At the event, the students educated attendees on noise exposure and safe listening practices using an interactive mannequin equipped with a sound level meter. They also distributed hearing protection to promote safer listening habits. This outreach effort highlighted the department鈥檚 commitment to fostering public awareness and supporting community health.

Katie is grateful to receive the scholarship and notes that it is meaningful to her because it increases the awarenss that students with inflammatory diseases are equally motivated and capable of pursuing and excelling in higher education.

Maddy shared the following statements in her application:聽“Through my coursework and clinical聽experiences, I have learned the challenges associated with differential diagnosis of CAS. I strive to聽be a knowledgeable clinician who is competent in providing a diagnosis, counseling children and聽their families, and providing specific treatment unique to the needs of each child (e.g., targeting聽muscle movement during speech tasks, and specific practice and feedback conditions based on聽motor learning principles; Maas, et al., 2008) to facilitate gains in treatment while simultaneously聽preventing and/or alleviating negative psychosocial impacts.”

Kristin Johnson Scholarship:

Kristin Lynn Johnson was a dedicated pediatric SLP who touched the lives of countless students. In 2019, Kristin鈥檚 life was taken too soon by a motor vehicle accident. Apraxia Kids is privileged to partner with Kristin鈥檚 family to honor her extraordinary life and passion in helping children with severe speech sound disorders including childhood apraxia of speech. We are proud to honor Kristin鈥檚 legacy through supporting graduate students studying speech-language pathology.聽

APRAXIA KIDS SCHOLARSHIPS

Apraxia Kids is committed to providing training and educational opportunities for professionals and families so they have the knowledge and resources to support children with apraxia of speech.

The project, born through a conversation and partnership with , assistant professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders department, and Dr. Susanna Block, a pediatrician and volunteer at a medical clinic serving migrant families in Matamoros, Mexico, sought to find a way to support migrant parents worried about their children鈥檚 language development.

This project was designed to allow students to increase their knowledge of working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities in challenging circumstances and demonstrate for students the potential roles SLPs can play in supporting language and literacy skills in vulnerable communities.

Research has shown that exposing children to age-appropriate books and providing children the opportunity to engage in interactive shared book reading helps them to not only develop oral language skills more quickly but also develop the necessary foundation to learn to read. Shared book reading also enhances the bond between caregivers and children and protects children from the negative impacts of stress.

However, the reality is that many parents lack the knowledge and resources needed to effectively read with their children and a staggering number of children do not have access to books at all. This issue is prevalent both locally and internationally but is especially prominent on the Mexico-United States border where thousands of migrants, including mothers and young children, are seeking asylum from their home countries.

In partnership with colleagues and , Dr. Sylvan involved graduate students enrolled in courses on children鈥檚 language disorders both in the 0-5 population () and the school-aged population () in the project to conduct research about the challenges that families from at-risk populations faced related to language development and strategies for training parents on interactive book reading techniques.

Based on their research, students in these two classes created brochures with general tips for language and literacy development and informational sheets about interactive book reading. Students also developed curated bookmarks with age appropriate vocabulary and comprehension questions in three different age brackets (0-2, 3-5,and 5-8 years old).

Dr. Becker, who embedded this project in CSND 583, remarked that, 鈥渟tudents seemed to welcome the opportunity to embed a project in a graduate course which created materials for an authentic purpose and had the potential to be used in a meaningful way.鈥�

麻豆传媒在线鈥檚 chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (MSSLHA) partnered on this project by collecting books and fundraising money to buy specific books to support this project.聽 Rosemary DeStephan, the staff advisor of MSSLHA, remarked, 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 think of a better program and cause to be part of. Providing literacy resources to these children and families will promote language, academic and cognitive growth in a fun and engaging way.鈥�

Dr. Sylvan worked with her graduate assistants to develop a website specific to this program where parents could access digital books with guided questions to expand their access to books.

The initial pilot of the project was carried out in March of 2022 when Dr. Block visited the U.S.-Mexico border to volunteer at a medical clinic, where she helped to distribute the more than 250 children鈥檚 books that were collected in addition to resource materials created by the graduate students and assistants.

Recognizing the need for access to books and information about shared book reading reaches far beyond the U.S.-Mexico border, Dr. Sylvan and her students collected and distributed nearly four hundred books to Mercer Street Friends, a local organization located in Trenton, New Jersey, that provides support to children, families, and communities living in poverty.

A trunk load of books collected by Dr. Sylvan and students for distribution by Mercer Street Friends in Trenton, NJ.

Karen Hoppock, the director of Parenting and Adult Services at Mercer Street Friends, noted that the donation of books has a huge impact on the children.聽 鈥淥ur families love receiving books to read to their children; for some of them it is the first time they may have seen or heard children’s stories.鈥�

Upon completion of the project and course, Brianna Garcia, a graduate student in the speech-language pathology program, reflected upon the experience. 鈥淕oing forward in my work as a future speech-language pathologist (SLP), this project will always remind me that there will always be children and families that rely on us to help them succeed,鈥� she said.

鈥淲hether these families are on a difficult journey across the US-Mexico border to seek refuge, have low socioeconomic status, or have cultural differences that may affect their children鈥檚 language and literacy skills, the knowledge and tools SLPs have can make all the difference in how they succeed.鈥�

鈥淭his project influenced me to want to be more involved in the community and engage with families, as they play an important role in the child鈥檚 communication development,鈥� explained student Courtney Lockhart. 鈥淓very child should have access to literacy resources and resources that can promote their overall communication.鈥�

Following the success of the initial pilot of distributing books and information in the clinic in Matamoros and Mercer Street Friends, Dr. Sylvan plans to continue this project to provide even more children with access to books and more family information about the importance and impact of interactive book reading and continue to involve graduate-level classes and student clubs as appropriate.

鈥淚t is exciting to identify new partnerships and develop new ideas related to spreading the word about the impact of interactive book reading,鈥� says Dr. Sylvan. She is in the process of promoting the idea of 鈥榬eading prescription鈥� to be part of routine medical visits and is partnering with an NGO at the US-Mexico border to develop dedicated spaces to share children鈥檚 books in playgrounds for refugee children.

Through these ongoing and future projects, students completing their master鈥檚 degree in speech-language pathology at 麻豆传媒在线 will continue to have the opportunity to see how both their expertise and energy can be harnessed to serve a greater need in the community related to language and literacy development.