with autism interact. “Even as a baby, holding and feeding is not the same at as young as 6 months,” commented Van Dyke. “It is the impairment in this particular area that distinguishes [autism] from other disorders.”
2. Impairments in communication. “This is the true back and forth, or pragmatics. It is the social use of language.” Van Dyke noted that those who are high-functioning will still have impairments in communication, such as understanding emotions.
3. Restricted or repetitive range of interests. People with autism can have an extremely narrow range of interests. For Van Dyke’s son, numbers were his main interest. Anything with numbers would captivate him (e.g., basketball scores).

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We thank Marilyn Van Dyke for sharing her expertise as well as personal experience with regards to autism.

More free coffee! @ Peet's

On April 3, Peet's coffee is kicking off their 40th Anniversary Celebration! Enjoy a complimentary drink at any location.

See here for more info (and the "coupon" for a free coffee drink). G0 here to locate the closest location to you. :)

Cheers!

Next NSSLHA meeting on April 3, 2006 in KH B-111 @ 6:15 P.M.

Welcome back from Spring Break! We hope you all had a wonderful time off!

As we spring into the new quarter, we hope you will join us for our next NSSLHA meeting!

In honor of April being National Autism Awareness Month, we have arranged a special guest speaker for you! Graduating from CSU Fullerton, Ms. Marilyn Van Dyke is an SLP in a school district, and she is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Special Education through a joint doctoral program between CSULA and UCLA (Hooray! A Ph.D. candidate! ASHA must be thrilled! Double hooray! A CSULA "student" just like us! :). Future Dr. Van Dyke is also the mother of a child with autism. Come hear her speak about her firsthand experience both as a clinician and as the special mother of a special child with autism.

The next NSSLHA meeting is on Monday, April 3, from 6:15 to 7:00 P.M. in King Hall B-111. As always, X-hour snacks will be served.

See you there!

P.S. We will be selling the remaining SLP clipboards! First come, first served!

Juan Last Chantz

One last chance to purchase the speech and language (dysphagia) clipboard! If you haven't purchased yours yet, reserve your copy for $17 by March 28!

Please contact either Kristin, your fabulous Newsletter Editor, or Cheryl, NSSLHA Secretary, at the e-mail links on the side bar.

For more information, please visit February 28th's posting here.

Textbook sellbacks

Shh...don't tell the CSULA bookstore...

...But selling back your textbooks online may get you more gas and textbook money than selling back to the bookstore!

Actually, if you do sellback, you will get more money back. ;)

All sites are very user-friendly, such as Amazon and half.com.

Scholarships

Just a reminder that now may be the perfect time to apply for scholarships! (Simply because it's
Spring break. and we actually have some time. Sort of.).

A number of scholarships are available through ASHA. Please visit their website or click here.

CSULA also offers a number of scholarships. For more information, visit here.

Super Duper Inc. sale!

St. Patrick's Day Special!
Save 25% on your web order of Super Duper Phonological Awareness products today and Friday only, March 16-17, 2006.
Just select the products that you wish to purchase!

ASHA's Award Programs for Students and New Faculty

From ASHA:

To foster leadership and promote careers in academia and research, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has created several award programs(http://www.asha.org/students/). These programs are available to undergraduate, master's, AuD, and PhD students enrolled in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) programs; postdoctoral fellows; and new faculty.

The Minority Student Leadership Program is open to racial/ethnic minority students at the levels listed above, who wish to enhance their leadership skills, interact with leaders in the professions, and learn how their association works. Now in its 8th year, this program has given over 200 students' insight into their leadership abilities and a better understanding of how leaders affect change in their professional association and has empowered these students to take risks and meet their own challenges.

The Students Preparing for Academic & Research Careers — SPARC Award, the Advancing Academic-Research Careers — AARC Award, the Student Research Travel Award, and the Minority Student Travel Award were all instituted to increase and retain CSD scientists and faculty. The SPARC and AARC Awards were developed as part of ASHA's Focused Initiative on the PhD Shortage in Higher Education. SPARC's primary focuses are to promote PhD career development for CSD undergraduate and graduate students and to increase the number of PhD teacher–scholars and students who choose higher education as a career option. The AARC Award addresses the shortage of PhD-level faculty by encouraging those at the beginning of their academic research careers to remain in higher education.

ASHA developed the Student Research Travel Award to encourage budding scientists to pursue careers in science and research. This award is available to undergraduate, master's and doctoral students who are the first authors on a technical paper. The Minority Student Travel Award is open to underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students interested in pursuing research. These new scientists will attend the 16th Annual Research Symposium, "Issues of Development and Plasticity of the Auditory System," at the 2006 ASHA Convention in Miami, FL.

Visit 2006 ASHA Award Programs(http://www.asha.org/students/) for application, deadline, and submission information.

First Ever Starbucks Break!

If you're a Starbucks aficionado and need a quick "pick-me-up" (not the late night "pick-me-up" -- that's for after finals) for that 1:30, 4:30, or 7:30 PM final, Starbucks is serving up a complimentary "tall" cup of coffee!

Today only, from 10AM to 12 PM, visit any Starbucks and they (should) be serving a 12 oz. cup of freshly brewed "Coffee of the Day."

For more info, please visit this online news clip.
If we're lucky, maybe they'll come to us. ;)

**Trivia: Did you know that their mild coffees have more caffeine than their regular, full-body coffee? Cheers!

Kicking off MS Awareness week

It's MS Awareness Week!
We'll keep this short and sweet since we all have final exams looming. :)
Please visit today's special webcast by going here. Today's special webcast features Dr. Peter Calabresi of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, presenting on "Repairing MS Damage and Protecting the Nervous System."

Happy studying!

Final Exam Schedule

At least for the "evening" classes ;)

Class hours & Days	Final Exam Day	Date	Time
Monday only classes
starting between 4:20 and 6:00 p.m.	Wednesday	Mar 15	4:30 - 7:00 p.m.
starting between 6:00 and 7:50 p.m.	Wednesday	Mar 15	7:30 - 10:00 p.m.
starting at 8:00 p.m. or later	Saturday	Mar 18	7:30 - 10:00 p.m.
Monday/Wednesday classes
starting between 4:20 and 6:00 p.m.	Wednesday	Mar 15	4:30 - 7:00 p.m.
starting between 6:00 and 7:50 p.m.	Wednesday	Mar 15	7:30 - 10:00 p.m.
starting at 8:00 p.m. or later	Saturday	Mar 18	7:30 - 10:00 p.m.
Tuesday only classes
starting between 4:20 and 6:00 p.m.	Tuesday	Mar 14	4:30 - 7:00 p.m.
starting between 6:00 and 7:50 p.m.	Tuesday	Mar 14	7:30 - 10:00 p.m.
starting at 8:00 p.m. or later	Saturday	Mar 18	4:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday/Thursday classes
starting between 4:20 and 6:00 p.m.	Tuesday	Mar 14	4:30 - 7:00 p.m.
starting between 6:00 and 7:50 p.m.	Tuesday	Mar 14	7:30 - 10:00 p.m.
starting at 8:00 p.m. or later	Saturday	Mar 18	4:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday only classes
starting between 4:20 and 6:00 p.m.	Friday	Mar 17	4:30 - 7:00 p.m.
starting between 6:00 and 7:50 p.m.	Friday	Mar 17	7:30 - 10:00 p.m.
starting at 8:00 p.m. or later	Saturday	Mar 18	10:45 - 1:15 p.m.
Thursday only classes
starting between 4:20 and 6:00 p.m.	Thursday	Mar 16	4:30 - 7:00 p.m.
starting between 6:00 and 7:50 p.m.	Thursday	Mar 16	7:30 - 10:00 p.m.
starting at 8:00 p.m. or later	Saturday	Mar 18	1:30 - 4:00 p.m.

In case you need to check for final exam times for other classes, please visit Cal State LA's website (click here).

Don't forget that you can pick up a free scantron and blue book from ASI (just bring your current student ID card). Good luck everyone!

NSSLHA presents the National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Congratulations to pre-graduate student winner Ms. Anna Lim! She was the lucky raffle winner of the fabulous SLP-oriented clipboard!

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Tonight, NSSLHA welcomed two representatives from the Southern California Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS). Ms. Julia Hakim is the Programs Mangers of Knowledge/Family Programs and Ms. Mercy Murcia is the Programs Manager of Public Information/Education. Together, they presented information on multiple sclerosis (MS).

Multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease of the brain and spinal cord (collectively called the “central nervous system” or “CNS,” according to Dr. Nancy Manasse, NSSLHA @ CSULA’s advisor). In particular, MS causes gradual destruction of the myelin that surrounds neurons located throughout the CNS. In many individuals, the demyelinization causes various symptoms depending upon which neural signals are interrupted. The symptoms that individuals experience vary from one person to another. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness or tingling sensations in the limbs. Severe symptoms include paralysis, loss of vision, and/or cognitive decline. Many individuals with MS also experience difficulties with speech production, which is where SLPs come into the picture!

As Ms. Hakim disclosed, “MS is not as rare as many people think.” The *prevalence rate,* or the number of individuals affected at a given time, is an estimated 400,000 people across the United States. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50. However, individuals are being diagnosed at an increasingly younger age. Less than a week ago, an article on the cover of “Wall Street Journal” described doctors becoming more aware of this disease in children and teenagers. In addition to the 10,000 children that are already diagnosed, as many as 15,000 children may be experiencing signs of the disease. Moreover, MS typically affects females more than males, as much as a 3-to-1 ratio.

Unfortunately, the cause of MS is unknown, and the progress, severity, and symptoms of MS in any individual cannot be predicted. Although treatments are available, they serve only to slow down the progression of the disease. They do not cure or reverse the disease. The difficulty in finding a cure also rests on the fact that finding a cure has a different meaning for different people, since no two individuals experience the same symptomatology and severity.

Until there is a cure, NMSS will continue to advocate for individuals with MS.

“The mission of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is to end the devastating effects of MS.”

NMSS is the “largest private sponsor of MS research in the world.” Out of every dollar that is donated, 48 cents goes to local programs and services for people with MS and their families, 31 cents goes to research and national programs, and 15 cents goes to fundraising.

NMSS funds researchers that are dedicated to finding the cause of the disease, a cure, and additional treatments. In addition, NMSS also sponsors many self-help and special interest support groups and educational programs. An extensive network of counseling and support exists for individuals with MS, their significant others, caregivers, and professionals (such as SLPs!) that surround these individuals. “Support means different thing to different people,” commented Ms. Murcia. “We have something for everyone.”

“MS attacks. Fear and unpredictability change lives forever. As [the National Multiple Sclerosis Society] continue to search for a cure, there's hope. For 59 years, the Society has been here to help people live with multiple sclerosis today and without MS tomorrow. People depend on us. This is why we depend on you.”

We hope you will join us today in fighting MS, “one person at a time,” by participating in the MS Walk on April 9^th at Griffith Park, or by donating as little as a $1 to the cause.

For more information on multiple sclerosis, volunteer opportunities, educational programs, support groups, and much more, please visit Southern California Chapter’s NMSS website or the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s general website. To reach the nearest Society office, call 1-800-FIGHT-MS.

Lastly, to learn from an educational standpoint on how SLPs are directly involved with individuals with multiple sclerosis, take COMD 555 (Motor Speech Disorders)!