WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCES S PRING 2015 FOCUS ON ALUMNI FOCUS ON ALUMNI MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR This last July I wrote to Dr. Gail Chermak, Children’s Hospital in Seattle, birth-to-three DOCTOR’S CORNER congratulating her on receiving ASHA’s Honors programs, private pediatric clinics, Group Health of the Association. When she wrote me back, she Cooperative outpatient clinic, home health, IN THE FOREFRONT asked if I would be interested in contributing to more schools, and per diem work in hospitals the next Wavelength. “Of course!” I replied. and skilled nursing facilities. During this time, TRANSITIONS It’s been a long time since I have written I married Jack (WSU Music Education, 1988), THIRD ANNUAL anything for Dr. Chermak, but I do remember started a family, and eventually was able to just CAMP CANDOO SUMMER CLINIC her class in the spring of 1988 in which I took work per diem at Providence St. Peter Hospital my last final in graduate school. As I was ending in Olympia. It was at this time that I stumbled GUATEMALA 2015 UPDATE my time on the Palouse, I was also helping upon the world of research ethics. An acquain- SPOTLIGHT ON STUDENTS my mentor, Lynn Larrigan (the department’s tance of mine, who was a staff MD at the former internship coordinator), move in to her Western Institutional Review Board, suggested NOTES FROM NSSLHA new office space in the fancy new WSU-EWU I inquire about becoming a board member VIGNETTES ABOUT ALS, FROM Speech Clinic in downtown Spokane. I had at WIRB after a conversation we had about PEOPLE WHO LIVE WITH IT taken all of my speech classes in Daggy Hall informed consent in people with aphasia. in Pullman, and now the department was on I spent 12 years at WIRB as a board member TRUE STORIES the brink of big changes. Little did I know how and panel chair, flanked by some of the smartest ALUMNI NEWS much the department would grow, or how and friendliest people I will ever meet, making much I would learn and experience in the next decisions together involving the protection of 26 years. The twists and turns have been fun! human research subjects. WIRB is the world’s The first years after WSU were a crazy whirl- largest independent IRB, and we reviewed wind of jobs working with multiple popula- research from pharmaceutical companies, medical tions in a wide variety of settings: schools, schools at large universities, and (continued to pg.2) WSU Speech and Hearing Sciences alumna Brenda Thomas Arend, husband Jack, and their three children. speechandhearing.wsu.edu FOCUS ON ALUMNI (continued from cover) MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR investigator-initiated studies. We saw every- It has been faculty, students, and alumni continue to excel. thing: from “first in human” drug studies to another exciting NSSLHA Notes recounts the amazing educa- new diaper rash creams, from experimental tional, fundraising, and community outreach cardiac devices to vaccine trials for malaria being year for Speech activities of our local chapter of compassionate done in African countries. I saw many cochlear and Hearing students. Doug Nadvornick’s piece on Dr. Nancy implant studies, which I found particularly Sciences. Our Potter’s 8th annual ALS symposium (visit spokane. interesting, including one for the first bilat- wsu.edu/admissions/speech-hearing-sciences/ eral implants in children. In one meeting, we affiliation with the WSUSpeechHearNewsletterMAY2015_WEB.pdf disapproved all research involving Vioxx, as it College of Medical for a special feature on the ALS forum) and Dr. Gail Chermak, Chair was about to be pulled from the market due Sciences continues Amy Meredith’s piece on Camp Candoo are sure to post-approval findings of increased risk of to inspire you. cardiovascular complications. There was always to provide new opportunities for We invite you to browse through our depart- something interesting at those weekly meetings collaboration, growth, and visibility ment website, which we continuously refresh and discussions were guaranteed to be lively. (speechandhearing.wsu.edu) to learn more across the region. As many of you know, When WIRB moved its location out of town in about our ongoing work. You will find a link to Governor Inslee recently signed into law a 2013, I decided to make a career shift and work this issue and all prior issues of Wavelength posted bill that gives Washington State University exclusively again at St. Peter, focusing on acute there as well. Also, we would like to include news the authority to create an independently- care. Recently, I was training a new hire in acute of your professional and personal journeys in our accredited medical school in Spokane. We care who was a very seasoned outpatient speech- next issue, so please e-mail me at chermak@wsu. are delighted to be part of the considerable language pathologist (SLP). Seeing my caseload edu. As always, I welcome your ideas and your momentum that is sure to advance our work, through her eyes gave me fresh appreciation feedback. producing cutting–edge research, innovative for how fragile these patients are, and how our The joys of leading this vibrant department, educational programs, and responsive work with their communication, cognition and powered by intellect and driven by innova- intervention programs that meet the needs of swallow must sit in their proper place in the larger tion and compassion, are immeasurable and a our community, our state, and our region. context of their acute condition. Finding this continuous source of pride. I hope you will find Our faculty is dedicated to the improvement balance is challenging but interesting. With all the work cited in this issue of Wavelength as of patient care through education, research, and the hours I spend on dysphagia evaluation and compelling as I do. As I look ahead to the future practice. They are studying and treating complex treatments, I have decided to start the pursuit of our professions, I am filled with optimism for disorders, such as autism, childhood apraxia of of the Board Certified Specialist in Swallowing what we can accomplish. speech, childhood deafness, and amyotrophic and Swallowing Disorders (BCS-S). With my In closing, I wish to thank each of you who lateral sclerosis (ALS), and taking what they three kids still living at home, it’s hard to find the has given so generously to the department learn to Spokane and beyond. Always placing time to get things completed for this creden- during the 2015 fiscal year. Your name will our students first, faculty explore new ways to tial, but I’m slicing away at it a bit at a time. be prominently displayed in the 2014-2015 deliver the best educational preparation to our While my career has been varied, I have found WSU Foundation Annual Report, which will be academically-talented, highly-engaged, future that the principles I learned as a therapist-in- published in fall 2015. Your gifts will continue speech-language pathologists and audiologists. training at WSU were useful, regardless of the to make a significant difference in the life of In this issue of Wavelength you will read setting or job. As speech-language pathology WSU for generations to come. We know that about some of the many accomplishments of students, we are taught to apply systematic our alumni and friends embody WSU’s spirit of our faculty, students, and alumni during the thinking to complex tasks. We break large “paying forward.” past academic year. Once again, a number goals down into smaller objectives. We learn So as the 2014-2015 academic year comes to of our undergraduate and graduate students to switch gears if the first plan isn’t working. a close, I wish you an enjoyable summer season were recognized for their academic and clinical We are creative. We work hard. When I was with family and friends. Thank you for being a excellence, as well as for their involvement in a student, I thought the professors were just part of our culture of excellence! Our alumni the community. Our faculty continued to earn teaching us how to be SLPs. Now I understand and donors remain our best friends, strongest recognition for their exceptional contributions to they were also teaching us how to be valuable advocates, and our ultimate legacy. our professions, education, clinical practice, and team members in any work setting, speech research. As measured by a range of metrics— related or not. Thank you, WSU, for providing All the very best — awards, honors, scholarships, grants, publica- me the foundation that launched me into a very tions, presentations, and consultations—our exciting and varied career. There is never a boring moment and I can’t wait to see what is next! Gail D. Chermak PS: I am sure I speak for many alumni when I again offer my congratulations to Dr. Chermak for her honor from ASHA. WSU alums have always known that Gail is an amazing professor, mentor and colleague! —Brenda Thomas Arend (MA ’89) 2 WSU SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCES DOCTOR’S CORNER It is my under- received positively by those individuals diagnosed There has been a celebration in the advocacy standing that the with this label, as there was concern that the for individuals with autism, as legislators work new criteria did not fit presenting characteris- on behalf of this population to ensure access to diagnostic criteria tics and there had grown a culture related to intervention. In 2013, in Washington State (as for autism have what it means to have Asperger’s syndrome. in many other states across the nation), new changed, and Many of these individuals had begun calling legislation required private and publicly-funded themselves “Aspies” and “Neuroatypicals,” all health care insurance plans to provide benefits that there is a of whom understood exactly what that meant for intensive, evidence-based neurodevelop- new label called relative to how they engaged in the world.