Good news alumni near and far, this year's ASHA Convention, the premier annual event for speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists is coming to you. Join more than 12,000 of your peers for this once-a-year opportunity at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado from November 12–14, 2015, as we celebrate our 2015 theme, Changing minds. Changing Lives. Leading the way. 

ASHA announced that, In the spirit of the 2015 Convention theme—"Changing minds. Changing lives. Leading the way," we're happy to welcome, as a keynote speaker, Stanford psychologist and bestselling author Kelly McGonigal, PhD.

Dr. McGonigal is passionate about translating leading-edge research from psychology, neuroscience, and medicine into practical strategies for health, happiness, and personal success. Her audio series, "The Neuroscience of Change," merges the newest scientific findings with contemplative wisdom to give listeners an innovative process for transformation. In her book, The Upside of Stress, Dr. McGonigal unites trailblazing discoveries on the "correlation between resilience—the human capacity for stress-related growth—and mindset, the power of beliefs to shape reality." She explores the concept that embracing stress can actually make us stronger, smarter, and happier.

Connect with friends near and far. We're counting on SLHS Alums to give fellow convention visitors a Big Rocky Mountain Welcome. Shortly SLHS will announce details on a special gathering planned for alumni from Colorado and surrounding areas.  

For more information and program details, go to The 2015 ASHA Convention site 

Kate Connell, MA, CCC-SLP, Director of Therapy at Columbine Therapy Services, Lemay Avenue Health and Rehab Facility, Ft. Collins, CO has announced SLP job openings in the per diem pool and a possible regular part-time to full-time SLP position. They would consider a CF for the regular position and per diem positions IF you are doing a fellowship elsewhere full time. "Columbine has been a leader in providing long term care and services since 1971. Their locally owned and operated health care continuum offers a spectrum of services including; independent living, assisted living, rehabilitation, skilled nursing facilities, medical equipment, pharmacy services, home care, hospice care, and care for those with memory impairment." (from website)

Columbine Health Systems

Management Office

802 West Drake Road, Suite 101

Fort Collins, CO 80526

800-718-2164

         See Employment Details

The Colorado Arts and Sciences magazine recently featured an article on SLHS Professor Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, highlighting her groundbreaking research on newborn hearing screening. Dr. Yoshinaga-Itano's research became a catalyst in establishing screening programs and guidelines for early detection and intervention across the nation. 

In 1997, Dr. Yoshinaga-Itano's research, which expanded upon the pioneering work by Dr. Marion Downs, convinced the Colorado Legislature to pass one of the Nation’s first laws mandating universal-newborn-hearing screening. Christie was the first to demonstrate that early intervention with infants who had hearing loss as a single disability, resulted in an 80% success rate for maintaining age-appropriate language development and intelligible speech in the first five years of life. Standard newborn hearing screening programs suggested by her work are now in all 50 states. In addition to Dr. Yoshinaga's work in the U.S., she has provided support to many countries advancing their own early hearing detection and intervention programs, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Korea, Belgium, Poland, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, Philippines, and South Africa. Recently, she also traveled to China to help audiologists with the infrastructure to improve their services and outcomes.

In 2004, Dr. Yoshinaga-Itano was honored by the Lake Drive Foundation for Children Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Mountain Lakes, N.J. , for her ground breaking research which revolutionized early diagnosis and intervention strategies for infants. For further details and more information on newborn hearing tests, see the original Colorado Arts and Sciences magazine article by Clint Talbott. Congratulations Dr. Yoshinaga-Itano!

From the CU Alumni Website: The CU Alumni Association has more than 50 chapters and affinity groups around the World. Local chapters host a variety of events from family-friendly outings to Buff watch parties at the best local bar. As an alum, get involved by recruiting top students in your area or participating in volunteer opportunities with other Buffs. As a student, you can network with alums and share your experiences with prospective students through events like Senior Sendoffs.

Click on the interactive Google Map below to locate chapters.

CSHA Spring Conference and Job Fair will be held May 4th, 2015 at Children's Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. 

For more details see the BROCHURE. 

SLHS Clinical offeringsfor Spring 2015 at SLHS are diverse and include therapy options for preschoolers, adolescents and adults. Categories for preschool to adolescent groups address speech and language, language and literacy, social language or diagnostice services. For adults, group therapy options include voice and speech; memory, attention and problem solving; reading for post stroke and brain injury; English as a second language; hearing loss; adult language and cognitive assessment; adult speech and voice assessment; and individual therapy. Click on either link below for details of each program and contact information. 

According to an Advanced Healthcare survey and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, SLPs and AUDs "stack up" somewhere in middle-to-high salary range when compared to our collegues across the nation. Results also shed light on on where we are employed across the US. Visit AH or BLS for more information on gender make-up, director and manager status, degrees and more. Another interesting source of employment information regarding number and location of professionals in your local region is Google maps. To browse, enter [your state] speech pathologists or audiologists on the Google maps site...look for the red dots! Of course Google numbers are more related to who is more assertive in advertising. 

Dr. Ramsberger also announced that Professor Lorraine Olson Ramig is transitioning from her tenure track academic Professor post to a Research Professor line. Dr. Ramig obtained a Doctorate in Speech Science from Purdue University. In addition to her Professorship at SLHS, she holds positions of Senior Scientist at the National Center for Voice and Speech, Denver, CO and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, New York City. She is Co-founder of LSVT Global, a socially responsible business with a mission to empower people with Parkinson disease (PD) through evidence-based speech, physical and occupational therapy programs. LSVT Global seeks to translate clinical treatment research directly to public health practice thus increase accessibility. In her new position, Dr. Ramig will focus on both advancing the mission of LSVT Global and her research program on voice treatment for Parkinson disease, which has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for over 20 years. She has also been involved in teaching and student supervision at undergraduate and graduate levels for over 25 years and has presented to audiences internationally, bringing distinction to the SLHS Department. Congratulations Dr. Ramig!

                                                                                       

Sue McCord, former faculty and Director of the Child Learning Center at SLHS, underwent mitral valve repair on March 19, 2014 at Boulder Community Hospital. The procedure was a success and Sue continues to gain her strength with the help of family and friends. Current reports relay that she is resting well and may be able to go home tomorrow (3/31/14). Currently, according to relatives, "Her numbers are good, her color is good [and] she gets out of bed to do some walking each day." Sheila Goetz, another former SLHS faculty and clinical supervisor and close colleague of Sue's set up a communication tool through Caring Bridge website where Sue gets many notes of encouragement from well-wishers. Sheila reports that Sue has been energized by it and appreciates the support. Sue will be home soon and with continued help from friends and family will no doubt continue her journey back to good health.

She has taught preschool and kindergarten,as well as early childhood courses at all three universities, and led workshops across the country. She is a firm believer in the value of understanding and supporting children's creative play and the rich experience of "living" and learning through children's stories. Sue's book, The Storybook Journey: Pathways to Learning through Story and Play came out in second edition in 2011. A graduate of Wheelock College and the State University of New York, she also directed laboratory preschools at Cornell and Denver University and was interviewed for our website a while back. That interview can be seen HERE. 

You can also access the Storybook Journey: Pathways to Learning Facebook page and say Hi. We wish you continued progress Sue and look forward to hearing from you soon!

Adam's Camp is a Denver-based nonprofit organization created to provide a variety of intensive, personalized and integrated therapeutic programs for children with special needs and their families.  Our therapists are among the very best. At Adam’s Camp, they find a unique opportunity to work together with therapists from a variety of disciplines to help each child reach their potential.

Job Title:  Speech-Language Pathologist on multi-disciplinary team

Hours:  9:00 am Day 1 – 9:00 am Day 7 (week-long session)

Salary:  Week-long session rate based on experience (therapists are hired as temporary employees)  

Location:  Summer sessions are held at YMCA of the Rockies – Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, CO.

Qualifications Necessary:  CCC-SLP

Population served: Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder (including PDD-NOS and Asperger’s), genetic syndromes or chromosomal disorders, and other developmental disabilities that affect language, mobility, learning, and/or daily living skills.
Sessions with availability:

June 16-22 (Autism spectrum)

June 23-29 (Autism spectrum)

July 7-14 (Developmental delay)

July 14-20 (Down syndrome)

July 28-August 3 (Developmental delay)

Brief description of position and duties:  Therapists are responsible for providing one-on-one intensive therapy to the five children on their multi-disciplinary team.  The therapy day runs 8:30 am -2:30 pm; afternoons/evenings are dedicated to working with your team to develop goals, interventions, and strategies for success for each camper.  Therapists are hired for one week sessions. Accommodations and dinners are provided.  Therapist must secure reliable transportation to and from camp.