Announcements!

1) One of our COMD staff members will be receiving an award at the CSHA convention:

CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. Paulson!

for Outstanding Achievement! If you see him on campus, congratulate him for such an accomplishment!

2) Also, if you would like to learn more about working with children with Autism, you can volunteer for Floortime Family fun day on April 15th from 1-5pm at Griffith park. To sign up, contact:

Meghan Crawford at dr.meghancrawford@gmail.com

3) Applications are available to sign up for MSLP! More information here: http://www.goeshow.com/asha/mslp/2011/

March Meeting Notes

Here's our meeting notes for March!

Thanks to Diane Collins and Mitch Holden for coming!

March Mtg Notes
03/08/11
Guest: Diane Collins (CSHA President) and Mr. Holden
www.csha.org

• Announcements
• Autism Walk, April 23rd
• join here: http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=442586&lis=1&kntae442586=6A9703936DEA4476A71068660C84A096&team=4014439&tlteam=0
• Guest speakers: Mr. Holden (part of District 6) and Diane Collins
• Joining CSHA
• help at the upcoming convention March 24-27 at the Los Angeles Biltmore
• opportunities to help out
• there’s a student luncheon
• on the 25th of the convention there's a district reception where students receive scholarships that they applied for
• free president reception with food and a classic rock band afterward
• on 26th there’s a student luncheon where the students who received scholarships get acknowledged again
• be a Student Representative
• contact janice@csun.edu for more information
• to volunteer at the CSHA convention and let her know you want to help
• or contact Diane Collins: slpdicollins@aol.com
• can work at the state level or district level
• can possibly be in the state board
• Mr. Holden works for District 6
• Why get involved?
• room for professional growth
• good networking (e.g. get help making goals, get new connect ions etc)
• go to www.csha.org
• can see quarterly highlights
• see resources of opportunities for students and SLPAs
• get legislative updates (from Robert Powell) for professional development at calendar events
• one upcoming event is the Survivor Symposium (for students) at Chapman University
• you get subscribed to the CSHA magazine
• if you go to the CSHA convention you can get a reduced rate for CSHA membership
• there’s an Ambassador Program
• if you have a friend join, you get 10 points.
• each 10 points is a gift certificate
• if you get 5 friends to join, that’s one year CSHA membership
• 10 friends= one free convention registration
• Mitchell Holden
• responsible for District 6 (includes Los Angeles area)
• several legislatures of CSHA are responsible for protecting our profession
• CSHA is a great place for networking.
• Mr. Holden started to be a member in CSHA in San Francisco
• was mentored by many people and had several opportunities
• every job he received was due to his networking in CSHA
• great camaraderie
• use to work in the hospitals and presently works in the schools
• CSHA provides great discounts for conventions and CSHA workshops
• contact for more information: mholdenslp@msn.com
• If interested in going to the CSHA convention
• join by Thursday for the discounted rate (preregistration $110 for all 4 days; and after Thursday: $145)
• can sign up at www.csha.org
• Join CSHA as a student for $35
• get professional growth and opportunities
• can join online www.csha.org
• Student scholarship program
• this past year 5 scholarships were rewarded
• look for upcoming scholarship programs later this spring
• these are due by September 25, 2011

Newsletter Winter 2011

Greetings!

Check out our newsletter made by our lovely newsletter editors, Victoria and Tiffany!

Newsletter

Good luck on finals and your last quarter papers!

March 2011 Meeting!

Howdy folks!!

Here are the details about our upcoming meeting next week!

When: Tuesday, March 8th @ 6pm
Where: KH B4016
What: California Speech-Language-Hearing Association (CSHA) president, Diane Collins, SLP will talk about the benefits of joining a professional organization.

Cool links to click on!
1) Here's our FB invite to this meeting: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=183709131671679
2) LIKE our FB page! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=183709131671679#!/pages/Nsslha-at-Csula/188094447878024
3) Our nifty blog: http://nsslhacsula.blogspot.com/
4) Our Autism Walk (April 23rd) group you can join: http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=442586&lis=1&kntae442586=6A9703936DEA4476A71068660C84A096&team=4014439&tlteam=0

Autism Walk April 23rd!

Hello again!!!

A lot of you have been asking how to join our team for the Autism Walk on April 23rd. Here are the details on how to join:

1. Go to: http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=442586
2. Find "Join or Support a Team) and type in: "CSULA" and press Submit
3. Click: CSULA National Student Speech Language Hearing Association
4. Click Join Our Team and you're in!!

Hope to see a lot of you with us at the walk!

February 15th Meeting Notes

Hello you guys!!

Our meeting was a success! Thanks so much to all of you that made it and especially to our guest speaker Gwendolyn Meier.

As always, here are our notes from the meeting:

February 15, 2011 NSSLHA Meeting

Guest Speaker:
Gwendolyn Meier, MA, CCC-SLP, MT-BC
Speech Therapist & Music Therapist
gmeier@villaesperanzaservices.org

• Announcements
• CASHA: conference for March 24th
• you can volunteer and go there for free (must be a CASHA member)
• CASHA president is coming to our March meeting
• Autism Walk on April 23rd (Saturday) starts at 10am at the Rose Bowl
• join our team at: http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=442586
• search for our team “CSULA”
• team goal of $2000
• LIKE our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Nsslha-at-csula/188094447878024

Gwendolyn:

• Works for Villa Esperanza Services School
• the clinic is open for the public
• opened primarily to students who attend this school
• several services are provided here including speech language therapy
• can LIKE Villa Esperanza on Facebook
• COMMUNICATION IN AUTISM
• Villa Esperanza primarily serves children with moderately to severely disabled children; several have Autism and are non-verbal.

• Autism

• is a neurological disorder that affects 1 in 150 or less births; 4:1 boys: girls
• no single cause- multiple, unknown factors combined

• -perhaps there are genetic and environmental factors

• defined by behavior- no medical test for autism
• no cure
• severity falls on a spectrum

• -there’s high functioning (like Aspergers)

• various treatments options
• the earlier you can get good intervention, the better
• Difficulties in:

• Social interaction (difficulty with eye contact, sharing enjoyment, reciprocity
• Communication (language delay, lack of make-believe play challenge in back-and-forth conversation
• Behavior (repetitive, insistence on sameness)
• it’s not Schizophrenia

• Symptoms and Characteristics
• Social interaction
• differences in: sharing/showing (don’t share and show,) connecting with others (do not connect with others), relationships/emotional reciprocity
• differences in social-imitative play
• back-and-forth play: children with autism tend to play around other kids and not with others
• differences in using language like others do
• to share interests
• to give and seek information (tend to not ask, “What’s that?”)
• Communication
• differences in understanding expectations
• waiting your turn, keeping hands to yourself, etc.
• reasoning of why things are done is usually lost
• differences in understanding and using nonverbal communication (point, shrug, hand signal, facial expressions, tone of voice)
• differences in learning and using language like others do
• i.e., children with autism tend to get into their own dialogues over the past
• for example like the movie in Temple Grandin
• Temple had autism who got her Phd in Agriculture and Cattling
• She learned through pictures
• differences in make-believe (using one object for another,) social-imitative play , and conversation
• abstract concepts
• dates, time
• why? how?
• can’t answer why and how questions
• emotions
• What will happen if? What can you do to help?
• hypotheticals and inferences are difficult
• Social interaction
• differences in seeing others’ point of view, making and keeping friends (i.e., sharing, doing what others want to do)
• Behavior
• differences in preoccupation with parts of objects
• i.e., instead of driving a toy car, the child may just spin the wheels only
• differences in motor mannerisms (flapping hands, stimming, etc.) and sensory sensitivities (do not like getting dirty, sensitive to light and sound)
• differences in
• intensity of focus
• i.e., focus on bubbles themselves except for asking for bubbles to be blown
• inflexible routines
• self-control/impulsivity
• Helping people with Autism
• More than Words Hanen program
• designed for children with autism
• TIPS: say less, and stress and go slow and show
• Say less:
• keep it simple but grammatical (i.e., “Turn page,” to “Turn the page.” This provides an intact model.)
• be direct and tell what TO do (don’t use negative words and direct them to what they should do)
• Stress:
• highlight the most important words (sometimes say the target word at the end)
• repetition
• carrier phrases, “The __ is ___.”
• Go slow:
• add pauses (allow for auditory processing time)
• be natural (use natural prosodic speech pattern)
• and Show
• provide a model
• provide pictures (like a choice board)
• provide a video
• can use an iPod application Model Me Kid (free)
• most children with autism are visual learners
• Choice boards
• these are pictures options
• which do you want? (break, book, toys, etc)
• Cue Cards- receptive and expressive
• Remind them what to DO and/or to SAY in a given setting or activity
• Social Stories online
• http://www.thewatsoninstitute.org/teacher-resources2.jsp?pageid=2161392240601226415747290
• example categories include: anger, at home, friends, upsetting behaviors, school routines, self control, sensory needs
• Increasing expression
• can use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
• may supplement existing speech or replace speech that is not functional (ASHA)
• Visually-based communication
• picture exchange communication (PECs)
• exchange pictures for communication
• a low tech AAC system (without batteries)
• voice output devices
• GoTalk 4+
• Tech Talk 32
• touch screens
• Prentke-Romich (PRC) Vantage Life
• Dynavox V
• Apple iPod touch and iPad
• ProLoQuo2Go
• TouchChat HD by Silver Kite
• Resources Online:
• http://www.specialed.us/index.html
• Villa Esperanza Services
• event on Saturday February 26, 2011
• will be at Autism Walk on April 23rd at the Rose Bowl
• can get free bags
• look for jobs
• games and prizes for kids

• Autism Certificate
• requires 4 classes
• see Special Education Department at CSULA on the first floor of King Hall

• Autism Info Handout