RU contingent to make presence felt at statewide Communication Sciences and Disorders convention

RU faculty and graduate students will make a series of research presentations at the upcoming Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia (SHAV) "Ideas. Imagination. Innovation."  conference in Williamsburg, Va., on March 19-22.

Of 51 sessions and short courses at the annual event, eight will feature research from RU's Communication Sciences and Disorders (COSD) Department. Whitney White, a second-year graduate student, will also be recognized as one of the organization's 2014 College Foundation Award winners.

SHAV is the professional association representing speech-language pathologists and audiologists in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

To open the conference, an RU team led by Corey Cassidy, associate dean of the Waldron College of Health and Human Services and COSD associate professor, will present a session on the integration of music and speech-language pathology in early childhood intervention. The presentation is based on the work done within the 2013 Preschool Language Lab, a summer program for toddlers and preschool-aged children who have identified communication disorders or are at risk of failing to develop strong communication skills. Co-presenting with Cassidy will be graduate students Jaclyn Garrish, Lauren Lawson, Jillian Ramsey, Benjamin Shelburn and Michelle Walker.

For a presentation titled "Project Sprout: Reaching Young Children Experiencing Homelessness through Parent Education" and based on a pilot project undertaken to intervene with families dealing with developmental challenges and homelessness, Cassidy will be joined by graduate students Breanne Boyle, Morgan Taylor and White. White and Cassidy will also present a poster on the effects of motivation and training schedule on self-efficacy and knowledge. The study is based on White’s thesis, which focused on quality assurance of the Project Sprout training modules implemented in 2013. In an Early Intervention, Student Interest session, Cori Hill and Dana Childress, training specialists from the Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University, will join Cassidy for a presentation titled "Get Off the Floor! Early Intervention Where Everyday Magic Happens."

Elizabeth Lanter, assistant professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and White will present a school age session, titled "Are You Still Not Addressing Reading and Writing?"  Graduate Student Annu Kuriakose will join Lanter for another school-age session titled, "Autism Interventions Beyond Talking: It's Time to Include Literacy."

Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders Raymond Linville will make two presentations. In the multi-interest category, he will present "Further Convincing the Public about the Risks of Smoking" and in the speech-language pathology category he will review the laryngeal traumas due to smoke inhalation. WCHHS Dean Ken Cox will also be presenting and serving on a panel that will focus on neural hearing loss.