ALUMS to ALUMS

ALUM TO ALUM OUTREACH: A letter from Gina Rocque

I work for the Boulder Valley School District’s Interdisciplinary Resource Team as an Educational Consultant and Family Specialist, and I work in the private practice setting as a Speech-Language Pathologist. As an Educational Consultant, I provide technical assistance and training to building-based teams to assist in the development and implementation of effective instructional strategies and programming for students. As a Family Specialist, I provide support for families who have children on the autism spectrum in home, school, and community environments in the areas of self-help and communication skills, challenging behaviors, and transitioning skills. In addition, in both roles, I act as a liaison between home and school to facilitate effective communication and consistency between settings. In the private practice setting I provide speech-language therapy to children and adults in the areas of autism and fluency.

Gina Rocque consults with school-based SLPs in southwestern Colorado.

In April 2004, I went to Durango to provide a workshop for the speech-language pathologists (SLPs) that serve students in Durango and Cortez. The focus of the workshop was on making consultation work in the public school setting. We discussed current trends in service delivery, including the 3:1 model used in Portland, Oregon; tools that aid in the planning and implementation of strategies, modifications, and accommodations; and how to overcome obstacles that many SLPs face when consulting with teachers, others specialists, parents, and students. In the 3:1 model, clinicians provide direct services for three weeks. During the fourth week, they engage in a range of consultative or indirect service provision. This allows SLPs with large caseloads to have time for effective consultation with teachers, parents, or others involved with the students. Sometimes they use the time to observe students in a classroom setting. SLPs using the 3:1 model report greater efficiency and increased service provision time.

The SLPs attending the workshop were excited to learn about tools they can realistically use (with their limited time for consultation purposes) to gather and disseminate necessary information regarding planning and implementation of strategies, modifications, and accommodations. In addition, they were eager to meet with their administration to discuss possible changes in their service delivery model (e.g., the 3:1 model). It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with other SLPs who work in a different setting than the Boulder Valley School District but who face many of the same obstacles with providing quality services to children while having increasingly large caseloads and limited time to focus on and utilize consultation services. It was great to hear that they already had the opportunity to meet with their administration to discuss new ideas for service delivery. I am hopeful that they will be able to make positive changes soon.

I think it is wonderful that the Price Initiatives program works to connect SLHS alums to fellow alums to share knowledge, experience, and resources. Without their support this workshop would not have been possible. I hope the program continues to receive the funding it needs and deserves.

Sincerely,
Gina Rocque, M.A., CCC-SLP

 

The Storybook Journey Goes to Missouri

by Amy Thrasher, CLC Teacher

In February, 2004, Sue McCord and I traveled to the University of Missouri (MU) to present “The Storybook Journey” at their Annual Update Seminar. The audience of approximately 60 people included speech language therapists from preschools, elementary and secondary schools, private practice, hospital and clinic settings, as well as graduate students in the MU program. The positive response from speech language therapists from a diversity of settings reinforced our belief the underlying philosophy and practices at the heart of “The Storybook Journey” are applicable to a wide variety of learning situations.

Our new film, “Into The Wind: The Storybook Journey,” funded through the Price Initiatives, debuted at this presentation. The film captured the joy of children at play, exploring and learning, within the framework of a story. The audience resonated with the images and messages of the film, and our first video sales were made after the presentation! Sue and I shared stories from our collective experiences learning alongside children, finding and sharing meaning through storybooks and play.

Sue McCord presents the Storybook Journey at the University of Missouri - Columbia.

While we use “The Storybook Journey” with toddler and preschool children in the Child Learning Center, members of the audience suggested that they believe that the use of stories to connect language with meaning is a universal, and that the presentation prompted them to think about how they could implement “The Storybook Journey” with older children and adults in their practice.

Nicole Davis, our Price Doctoral Fellow, designed surveys to study the prior knowledge and practices of the participants and follow-up surveys to compare their knowledge and practices three months after the presentation. She has received a high rate of return on these studies, and is working with the data collected for preliminary results.

It was a great pleasure and honor to be able to present with Sue McCord, and to spread the philosophy and strategies used in “The Storybook Journey” with a new audience. On behalf of Sue and myself, I would like to thank the Price Initiatives for supporting our journey to Missouri, and for the opportunity to share our stories.

Price Advisory Committee

Eight alumnae generously volunteered to serve on the Price Advisory Committee. They are Dr. Barbara Brinkman of the University of Missouri at Columbia; Denise Bryant of Glendale, Arizona; Elyse Graves of Dayton, Ohio; Nara Hays, who has just moved to Alaska; and Colorado residents Beth Landry-Murphy, Meredith Jones Menk, Annette Pawlas, and Mary Wallace. They are an energetic and visionary group and will help broaden the geographic reach and impact of the Price Initiatives outreach efforts. On June 20, the Committee held its annual planning meeting. Also in attendance were Sheila Goetz, Beret E. Strong, Tara Kelly, and CLC team members Amy Thrasher and Nicole Davis.