Hear the Turtle Spring 2017

Issue: Spring 2017

Hear the Turtle The Newsletter for & about the University of Maryland Dept. of Hearing & Speech Sciences Alumni and Supporters

We l c o m e H E S P Te r p s !

Welcome to the online newletter of the UMD Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences! Take a peek to find out what our alumni, students, and department have been up to professionally and personally.

We h o p e t o h ave a c h a n c e t o h i g h l i g h t m a ny o f yo u i n f u t u re i s s u e s , s o p l e a s e v i s i t u s a t : g o . u m d . e d u /o g 3 a n d s h a re yo u r n e w s with us!

Table of Contents New alumni hires - Page 2 The impact of our supporters - Page 3 New initiatives: SIGNA & PEERSÂŽ - Page 4 Greetings from Clinical Professor Emerita Margaret McCabe - Page 5 More new hires - Page 6 Researchers & post-doctorates - Page 7 New initiatives: HESPIE - Page 8 New initiatives: Cultural & Linguistic Diversity - Page 9 Pictures from ASHA - Page 10 University of Maryland Autism Research Consortium - Page 12 Alumni Class notes - Page 13 McNair Students - Page 15 PEERS training opportunity - Page 16

Page1

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

New Alumni Hires The department of Hearing and Speech Sciences is thrilled to announce a number of new hires this year, three of whom are alumni of our own program!

Dr. Nicole (Craver) Nguyen is an Associate Clinical Professor, and our our new Clinical Director for Audiology. She is Board Certified in cochlear implants, and has provided care to patients of all ages at the University of Maryland Medical Center for the past 8 years.

Nicole received both her BA (2005) and her AuD (2009) from Maryland; she has been a regular supervisor for HESP students, as well as a regular classroom instructor in our programs, while working as clinic director at UMMC. We are delighted to have her return fulltime to HESP!

Dr. Keena (James) Seward is a new Assistant Clinical Professor in audiology. She is dual certified in both Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. Her clinical interests include hearing aids, pediatric and educational audiology, and aural (re)habilitation. Keena first came to Maryland as a BSOS Summer Research Intern, and then returned for her Au.D. (2011). She comes to us most recently from the New York School for the Deaf, and has been an adjunct instructor at two different institutions before returning to Maryland.

Sarah Mohl is our new part-time Director of Hearing and Speech Sciences in the Evening (HESPIE) post-baccalaureate program. (See story page 7). Sarah received her bachelor’s degree from Bucknell and her master’s degree from the University of Maryland in 2011. Since that time, she has worked for Montgomery County Public Schools, currently as a preschool diagnostician with Child Find. She completed post-bacclaureate work at UMD before earning her master’s, and she is excited that the HESPIE program is now able to provide this opportunity to more students.

2

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

The impact of our supporters

D

by Casey Gaskins

uring my years of undergraduate studies, I majored in Hearing and Speech Sciences and was afforded the opportunity to participate in intensive research programs as well as gain research experience working as an assistant in the Auditory Perception and Modeling Lab. I was selected as a Behavioral and Social Sciences Summer Research Initiative Scholar in my sophomore year, where I completed an eight-week research opportunity investigating the effects of aging and simulated hearing loss on degraded consonant perception.

Mentored by Dr. Matthew Goupell, I continued to attain research experience throughout my undergraduate career. The awards I received from generous donors over the years played a key role in my previous and current endeavors. I was awarded with funding from the Maryland Summer Scholars Program and the MCM Fund. hese awards provided the opportunity to work closely with faculty mentors in developing, implementing, and presenting collaborative research projects on aging and hearing loss. In my senior year of undergraduate studies, I became the first recipient of the Karen E. Young Memorial Scholarship. Although this scholarship was truly unexpected, the generosity of the donors encouraged me to move onward to a career in Audiology. Due to the kindCasey presenting her research ness of all donors who provided me with the financial support to pursue research, my work over the three years culminated in recognition by the University of Maryland as an Undergraduate Researcher of the Year, defense of my Honors Thesis titled “Effects of aging on the perception of words embedded in sentences in simulated cochlear implant listeners,” and presentation of my research findings at several conferences. The ability to present at the Mid-Atlantic Symposium on Hearing, the Aging and Speech Communication Conference, and the Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) proved invaluable toward developing a base knowledge and perspective of research in the field of Audiology. he support of donors throughout my undergraduate studies has advanced me toward a new stage in life.

This past fall, I continued my education at the University of Maryland as a graduate student in pursuit of my doctoral degree in Clinical Audiology. I now have the opportunity to work directly with patients who experience difficulties with hearing in hopes of providing the best possible care required to mediate impairments.

This upcoming February, I will return to ARO to present a poster on my current research project regarding “Temporal processing as a function of pulse rate and age: Behavior and electrophysiology.” here is no way to fully express my gratitude for the liberality of all donors who willingly contribute to the success of undergraduate and graduate students. Your repeated offers of kindness mean so much to all of us who are passionate about our prospective careers and desire to generate work that benefits the greater community. On behalf of previous and current scholars, I would truly like to extend my appreciation for all you have done.

T

T T

3

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

New initiatives: SIGNA & PEERS®

Kathy Dow-Burger (B.A. ’86, M.A. ’92)

L

ast fall, I asked a group of students in our new Social Interaction Group Network for UMD students with Autism (SIGNA), “What is it like living on campus as a college student with autism?” One student retorted, “It’s like being in another country and not knowing the language or the customs.” Another one chimed in more emphatically, “No! It’s like being an alien in a different planet!” These sentiments arose after the members were perplexed about how they could disclose their autism to their UMD classmates and professors. Higher order questions were written on the board with accompanying visuals and graphic organizers asking, “Why would this be important? How would you do it? Difficulties with perspective-taking compound their ability to answer these complex questions. I even wondered, how could anyone understand what they experience? As more and more teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) head toward that so called, service cliff after high school, many families are reaching a dead end or, at best, a series of hit or miss attempts to find help for their child. The University of Maryland Autism Research Consortium (UMARC) and Department of Hearing and Speech Clinic (HESP) have recognized this need to build a bridge from adolescence to young adulthood by providing the SIGNA program mentioned above, The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS ®) for teens, and PEERS® and Beyond (treatment focus is on executive functioning and advocacy skills). These programs were implemented within the last year in order to help young adults and teens with ASD successfully transition into and navigate life in higher education.

T

hrough UMARC’s Community Lectures about Autism Speaker Series (CLASS), co-director Nan Ratner and I have been listening to parents talk about the lack of services and supports for their children during this critical time. Parents attending CLASS shared that their teens’ high school programs seemed to help their child build independence through advocacy, executive functioning and social skills but they quickly realized these skills had not generalized to college. In retrospect, parents discovered that supports were so finely embedded into the high school curriculum that this inability to carry over these skills to new situations became quickly evident. They were unaware how much their young adult would struggle in higher education where a whole new set of expectations would have to be learned. Social and academic expectations were not only placed on their young adult, but new rules at the college level were placed on the parents as well. For instance, a variety of supports and therapies were no longer automatically available to the student upon entering college. Further, parents learned that they were limited in how they could advocate on behalf of their young adult; but that the young adult had to do this for himself. This was true even if the FERPA waiver (The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) was signed allowing parents’ permission to access their adult child’s academic information. All three new HESP clinic programs, SIGNA, PEERS® for teens, and PEERS® and Beyond help with the demands of college life. In systematic ways, they target social communication, executive functioning, and self-advocacy which eventually lead them toward independence.

W

ith the incidence of autism ever-increasing, so will the college enrollment and need for more intensive supports for college-bound teens and current college students with ASD. HESP is committed to serve as a training ground for speech-language pathology undergraduate and graduate students in this area. We have also recognized that continuing education opportunities related to this population is important for licensed and certified speech-language pathologists, other health-related professionals, and those working in higher education.

In response, we have invited UCLA’s Founder and Developer of PEERS® for teens and PEERS® for young adults, Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson, to present a 3-day certification seminar this summer at the University of Maryland. We are hoping the HESP alumni will join us in learning how to help students with ASD successfully navigate college life. Let’s eliminate this service cliff by building a bridge to college graduation and then to successful employment.

For more information about HESP’s PEERS® for teens & SIGNA, go to: go.umd.edu/teenpeers and go.umd.edu/signa

4

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

Greetings from Clinical Professor Emerita Margaret McCabe

I

hope my note finds you all well and happy.

It’s been just about 3 short months since I stepped away from my position as the Director of Clinical Education in Audiology in HESP. I was honored to be granted Clinical Professor Emerita status in October, 2016 so not only do I feel invited to keep my hand in, I’m likely to be able to find a parking space when I make it into campus. I’m feeling my way along gingerly. I think it likely that the transition from work and school that dates back to the age of 5 will take me a little longer than 3 months to broach but I am energized by the promise of new horizons. Most of you know about my love of travel. I have christened the beautiful luggage that you gave me as a parting gift from the Department with

Enjoying retirement

a couple jaunts to Ohio to visit family, as well as a two week trip to Palm Springs, and I have more plans in the offing. In the short term though, it’s obvious that I’ve become a bit of a gym rat. The YMCA in Montgomery County offers classes in Yoga (of all kinds) and Hip Hop and Dance Fusion, not to mention Strength and Stability. I can recommend it, along with sleeping in on many a day. I’ll look forward to seeing you in the halls of Lefrak, or in the occasional hearing aid training, or perhaps at a national meeting. It’s great to know you’re out there doing the good work of Hearing & Speech. Hope you have as much fun at it as I did!

5

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

More New Hires In addition to our alumni hires, we also are happy to welcome a number of brand new members to our HESP community!

Dr. Jan Edwards recently joined us from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; her research focuses on speech and language development in typically developing children from middleand low-SES families and in children with autism, and children with cochlear implants. In recent years, Dr. Edwards’ research has focused on the following areas: 1. interactions between phonological & lexical development; 2. lexical processing in children with typical & atypical language development; 3. language processing and school readiness in children who speak a non-mainstream dialect of English.

JosĂŠ Ortiz recently joining our department as the new director of our award-winning LEAP preschool. He received his M.A. in speech-language pathology from the University of Massachusetts, and has spent his career in New York City. He has served as a clinical supervisor at Hunter College and most recently as a faculty member at New York University with a focus on pediatric bilingual populations and tech-enhanced service delivery.

Dr. Marios Fourakis recently joined us from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he was a full Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. He has expertise in the acoustic characteristics of speech sounds across languages, with a particular interest in linking his research to technological advances (such as by identifying the best means of transferring information in the speech signal through a cochlear implant). Dr. Fourakis has a part-time appointment at the Center for Advanced Study of Language, as well as an affiliate appointment within the Department of Hearing & Speech Sciences.

6

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

Researchers and post-doctorates Dr. Hanin Karawani is an audiologist and speech pathologist, and has recently joined us from Israel. Currently, Hanin is a post-doctoral researcher working with Dr. Samira Anderson. Hanin is interested in behavioral and neural plasticity in individuals with hearing loss, focusing on the neural mechanisms underlying accurate speech perception. Her previous research indicates that after auditory training, hearing impaired older adults show some generalization to speech in noise tasks.

She hypothesizes that the plastic mechanisms that make this possible are in fact of a perceptual nature and related to cognitive resources rather than purely auditory. In a nutshell, she aims to provide insight to the mechanisms underlying efficient rehabilitation processes, to assess behavioral and neural changes in the function of central auditory structures and in the interactions among brain regions induced by auditory rehabilitation, and contribute to the future development of effective training regimens.

Dr. Lucy Erickson joined the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences as a postdoctoral researcher in January of 2016, following a postdoctoral fellowship at Georg-August Universtität GÜttingen, in Germany. In 2015, she earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University, with a focus on statistical regularity learning and infant language development. At the University of Maryland, she works with Dr. Rochelle Newman, the department chair, on projects focusing on how infants and children comprehend and learn from speech in the presence of background noise.

Dr. Olga Stackovskaya completed her M.D., Ph.D. and residency training in pediatric otolaryngology at the Russian State Medical University (Moscow, Russia). She did three years of postdoctoral training at the Univ. of Calif., San Francisco in the Dept. of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and stayed on as a researcher for 4 years, focusing on improving the survival of the spiral ganglion neurons in animal models. In 2015, she graduated from the HESP Au.D. program, where she studied sound lateralization in individuals with bilateral cochlear implants (CIs). She then joined a research team at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), working with Dr. Joshua Bernstein to study binaural advantages in individuals with single-sided deafness and a CI, as well as supporting the clinical studies of auditory and cognitive deficits in blast-exposed individuals. Recently, Dr. Stakhovskaya joined the lab of Dr. Goupell as an Associate Research Scientist. She also remains on the CI research team at WRNMMC and is working to promote collaborations between the two institutions.

Dr. Stefanno Cosentino has recently joined Dr. Matt Goupell’s lab to conduct research on bilateral cochlear implants. Stefano earned his PhD at the Ear Institute (UCL, London, UK) working on the topics of binaural hearing and speech enhancement. He later moved to Cambridge (UK) to do a 3-year postdoc where he performed psychophysical experiments with unilateral cochlear implants users on the topics of temporal pitch, masking and modelling of ECAPs. The focus of his current research at the University of Maryland is to establish ways to align the right and the left implants to improve the amount of information that can be processed by the brain.

7

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

New Initiatives: HESPIE post-baccalaureate program A college student’s worst nightmare: recognizing their true “calling” after it is far too late to abandon their current field of study. However, for those who may have realized late in the game that they wanted to pursue a degree in either speech language pathology or audiology, there is hope yet: The Department of Hearing and Speech Science (HESP) just launched its Hearing and Speech in the Evening (HESPIE) post-baccalaureate, non-degree program this past fall, with an initial cohort of 25 students.

“Although there are online programs, many individuals prefer learning in traditional classroom settings where they can build a relationship with the instructor,” Dr. Rochelle Newman, HESP chair, explained. “This has led some individuals to return to college to pursue second bachelor’s degrees or to return as non-degree-seeking students in order to take these prerequisite courses.”

However, the cost of living and student loans make it difficult for most people to quit their day jobs to return to school. HESPIE offers eight evening-only pre-requisite courses to any post-grads wishing to apply to graduate programs in The first cohort of HESPIE students the hearing and speech sciences.

“Speech-language pathology and audiology are fascinating fields with many well-paying jobs and there is a great need in the community for more high-quality clinicians,” Newman said. “By allowing people to take these initial courses in an evening program, it makes it easier for them to decide if this is the right move before giving up their current employment.”

Additionally, people with a personal interest in the field of hearing and speech science—such as teachers or family members of someone affected by hearing loss—can enroll in courses through HESPIE as non-degree seeking students. HESPIE is the only program of its kind in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

“Many current clinicians have commented that they wish such a program had been available when they returned to school to take prerequisite courses,” Newman said. “We are looking forward to preparing members of our community to successfully pursue graduate education in speech-language pathology and audiology and to help them become excellent clinicians who will affect people’s lives for the better.”

HESPIE is offered through the Office of Extended Studies; more information can be found at go.umd.edu/HESPIE.

8

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

New Initiatives: Cultural & Linguistic Diversity

Yasmeen Faroqi-Shah

I

n Fall 2016, the HESP department initiated a Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Emphasis Program (CLD-EP) as an adjunct to the M.A. Speech-Language Pathology program. The impetus for this program was the increasingly diverse composition of the American population (and hence clients in speech-language pathologists’ caseloads) coupled with speech-language pathologists’ perceptions of being insufficiently trained to address the unique needs of their diverse clients.

The program uses a multifaceted approach to expose students to issues of cultural and linguistic diversity – through clinical training, coursework on CLD, independent scholarly work (either a Masters Thesis or Candidacy Paper), engagement in professional service, and a mentoring partnership with speech-language pathologists in the local community.

I

n their clinical training, students not only work with clients who are culturally different from them, but also practice ethnographic interviewing and bilingual and community-based assessments. A new course has been developed specifically for this program, but is open to anyone interested in multiculturalism (Cultural and linguistic diversity in communications sciences and disorders). Students conduct a variety of professional service activities, such as compiling resources on CLD assessment and intervention, creating educational materials, providing cultural competence training to their peers (who are not in the CLD program), and volunteering with CLD groups in the community. While there are several SLP programs nationwide that offer bilingual and/or multicultural training, very few of these are on the East Coast. What makes the HESP CLD-EP program unique is its additional focus on professional service and the one-on-one mentoring it provides with SLPs in the community.

G

iven the need to provide adequate clinical training and mentoring opportunities, the CLDEP is a limited capacity program. Students apply to participate in the program prior to their first semester. Currently, we have six students in the program (out of a class of 20). If you have any enquiries about the program, please contact the co-directors, Yasmeen Faroqi-Shah and Eusabia Mont.

9

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

HESP Students and Alumni at ASHA

Kelly Offutt and Megan Reiter

Candace Nuzzo-Michiels & Kathy Dow-Burger

M.A. student Erica Lescht at her poster NSSLHA members at ASHA

Undergraduate student Tiara Booth explaining her research

Jaclyn Woodyatt (B.A., 2010) as ASHA spokesfigure for the value of licensure.

10

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

More pictures from ASHA

HESP students (and Vivian Sisskin) at ASHA

Nan Ratner & Courtney Luckman at their poster

Eusabia Mont, Kate Skinker, and alumna Megan-Brette Hamilton (MA, 2002)

M.A. students Danielle Dubouis, Catherine Wilson, & Katy Patchan love ASHA!

Alumni (and current members) of the Language Develoment Lab in HESP Tierney Evans and Ashlyn Vander Woude with an ASHA poster of Vivian Sisskin 11

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

UMARC had a very successful crowdfunding Launch (go.umd.edu/CLASS) during the 2016 Autism Awareness month that raised close to $9000, exceeding its posted goal. Funds have been used this year to offer a variety of services to the local community, such as: inviting a wider number of recognized speakers to its monthly Community-wide Learning about Autism Speaker Series (CLASS),and hosting a “make and take” workshop on personalized communication boards for families. CLASS was started in 2014 to inform, empower and enable our community to address the many concerns facing individuals with autism and their families.

Additionally, the Department was able to get PEERS-certified in order to offer a new range of services to adolescents with ASD. It will “play this forward” by offering a local PEERS training event for professionals (see last page).

We want to take this opportunity to thank our many, generous donors again; almost all of them were HESP alumni. We couldn’t do this work without your support. For more information about UMARC activities this year or how to join our supporters, please go to www.autism.umd.edu.

Thank you to everyone that supported this great cause!

Even more pictures from ASHA Eusabia (Vikki) Mont presenting “From Conception to Classroom: Creating a Culturally Competent Undergraduate Course”

Candace Nuzzo Michiels (MA, 2016) and Allison Yutesler (MA, 2016) pose as “Vivian’s Angels”

Alumnae Alison Catalano (B.A. 2010, M.. 2014) and Allison Yutesler (MA, 2016) at their posters 12

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

ALUMNI CLASS NOTES Julie Cohen (B.A., 2008, Au.D., 2012) (picture to the right) is currently pursuing her Ph.D. while working as a research audiologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. She just received a Student Investigator Research Grant from the American Academy of Audiology for her project “Effect of Aging and Talker Familiarity on Real-World Communication”and will be formally recognized at the Honors and Awards Banquet at AudiologyNOW! 2018 in Nashville, TN. Leah Temes (M.A.-SLP, 2009): “I recently celebrated 7 years of working at a rehab center for adults and am in the process of becoming a certified Advanced Clinical Instructor (I’ve worked with a total of 6 graduate student clinicians now). I also recently won the Award for Continuing Education (ACE) from ASHA. I will also be speaking as part of a panel for Loyola University regarding clinical internships in the medical setting this month. In addition to that, I begin working with my 5th Loyola grad student in just a few weeks.”

Christina Salyers (B.A., 2012) received her master’s degree from Notre Dame of MD University in Leadership and Teaching, with a specialization in special education. She now works as a special education teacher.

Monica Sampson (Ph.D, 2015) welcomed a son, Luke Joshua Sampson, in October 2016 (picture to the left). She currently is the Associate Director for Healthcare Services in Speech-Language Pathology at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Amy Albert Morello (M.A.-SLP, 2010): “Our son, Zander, is 4 years old and very excited about becoming a big brother the end of February.

He’s working on becoming bilingual (as are his mom and dad!), as we are currently living in Madrid, Spain. I am working on getting my SLP license validated by the Spanish Ministry. The Castilian dialect disguises many a child’s lisp! I’m looking forward to bringing my knowledge base and expertise to the expat and Embassy community here.”

Barbara Sonies (Ph.D., 1981) (picture to the right) has been named the 2017 Gold Medalist for the Dysphagia Research Society - the highest honor awarded by the society.

13

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

Bailey Levis (NACS/HESP/Biology MA, 2006) recently opened San Francisco Speech and Fluency Center, the City by The Bay’s first private practice dedicated to supporting people who stutter and their families. He is excited to build a supportive community for people who stutter and the speech therapists who wish to support them.

Jennifer Markowitz (M.A.-SLP, 2010) recently started a new job as an Outpatient Pediatric clinician at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital in DC. “In my new position I’ll have the opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary team in their autism clinic.”

Giovanna Morini (Ph.D., 2014) (picture to the right) has just accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Delaware. She is currently finishing a postdoctoral position at the Center for Pediatric Auditory & Speech Sciences (CPASS) at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children.

Christine (Virion) Cook (M.A., 2008) is also at the University of Delaware - as the Director of Research and Clinical Services.

Kendra Browne (B.A. 2015) (picture to the left) received a fellowship as part of the Pipeline Project at Howard, ”to serve multicultural communicatively disabled children.”

Chelsea (Vogel) Carter (B.A., 2012; Au.D., 2016) is an audiologist at University of Maryland Medical Center, Dept of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.

Kara Schvartz-Leyzac (Au.D. & Ph.D., 2010) is an Instructor at the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Kresge Hearing Institute at the University of Michigan.

Jackie Gartner-Schmidt (Ph.D., 2003) (picture to the right) was named an ASHA Fellow in 2016.

14

Hear the Turtle

Issue: Spring 2017

Jaclyn Woodyatt (B.A., 2010) (picture to the right) had been working at a charter school in D.C., doing early intervention work. But in May, 2016 she married and moved to Bethany Beach, DE, where she now works at two schools in a large school district.

Stacey (Samuels) Cole (M.A., 2002; Au.D., 2014) is Executive Director of Hearing Professionals, Inc., and recently was awarded The Baltimore Ravens 2016 Community Quarterback Award, which recognizes local volunteers for their leadership, dedication and commitment to improving the local community.

Matt Winn (Au.D., 2010; Ph.D., 2011) (picture to the left) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington Leigh Martinez (M.A., 2008) (picture to the right) recently accepted a job with Montgomery County Infants & Toddlers. She also is celebrating her recent marriage to her partner Heather.

OTHER NEWS

The Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program is designed to prepare students who are primarily from low-income, first generation and traditionally underrepresented groups to pursue doctoral studies. HESP faculty mentored two such students this past year: Morgan Keys (left) and Jessica Nolasco (right). Jessica won the UMD McNair competition for overall best oral presentation.

15

PEERS® Training opportunity The University of Maryland Autism Research Consortium and the Dept. of Hearing & Speech Sciences will be co-sponsoring a 3-day PEERS® (The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) Young Adult training (go.umd.edu/peerstraining) Wednesday, June 14th - Friday, June 16th, 2017 This is a new and updated program for young adults, particularly for college students who have a social communication disorder such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Anxiety Disorder, Depression and other social difficulties. Special focus will be on academic and social interactions, friendships and romantic relationships Local, state and regional speech-language pathologists, higher education staff, mental health professionals, medical professionals, and/or educators will be certified to administer the PEERS® for Young Adults intervention in a clinical-type setting UMCP faculty/staff and alumni registration is $475 (deadline March 15, 2017) Early bird registration for non-UMCP affiliated individuals is $575 (deadline March 15, 2017) Regular registration is $700 (March 16 - June 11, 2017) Late registration is $800 (June 12- payment at the door)

Please consider supporting our initiatives and students: HESP URL: go.umd.edu/oft

Our mailing address is: Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences University of Maryland 0100 Samuel J. LeFrak Hall 7251 Preinkert Dr. College Park, MD 20742