Candace's Chronicles : ASHA 2012: Evidence of Excellence

Monday, November 19, 2012

ASHA 2012: Evidence of Excellence

     Last week, my friend Becky and I had the opportunity to attend the annual American Speech-Language Hearing Association Convention. This year it was located in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia World Congress Center. The theme was Evidence of Excellence. Thursday morning's opening ceremony featured Maya Angelou as the keynote speaker. She recited several of her poems and told stories of her childhood. She was very positive and inspiring. The rest of the activities included attending several sessions of our choosing to earn continuing education units. I attended sessions relating to autism, pediatric voice therapy, vocabulary building, dysphagia, etc. I really enjoyed most of the sessions and learned several new ideas I look forward to implementing in my therapy sessions!
     On Friday evening, the main event was the presentation of the Annie Glenn Award to congresswoman Gabby Giffords. I heard John Glenn, Annie Glenn, Mark Kelly, and Gabby Giffords speak. It was very inspiring and touching to hear their stories and words of encouragement to us as speech-language pathologists. Annie Glenn had difficulty with stuttering her entire life. This affected her life in every way. Her husband stated that she could not even make a phone call or read to her children. She received intensive therapy at Hollins University. Her husband said she called him for the first time and that for the first time ever he heard her say more than four words without stuttering. They then introduced Gabby Giffords who was able to walk on stage with assistance from her husband. She said, "People with aphasia get better. I'm getting better." It was a very touching moment. I think we all walked out feeling validated in our chosen profession.
     I really enjoyed going to the convention. It was fun and exhausting at the same time, ha. The Congress Center is huge and we traversed it back and forth for two and a half days! It was an excellent opportunity for continued learning and networking with other SLPs. There were so many people there from all over the U.S. and it was interesting to talk to them. I look forward to attending future ASHA Conventions!