A Heated Debate... And Mandarin Chinese

The debate over standardized vs. informal assessments went really well. The points people were making were valid. From doing this debate, you could really see the controversy over this issue. I realized after thinking about which assessment I would prefer, that I don’t know many types of authentic assessments besides language sampling and observation. I am curious as to what authentic assessments clinicians can perform or use, other than observation in a school setting. I believe both forms of assessment are necessary. Standardized assessments are needed for insurance companies, and authentic assessments allow the clients to demonstrate skills that are realistic and meaningful. They also contribute more to carryover. It was interesting to see my colleagues, first argue for only either standardized or authentic assessment, and then towards the end, some people were drifting to the opposite side. This shows how controversial this issue is, and how difficult it would be to rely on one measure. The video clips were humorous although they did not directly relate to speech. Overall, I thought it was a good turnout.

            My article that I shared with a few students in class was about the effects of a tutoring package (that consists of modeling and prompting), on the pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese. I always knew that Chinese was one of the hardest languages to learn because sounds represent characters and not all sounds have different meanings. That sounds confusing. This case study was performed on a college student who was enrolled in a first year Chinese class. In the class, he had mastered the writing of Chinese characters. The package included pre-tutoring, tutoring and post-tutoring. Results indicated that adding tutoring caused progress in pronunciation of Chinese characters. The results make sense, as getting additional help in any area would be beneficial. Chinese was not offered in my high school until last year. I believe the reason for this was people were not interested in taking Chinese, as Spanish was considered one of the most popular languages to learn. I think the difficulty was also a factor. This article was a good way to learn about single subject design, and the terms that go along with it, such as method of data analysis. I hope to read other similar articles. 

Evidence-Based Practice

                                   

            Evidence- Based practice is crucial in our field, as we try to determine the best treatment plan for our clients. I agree with the integration of the components of evidence-based practice as a means of providing the best treatment.  A clinician would be unable to provide the best treatment for his or her client if one component was missing. However, out of all three components, I believe client values and interests are very important. You can have all of the research and devise a treatment plan, but the client will not improve if he or she is uninterested. Therefore, it is important to know what kinds of toys and games he or she likes, and what their needs are.

            The myth of clinicians staying current on every aspect of clinical practice was one I had a hard time with. I feel as though Nazareth College speech undergrads are highly motivated, and driven to want to learn as much at they can. But I know in reality, there are not enough minutes in a day and enough energy in the human to stay on top of every aspect.

            In terms of evidence-based practice in the schools, I think it can be hard because SLP’s can very easily have a full caseload of students, on top of talking to parents, going to meetings, and planning. When is there time to do anything else? It seems to me that SLP’s have one of the hardest working jobs, yet it's the most fulfilling.  Evidence-based practice is just another add on to our “to do lists.” 

Technology can’t rid us of our SLP’s! (Found a great video on YouTube)

Willie Brown and the Fast ForWord Story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBkJvXsebXI&feature=related

The Fast ForWord-Language program cannot replace SLP’s. Although studies have shown that children have made improvements, the conditions of the study were not realistic, and it won’t be beneficial for carryover. This program can be a great reward after a therapy session, or be instituted into homework, but if children and their families want real solid results, the one on one intensive therapy done by an SLP will always be the best way for these individuals to succeed and make substantial progress.

            I can see the other side of the debate however. The program can be enticing to parents because it keeps the child occupied, as most children love computer games, and there are minimal expenses. This program may be beneficial for children with mild impairments. However, I think as communication majors, these children need routine human interaction. Children will not take computer games seriously, or they may not see it as an educational piece to their learning. If kids are with adults and teachers, they are in a more serious situation; therefore, they will pay attention, do their work, and see the importance behind the learning.

            Although I strongly believe speech therapy should always be with an SLP, there are stories out there in which individuals have improved because of this program.  I found a video on YouTube, about a young boy named Willie Brown who was told he had severe dyslexia, and he would never be able to read.  His teachers did not have the patience, time and resources to help him. Willie went to a different school to try the Fast ForWord Program.  He showed improvement after the 4^th and 5^th weeks of listening to sounds, after reading the newspaper to his grandfather, a task he did every week.  I liked this video because it shows this program can work. Does it replace speech language pathologists? I still don’t believe so. Clients need to know the methods behind the therapy and they need to be taught the strategies in order to produce the sounds correctly. I don't think the program should be ruled out, however Fast ForWord should not be the only means to speech therapy.

"What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

I found the film, “Confronting the Myth,” both hysterical and an eye opener. Keith Jones’ presentation was captivating the entire time, as he shared his experiences with us. I found him to be a comedian, yet realistic as well. I think the overall point he was trying to make during the film, was to inform us that we have these false preconceived notions that a person with a disability is helpless. They are unable to speak, hear, and are dependent on everyone else.  He goes on to say that a person with a disability is not human. They don’t exist. I agree with his statement, “They’re not just people with disabilities; they’re mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, teachers, doctors, etc.” Too many of us focus only on the disability, which they use to define that person. This is why we have to say the person with the disability, rather than, “He’s autistic.” Saying that someone is autistic eliminates the human being behind the disability.  One of his myths that struck me was how people with disabilities are unable to go to college. I then put myself in his shoes. If someone ever said that to me, those words would be enough to motivate me to achieve anything. And then I’d go back to that person after finishing college, and shove my diploma in their face. I liked when he said,  "No one has the right to take your dream away.” I believe this is true in any situation, not just with people with disabilities. Something I never knew or thought of before was the two schools of thought for people with disabilities. Some people with disabilities are angry and feel as though it’s a sense of loss, while others are told from the beginning, they could never or never will do something. I feel that it would be harder for someone to acquire a disability later in life, after having experiences that are suddenly taken away from you. I found it shocking to hear Keith explain about his high school experience with his teachers calling them crippled. If you called someone crippled today in school, I feel as though it would not go over very well, as times have changed. It was even more interesting to find that Keith and his friends did not think of themselves as handicapped. They were teenagers, in high school and graduating, but they never thought of themselves as cripples or handicapped, because it did not define them. My favorite two lines from the video were, “stupidity should be a disability,” and “disabilities challenge people’s morality.” Although I find the first quote to be funny, I think people are poorly educated with the topic of disabilities, and how to act around people with disabilities. I was never educated in high school and up until college did I learn about people with disabilities. I think it would be beneficial for children to learn about disabilities starting in high school or even earlier. The second quote was a favorite of mine because I think it ties back to those preconceived notions. People have previously thought those with disabilities as being dependent, unable to speak, unable to go to college, hold a job, have kids, etc. With the changing times, I hope people are becoming more aware of how they should treat people with disabilities, and seeing the human first, instead of the disability. 

Journal Entry 1: The Bridge, "R Word," and much more...

            After reading “The Bridge,” and the controversy that exists with the satire Tropic Thunder, I agree with the article, in which the movie is very offensive to people with disabilities. However, I think protesters and self advocates go too far, and make it a bigger deal than it has to be. Protestors or persons with disabilities are allowed to be upset at the movie, but these people ridicule the actors of the movie, and Hollywood. I agree with Neil Miller from CNN, who says that you can be upset over this movie, however holding Hollywood accountable for this issue is going too far. Perhaps I feel this way because I am an individual without disabilities and I am unable to relate, but the movie is a satire. A satire uses irony and sarcasm to expose or “make fun of” social and government issues, types of people, etc. The film Tropic Thunder is a satire; therefore the directors and producers are allowed to do what they please. In the movie, sarcasm was used to attacked people with disabilities. I do feel as though the movie is very offensive, but that is why it’s called a satire. If you do not agree with what the movie is portraying, then don’t watch it. I agree with what Tim Shriver of the Special Olympics said, in that films can become a part of our culture and people tend to repeat lines that they’ve heard from movies. This reminds me of the movie Napoleon Dynamite. Although the film was not a satire, words like “Heck yes,” and lines like, “Tina you fat lard, come and get it,” were repeated in my high school all the time. Lines from movies are frequently repeated, and many can become offensive, whether it’s intentional or not. In the section, called “The Power of Words Plays Out on the Radio,” Michael Savage describes children with autism. His words to describe these children, such as “brat,” and “moron” made my skin crawl. If I was an individual with autism, I would be furious.


        Katherine Snow believes “people first language” is important. This is because there are too many instances when people talk about the problems or disabilities people have rather than positive aspects of that person. When this happens, people are creating negative images about someone. Instead, the person should always come before the disability. People with disabilities should gain the same respect and courtesy as everyone else.


Some examples of non person first are “She is autistic,” “She has a problem hearing,” or Ben can’t talk.”


       I used to say the “R” word when I was in middle school. However, I did not know what the word really meant. As I got older, I used it much less because I had a better understanding of what it meant and how it could possibly make others feel. Since I’ve been at school, I have never used the “r” word because as a speech major, you are more than likely going to interact with people who have disabilities. If I heard others repeatedly say the word, I am not sure if I would go up to those individuals and tell them how inappropriate, rude and hurtful the word can be. I feel as though it is my place to say something, however when put into those situations, I may not have the guts to go up to a stranger.