Florida Speech Language Hearing Association May Conference Coming Soon

by Holly F.

All speech pathologists need a bit of a vacation from speech therapy from time to time. Why not take that vacation to Florida for some fun in the sun and some continuing education at the same time?  Get ready for the Florida Speech Language Hearing Association’s (FLASHA) annual conference, coming May 23-26^th, 2013 in Marco Island, Florida. Here you’ll find a wealth of great lectures, sponsors and exhibits to progress your practice and time to work on your beach volleyball in between.

The Sessions:

Participants at the FLASHA conference will find a wide-range of topics in adult and pediatric speech pathologist. Highlights from the pediatric side include:

 

ˉ       Diving Into Learning Goals and Scales for Improved Student Outcomes

ˉ       Acoustics – Unlocking the Treasures of Excellent Speech Production

ˉ       Pediatric Dysphagia

ˉ       Developmental & Behavioral Problems Among Children with Hearing Loss:

ˉ       How to Identify and When to Refer

ˉ       Functional vs Organic Voice and Swallowing Disorders: Clear As Mud

ˉ       Parents as Partners in Preschool Early Intervention

ˉ       A Comprehensive Overview of Cochlear Implantation in Young Children

ˉ       Elementary SLPs Dive into Common Core Standards, Literacy & Inclusion

ˉ       Technology Enhanced Narrative Assessment Using Animated Videos

ˉ       Oral Placement Therapy (OPT): The Missing Link

ˉ       Swimming in the Pool of Sounds: Frequency Discrimination in Children With APD

ˉ       Eliciting Indigenous Mechanisms to Enhance Language And Pragmatics With Legos

ˉ       Dramatic Splash ss Si/Li Kids Ride Literacy Wave!

 

Workshop:

For those looking for a more in-depth learning experience, try the short course: Full Training in Lively Letters and Sight Words You Can See. This is a six hour session which, according to the FLASHA website, provides participated with training for “…TLC strategies that can be used immediately, and will be handed a certificate stating that they are officially trained in the program.” Participants will learn to use a combination of oral kinesthetic and hand cues, music, visuals, mnemonics, and comical stories to develop students’ letter sound associations. Simultaneously, while using TLC, SLPs can address speech production, phonemic awareness, and word reading/spelling skills.

 

 

Exhibits and Learning Labs:

For hands-on experience, try visiting the exhibitors and learning labs. In a learning lab, participants can attend a 45-minute demonstration or hands-on demo of how to use a product or service. For more information, go back to the exhibit booth where you usually identify the product sales representatives in their custom-branded clothing and have additional opportunities to ask questions or get more information about new products and services. This is a great resource for networking and exchanging business cards with companies you might want to be in contact with in the future.

 

The Details;

This year’s conference will be held at the Marco Island Marriott Resort. Registration is currently open and if you haven’t already signed up, you can still get an early discount rate if you sign up by Sunday, May 5, 2013. Students and NSHLA members can receive a discount as well.

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