NSSLHA Meeting 2/28/12

Texas Speech and Hearing Association (TSHA) Convention

Where: San Antonio, TX
When: March 8-10 (1st weekend of Spring Break)

Details:
- Cost: $75 - (reimbursed by NSSLHA if you attend 4 of the info sessions)
- Hotel arrangements are being made, so let Lauren know if you are coming to TSHA by TONIGHT! lbacom@hotmail.com
- The sessions give lots of info on things going on in the field of CSD and what SLPs and Audiologists are doing in their practices, in research, and in their communities.
- It is incredibly informative!!!
-If you are going to TSHA we will meet NEXT Tuesday March 6 in UTC 3.134

Announcements:
- Dues were due at this meeting
- Explore UT is this Saturday

NSSLHA Meeting 2/14/12

Announcements: Fundraiser/Social this Thursday @ Pluckers! 6-midnight!

At meeting we had 2 representatives from Bilinguistics come by and tell us about their practice and about being bilingual in communications sciences and disorders...

Biliguistics

- Started in 2002

- Provide service to bilingual children and families

@ Mopac and Spicewood Springs

- Have 7 therapy rooms

** If you are interested in observation or volunteering they would love to have you!

Direct Services:

- School Districts

- Early Childhood Intervention Programs

- Clinic

- Home-based services

Some of the things they do:

- Early childhood intervention services – mostly home-based

- School services

- Continuing education courses

- SMILE Publication

- Marketing – they have facebook, twitter, and slideshare

- Research

- SMILE Preschool initiated

- Lit Kits – draws in reading to the therapy sessions, homeworks and pre-reading activities that encompass morphology, syntax, semantics etc.

- The State of Texas Autism Project

- State of Texas ECI Training on Bilingualism

- IPAD App – Bilingual and Phonology Assessment (BAPA)

- Austin SMILES – they have teamed up with a nonprofit here in Austin that does cleft palate surgeries in Nicaragua, El Salvador, And Guatemala – help set up a plan for those children – there is an endowment at UT to send masters students on the trips

Additional Info:

• Work in homes and schools
• Have developed their own materials
• Have done research with Dr. Byrd
• there is no bilingual certification in the state of TX, but currently there is a set of standards issued by TSHA (native or near native proficiency, and awareness of cultural differences and development)
• They also serve languages other than Spanish – 8 different languages last year – they use interpreters.
• Here at UT Liz Pena, Lisa Bedore, and Li Sheng are all doing research concerning bilingualism.
• School of Kinesiology and School of Education are both doing work with Autism and bilingualism.

Some of the continuing education courses:

- Live workshops for : School districts, TX regional education services centers, ECI Programs, Private clinics

- Boot camp on Bilingualism and Multiculturalism

- Presentations at TSHA

- Online Continuing Education Courses

- Wednesday Webinars

Biliguistics.com

- a ton of resources to look through