The Orlando shuffle

Here at the 2014 ASHA convention. What is your goal? Why are you here? What will you get out of 3-4 days of sitting in large and cold lecture halls, then dashing down corridors and fighting large waves of fellow travelers - ? I really did ask myself those questions, the day before the Convention had begun. A Convention Center hugely dependent upon Florida car culture - not that accessible by foot or by mass transit. Unless you were housed at one of the nearby Convention hotels, connected by either footbridge or shuttle bus, - it was a car commute through rather messy rush hour traffic. Ahhhhhh - but I was not driving: the Convention Center emerging from the swampy foreground; my hands rifling quickly through the canvas bag holding my convention tools: badge on lanyard, legal pad, convention program, and some high energy snacks for those mid-afternoon blood sugar crashes. The ride screeches to the drop off point, and like a Navy Seal you VAULT out and briskly stride into the convention center hallways. This formula has worked well for at least the past fifteen years at ASHA Conventions. This daily inter-session spring is a major undertaking: suddenly swerving swarms of professionals who are clustering, zooming and buzzing between meetings - coming straight at me! YIKES! Luckily my years of speed walking through the Chicago Loop District, dodging and passing commuters and others to and from work; - that skill has held me in good stead. WHOOPS SORRY....! But, the questions. I have been practicing speech-language pathology for over 30 years. What could the Convention do for me, at this stage of my career?? My first ASHA convention was in 1974, in Las Vegas. ASHA has not held a convention in that city after 1974. What effects have the years brought on the profession - and on me?

There are advances in pure and applied research that need be reviewed. For example, life participation approaches to neurogenic disorders like aphasia: how - in spite of being chronically and perhaps, severely disabled from brain damage that limits your speech and language, you are out living life to get the highest quality you can. Such as, participating in book clubs or computer clinics. Surface EMG for dysphagia, means that swallow functions are often trainable with the biofeedback capacity of this unit. And, because of proposed changes for reimbursement by Medicare for "speech generating devices" (SGD's), persons without the use of speech for everyday communication are deprived of technology that limit the quality of their lives. These examples are only a few of the hundreds of topics that were covered in Convention sessions. Why aren't the data obtained from the sessions in this blog post? 

This is a blog, with the content more the observations and opinions of the writer than a strict reportage of the events. I feel that life participation approaches are one of the best collections of tools and resources for SLP. If you accept that persons with aphasia can ultimately have vital roles in the life of their communities, even with chronic problems communicating - then you have ultimately some exciting career options, in giving assist to these people in real world environments. Treating swallowing issues with surface EMG allows the clinician and the person served to obtain rapid data series, to immediately judge the effectiveness of treatment trials. Did you know that persons with SGD's who had previously had full control of the computers unlocked by the dealer - that the persons will LOSE that capability, with the new Medicare regulations fully implemented?

There are numerous social and professional events, in addition to the educational sessions at Convention. It is the annual 'gathering of the clan', after all. Some of the changes over the years are more accommodating than others: the opening session pre-empts lectures for the initial 90 minutes of the first day; the box lunches that can be ordered for pickup each day in the exhibit hall; the shrinkage of the University open house parties, and the total elimination of the Convention dance! Through it all, Convention remains a don't miss event each year. It is my annual vacation time. It is my professional recharging time. It is also my professional growth time, as I have presented papers on horticulture, swallow screening and aphasia pharmacotherapy at ASHA. When November comes around, my canvas bag is packed and I'm ready to go.