Issue: Spring 2018
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 ES P Te r p s ! Welcome to the 2018 online newletter of the UMD Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences and the UMD Hearing & Speech Clinic! Take a peek to find out what our alumni, students, and department have been up to professionally and personally.
We h o p e to h ave a c h a n c e to 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 / H E S Pc l a s s n o te s a n d s h a re yo u r n e w s w i t h u s !
Table of Contents Faculty news - Page 2 The impact of our supporters - Page 3 New research grants - Page 4 AuD students work to improve lost-to-follow-up rate in PG County- Page 5 University of Maryland Autism Research Consortium - Page 6 Post-doctoral researchers - Page 7 Other new research staff - Page 8 HESP InTERPretation (our new blog) - Page 9 Maryland Cochlear Implant Center of Excellence - Page 10 LEAP graduation - Page 11 Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Program - Page 12 HESP at conferences - Page 13 Alumni & student notes - Page 14 PEERS training opportunity - Page 15 Page1
Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2018
Faculty News The department of Hearing and Speech Sciences is thrilled to announce a number of new hires this year, including one clinical faculty member and postdoctoral associates and research staff. Our new clinical faculty member is... Dr. Sarah Sohns. Sarah received her Au.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, and was a LEND pediatric fellow. Recently she has been an Instructor at Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine, where in addition to providing clinical services, she supervised 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year AuD students and coordinated the 4th year Externship Program.
In other big news, Dr. Sandra Gordon-Salant received the Honors of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association in November! This is the highest honor the Association bestows, and recognizes members of the association who have made “distinguished contributions to the discipline.”
Our faculty provided many opportunities for student to become involved in research and clinical experiences. Dr. Chris Zalewski published a new book, “Rotational Vestibular Assessment”!
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Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2018
Making a Difference in the Lives of Students: The Impact of Our Supporters by Nisha Sharma
I came to the world of Hearing and Speech Sciences after serving as an AmeriCorps volunteer and working for a few years. When I first enrolled in the three-year program for a Masters in Speech-Language Pathology, I did not know that I would be afforded so many opportunities in the HESP department to dive into research and explore a wide variety of clinical opportunities. Over the course of my three years in HESP, I was able to pursue those opportunities in large part due to the generosity of donors to the department. I have been awarded funding from the Paul and Martina Rao Graduate Student Fellowship to pursue my clinical interest in adult neurogenics and the MCM Fund to complete research for my master’s thesis. The funding that I’ve been afforded has let me pursue a graduate degree in Speech-Language Pathology but not just any Master’s degree, a Master’s degree at the University of Maryland. The clinical education I have gotten at the University of Maryland is unique and exceptional. Not only did I gain direct experience with a wide variety of clients and disorders, but I developed a core understanding of cultural competency through the Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Emphasis Program, an opportunity found only at the University of Maryland. Paul Rao, Nisha Sharma, and Martina Rao at the BSOS Awards Dinner.
In addition, with the generous support of these awards, I collaborated closely with my faculty advisor, Dr. Yasmeen Faroqi-Shah, to create a study on aging and bilingualism from scratch including completing extensive research, designing a protocol, and recruiting over 30 participants. I am currently wrapping up data collection and analysis, and I am excited to present my findings in April to my thesis committee. With this funding, exploring academic research and completing a master’s thesis became an affordable option for me and expanded my academic opportunities. The generosity of donors during my graduate program here at the University of Maryland has made my experience more enriched and opened new doors for me. As I near the end of my program, I am pursuing a clinical position working directly with patients on adult neurogenic disorders, and now as I complete my master’s thesis, I am seriously considering coming back after a few years to pursue a doctoral degree. Thank you for your willingness to open opportunities for undergraduate and graduate scholars! Your continued kindness means so much to us as students who are excited about our future careers and academic pursuits through which we know that we will be making a difference in our communities. As one of many scholars who have directly benefited from your kindness, I truly appreciate your generous support. Learn more about supporting HESP students like Nisha at go.umd.edu/givetohesp
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Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2018
New Research Grants The National Institute on Aging awarded more than $8 million to the University of Maryland to develop an innovative approach for addressing hearing loss and communication challenges that affect millions of older Americans. The grant is spearheaded by Dr. Sandra Gordon-Salant in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, but combines the expertise from several HESP faculty (including Drs. Matthew Goupell, Samira Anderson, and Stephanie Kuchinsky), as well as faculty in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences; the A. James Clark School of Engineering; the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences; and the Center for Advanced Study of Language. The overarching goal of the research will be to examine processes at the neural level that cause auditory and speech perception difficulties with aging, and to determine whether the brain can be effectively “rewired” through auditory and cognitive training to overcome these hearing and speech obstacles. A team of researchers, led by Dr. Jan Edwards in HESP, were recently awarded a $3.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences to investigate the efficacy of Toggle Talk —a proprietary curriculum intended to help young children learn to shift between various American English dialects and Academic Classroom English. Young children often come to public schools from a diverse range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, bringing with them a variety of American English dialects that are spoken in their homes. The subtle differences between their spoken dialect and the English taught in the classroom can significantly impact the development of students’ listening, language and foundational skills. Would we understand speech development and disorder better if researchers combined data? The National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders and the National Science Foundation recently agreed to jointly fund an initiative by Dr. Nan Bernstein Ratner in HESP and Dr. Brian MacWhinney of Carnegie-Mellon University to enable this goal. Their 5-year funding for FluencyBank (fluency.talkbank. org) will support an array of activities that include comparing speech development in typical, stuttering, late talking and bilingual children, as well as recruitment of research data and creation of an open-access internet database for use by both researchers and university faculty in CSD. Goals include finding both common factors as well as differences that impact children’s ability to speak fluently, and ways to improve such outcomes. Researchers in HESP and at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, led by Dr. Matthew Goupell and Dr. Joshua Bernstein, were awarded a $2 million grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Communicative Disorders to develop methods of improving hearing with two ears in cochlear-implant users. Cochlear implants are bionic auditory prostheses that partially restore hearing to those who have lost it; more people have access to sound in both ears with cochlear implants; hearing well with two ears requires good alignment of incoming signals across the ears. However, speech understanding in noise and sound localization abilities could be much improved in cochlear-implant users. Therefore, this team of researchers are determining the best ways to align the two ears with cochlear implants.
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Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2018
AuD students improve the lost-to-follow-up rate in PG County In a partnership with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) and University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), the HESP Clinic has been providing hearing screenings for infants and children at a local Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinic. Prince George’s County has the second highest (44%) lost-to-follow up rate in the state of Maryland for Newborn Hearing Screenings. Whether babies are not screened at the time of birth or refer on the initial screening and do not return for re-screenings, the poor follow-up rate leads to delayed identification of hearing loss and therefore delayed intervention. This results in significant impacts on speech and language development as the children are deprived of auditory input during a critical period for these skills. In an effort to improve the loss rate, Associate Clinical Professor, Nicole Nguyen, Au.D. has established a hearing screening clinic at a WIC facility just outside of the UMD campus. As mothers come for routine visits with their young children, they are offered hearing screenings at no cost if the child is one of the many “missed” cases in the county, or should their be any parental concerns for hearing loss. The WIC screening program has the potential for positive outcomes in many ways: the residents of PG County receive services and education that may typically be hard to access, the State improves the lost-to-follow-up rates in the Newborn Hearing Screening Program, and HESP students have the opportunity to diversify their patient caseload and clinical practicum through experience with the WIC population and new test methods (use of ABR assessments). Furthermore, the location of the WIC office means it draws from an ethnically diverse, and heavily Spanish speaking, population, which has given the students a chance to practice as bilingual clinicians. The HESP students have acknowledged the unique opportunity this project provides - Alyson Schapira, a 1st year AuD student, says “My favorite part [about these screenings] is definitely the opportunity to practice my Spanish in a clinical setting. Through WIC, I get to fuse together my two passions, and it’s an experience that I look forward to every week.” Jessica Kreidler, a 2nd year student, notes the positive response she experienced from the participants as well “Working at the WIC clinic provided bilingual clinicians with an incredible opportunity to practice Spanish and interact with the local community. While it was professionally rewarding to use these skills in a clinical setting, it was more gratifying to see how the patients reacted when they realized the clinicians were speaking their language. Their reactions demonstrated how invaluable it is to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services.” In three days during the fall semester, over 40 infants and young children were verified in the NBHS database and 28 were screened. These numbers are fairly positive given the limited marketing for the services at WIC. With changes to advertisement and scheduling, numbers should continue to grow over the next two years (the length of the agreement). The WIC project, a research project for a UMB nursing doctoral student, is a novel approach to improving loss-to-follow-up rates and will be presented at national meetings for the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) and Early Hearing Detection and Identification (EHDI).
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Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2018
University of Maryland Autism Research Consortium (UMARC) This fall, the UMARC’s CLASS (Community-based Learning about Autism Speaker Series) hosted four weekend workshops for our local community. Two assisted parents in maximizing their children’s home- and school-based communication skills, and were led by UMARC faculty: “How to Create a Video Modeling/Self Modeling Intervention for Your Child with ASD” with Gulnoza Yakubova, (Special Education), and “Use of Multi-Modal Communication Strategies at Home” with Tonya Williams-Walker (HESP).
Reid Caplan speaking on advocacy and neurodiversity
The other two addressed later educational and vocational needs of students with autism. The first, “Self Advocacy in Transition: Embracing Neurodiversity in College and Beyond” Reid Caplan of the Autism Self-Advocacy Network [ASAN]. Caplan had earlier joined with HESP’s Dow-Burger and Ratner to discuss higher educational needs and opportunities of students with autism on the Kojo Nnamdi radio talk show. The second highlighted resources and strategies for “Autism and workplace inclusion” by Nancy Forsythe, UMD Career Development Specialist for Students with Disabilities. Currently, Dr. Forsythe is working with the UMARC team to explore possible support for our campus SIGNA and PEERS initiatives to support these grade 8-12 and young adult programs.
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Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2018
Post-doctoral Researchers Dr. Katie Von Holzen joined the Department of Speech and Hearing as a C-CEBH postdoctoral trainee in November of 2017, following a post-doc at the Université Paris Descartes in France from 2014 to 2017 where she investigated the processing of consonants and vowels in infants’ word recognition and segmentation. In 2013 she earned her PhD in Psychology at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, in Germany, where she focused on phono-lexical processing in bilingual toddlers and adults. At the University of Maryland, Dr. Von Holzen works with Dr. Rochelle Newman, the department chair, on projects investigating how infants, toddlers, and adults begin to learn a foreign language at first exposure. Dr. Karen Mulak joined the department in January as a Postdoctoral Associate with Prof. Rochelle Newman. Karen received her B.S. in Neuroscience from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut in 2006. In 2012, she completed her Ph.D. in Psycholinguistics from The MARCS Institute at the University of Western Sydney, where she investigated infants’ developing ability to recognize accented speech. Before coming to UMD, Karen worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Western Sydney University, where she investigated how exposure to two or more languages or accents affects word learning and the perception of speech sounds, and how monolinguals perceive speech sounds and learn and recognize words in accents and languages other than their own. In line with her interest in understanding the processes behind real-world language processing, Karen’s work at UMD will examine how noisy environments affect children’s ability to learn and recognize words. Dr. Kristina DeRoy Milvae joined the Hearing and Speech Sciences Department as a Center for Comparative and Evolutionary Biology of Hearing postdoctoral fellow in July of 2017. She is working with Dr. Matthew Goupell and Dr. Stefanie Kuchinsky to study binaural hearing and listening effort in listeners with normal hearing and with cochlear implants. She is interested in exploring ways to understand and to improve speech-in-noise perception and listening effort for listeners with hearing loss. She previously earned Au.D. and Ph.D. degrees in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at Purdue University, and she earned a B.S. degree in Communication Disorders at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. 7
Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2018
Other New Research Staff Veronica Builes graduated from Universidad de Antioquia Colombia with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology. She holds a master’s degree in Cultural studies from El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Mexico. She currently works as lab manager in the Language Fluency Lab. Before coming to UMD, she worked for Inspira Lab., a laboratory of social innovation as a project manager and researcher. Some of her research interest focuses on the process of migration in the every day life, including the language development of children in intercultural environments.
David Yun graduated from the University of Maryland College Park in 2016 with a B.S. in mechanical engineering and a B.M. in piano performance. With an interest in acoustics and signals, David Yun recently joined the Auditory Perception and Modeling Laboratory in November 2017 as a post baccalaureate research assistant.
My name is Carol Gorham and I am working with Dr. Sandra Gordon-Salant on the P01 “Neuroplasticity in Auditory-Aging”. A true TERP, I am an alumni of the University of Maryland. I worked in Sales and Marketing at AT&T for twenty years before I came back to work at the University. My last position on campus was Director of Administrative Services at the Center for Addictions, Personality and Emotion Regulation. I love working on campus and am very happy to be in HESP! I have two grown children and love to read and spend time with friends and family. If you see me in the hall, please say hello!
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Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2018
HESP has a new blog! The blog is a space where clinicians and researchers in Communication Sciences and Disorder (CSD) share their interests, curiosities and questions. Written and moderated by HESP faculty at the University of Maryland, the blog seeks to bring a wide range of perspectives and insights into the currents state of hearing, language and speech science. We hope to raise questions and inspire the field to seek new ideas and innovative answers. Other goals include sharing ideas, experiences, and commentary that do not fit within the conventional journal process, as well as reaching a broad audience with accessible information about our research and outreach programs. We started the blog on a small scale in fall of 2017; during that semester we had a total of 12 posts, which were read by over a thousand people from 19 countries. The blog site brought in 525 visitors. Recent topics include interprofessional practice, bilingual SLP education, smartphone apps for individuals with hearing loss, a series of blog posts on factors that influence distractibility in the K-12 classroom, and what dogs can teach us about language. We hope you will join the conversation and follow us at hespinterpretation.wordpress.com/.
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Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2018
Maryland Cochlear Implant Center of Excellence We are very excited to announce the launch of MCICE: the Maryland Cochlear Implant Center of Excellence, pronounced “em-syse”. MCICE combines the research and clinical education strengths at the University of Maryland, College Park with the surgical and clinical expertise from the University of Maryland Medical Center and the University of Maryland-Baltimore School of Medicine to create a cohesive entity composed of educational, clinical, and research components. It allows us to offer enhanced clinical services, provide unique educational opportunities for our students, and conduct innovative translational research. MCICE serves the state of Maryland and the broader national community by: • providing patients with unparalleled clinical services in the area of cochlear implants (CI), thus improving their health and opportunities for engagement and communication; this includes not only cochlear-implant surgeries and audiological clinical services, but also speech-language rehabilitative services • providing students with unique opportunities to learn about both the science of cochlear implants and how to provide clinical services to implant candidates—the goal of MCICE is to train researchers that can think like clinicians, and clinicians that can think like researchers; • providing the nation with new research findings that enhance our understanding of how best to improve human hearing; this includes both basic science research and translational and genetic research. In October, MCICE was selected to serve as one of 5 new signature projects of the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State, a collaboration between the state of Maryland’s two most powerful public research institutions. As a first step in integrating across speech and hearing, MCICE is offering a 2-week, intensive summer camp for preschoolers with CIs and/or hearing loss that will launch in the summer of 2018, where students in speech-language pathology and audiology will work together to provide children with enhanced language and emergent literacy skills. Learn more at www.mcice.umd.edu.
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Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2018
LEAP (Language-Learning Early-Advantage Program) Graduation
Our LEAP preschool graduates a new class each May, prepared to transition into mainstream kindergarten!
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Football player Brian Plummer, and basketball player Kaila Charles (not shown) speak to the LEAP graduates.
Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2018
Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Program The Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Emphasis Program (CLD-EP) is a two-year program for M.A. Speech-Language Pathology (MASLP) students to develop cultural and linguistic competence for clinical practice through academic coursework, clinical seminars, scholarly activities and professional development. Our goal is to provide an in depth understanding of cultural and linguistic differences that impact access to services, assessment, family counseling and intervention across the lifespan. The first cohort of CLD-EP students will graduate this coming May. Looking back on the first year, students engaged in a series of academic and clinical learning experiences to prepare them for work with diverse populations. Students spent the first year of the program exploring current research surrounding diverse topics including ethnographic interviewing, cultural dimensions and the role of self-reflection in culturally responsive clinical intervention. A major highlight and goal of the CLD-EP is the development of students as cultural brokers. Cultural brokers are defined as individuals that serve as the bridge or link between persons of differing cultural backgrounds for the purpose of producing change (Jezewski, 1990). This work is important to the profession for the development and assessment of diversity related programs and initiatives that realize the key roles and responsibilities of speech-language pathologists to provide culturally competent intervention, as outlined by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA). Additionally, cultural brokers often bridge the gap between service providers, healthcare and educational, and underserved communities. In this role, CLD-EP students facilitated a 1-hour workshop for peers and clinical faculty surrounding culture and how perceptions and attitudes impact clinical outcomes. Students were required to examine their personal practices related to diversity and design a learning experience for individuals with limited (or no) prior experience with diversity related topics. Each student led a breakout group, negotiated a cross-cultural discussion and utilized interactive learning techniques to increase peer engagement. After the breakout session, students led a whole-group discussion on clinical implications and application. This experience will prove invaluable to students working with diverse populations as they enter into the next phase of their professional lives. The CLD-EP accepts a limited number of students each year. Students accepted to the MASLP program may apply for CLD-EP prior to their first semester. Our current cohort consists of six students (out of a class of 17). We are excited to continue this program for current and future students. For more information, please contact the program director, Eusebia Mont. Our second CLD cohort
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Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2018
HESP Faculty, Students and Alumni at Conferences Dr. Matt Goupell, Dr. Olga Stakhovskaya, and Ph.D. students Brittany Jaekel and Maureen Shader at the Aging and Speech Conference. Alumna Diane Paul at the ASHA Convention
Alumni Hallie Plevinsky and Kelly King celebrating the awards at the ASHA Convention.
Matt Goupell, Brittany Jaekel, Anna Tinnemore, Casey Gaskins, Professor Sandra Gordon-Salant, Lindsey Roque, Julie Cohen, Rebecca Bieber, Olga Stakhovskaya and Maureen Shader at the Aging and Speech Conference.
Recent Ph.D. graduate Alex Presacco and his wife Kristen Maag at the ASHA Convention. Current Ph.D. student Allison Johnson presents her research at ASHA.
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Hear the Turtle
Issue: Spring 2017
ALUMNI and CURRENT STUDENT NOTES Mara Steinberg (M.A.-SLP, 2014) and her husband Eric Lowe welcomed their new daughter Hannah Dorit, born 12/23/17. Mara is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at NYU. HESP student Xaria Crawford, was awarded the Gilman Scholarship for spring 2018! The U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is a grant program that enables students of limited financial means to study or intern abroad, thereby gaining skills critical to our national security and economic prosperity. The Institute of International Education has administered the program since its inception in 2001. Hallie (Freedman) Bulkin (M.A.-SLP, 2009) and her husband Vlad and daughter Lily welcomed their new daugher and sister, Mia Floriana Bulkin, born 2/18/2018. Hallie is the founder and executive director of Little Sprout Speech. Recent HESP graduate Jessica Nolasco (B.A.) received the Jennifer F. Lewis Memorial Award and Carolina Rojas-Bahr Awards. These awards honor students with impeccable character, outstanding academic performace, active involvement n campus life, and a deep committed to social justice, civil rights issues and community service. Two HESP postdocs received AAAS Science & Technology Fellowships for this year to work in federal agencies: Nina Hsu (right) to work at the National Institutes of Health, and Lucy Erickson (left), to work at the National Science Foundation. 14
PEERS® Training opportunity The University of Maryland Autism Research Consortium (UMARC) and the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences will be co-sponsoring a 3-day PEERS® (The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) School-Based Professionals certification training: Thursday, June 7th – Saturday, June 9th, 2018 Local, state and regional speech-language pathologists, psychologists, social workers, educators and school administrators will be certified to administer the PEERS® School-Based Professionals training to be administered in middle and high school settings This is an evidence-based social skills curriculum for adolescents who have a social communication disorder such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Anxiety Disorder, Depression and other social difficulties This training includes the most recent changes to the PEERS® adolescent intervention with special focus on developing friendships, cultivating communication skills in academic and social interactions, using appropriate humor, developing good sportsmanship, handling disagreements, addressing electronic communication & cyber bullying, and more.
Early bird $475 (groups 5+ or more receive $100 off per person) ends March 26, 2018 Regular $575 (groups 5+ or more receive $100 off per person) ends May 30, 2018 Late Registration $675: May 31 - June 7, 2018 Additional savings for UMCP alums, faculty members, and affiliates To register, go to umd-peers.fasttransact.net For questions or comments regarding this training, please email hesp-peers@umd.edu
Please consider supporting our initiatives and students: HESP URL: go.umd.edu/givetohesp
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