NEW for Washington D.C.

Come one day earlier to visit your U.S. legislators in order to gain their support of legislation that affects the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology as well as our students and patients. This ASHA-sponsored event will cover one night’s hotel accommodation on Wednesday, April 16, in exchange for your time spent advocating on April 17. Hotel room coverage will be limited and offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information on this fantastic opportunity, send an email to Deborah Darcy, ASHA’s Director of Grassroots Advocacy, at ddarcy@asha.org.

To commemorate the 30th Anniversary of NBASLH, we are going back to our heritage by encouraging all attendees to adorn themselves in Afrocentric attire and join in on a lively discussion led by Orlando Taylor, Dean of the Graduate School at Howard University and Cathy Runnels, NBASLH Chair. Invited participants in this discussion include many of the visionaries of NBASLH. Topics of discussion will include "Why Do We Still Need NBASLH" and "Is Bill Cosby Wrong: The Dumbing Down of Oral Language."

Reconnect with friends and colleagues while enjoying refreshments, soothing music and bidding on desired items in the Silent Auction. Commemorate our heritage by dressing in afrocentric attire. Proceeds of the silent auction to benefit the NBASLH Scholarship fund.

Join your colleagues for lunch at a roundtable discussion topic of interest to you. Table leaders answer questions and guide discussions on relevant topics. Attendees participating in the Lunch and Learn will earn .1 CEU. The Affiliates will meet during the Round Table discussions at the assigned "Affiliate Table."

The 2008 Awards Dinner will be a creative black tie soirée where NBASLH will recognize and applaud excellence in student research, service to the profession and a communication hero.

Drs. Charlena and Harry Seymour’s distinguished careers in communication disorders and sciences span close to 40 years. These years overlap and intersect with 30 years of NBSHLA’s struggles and triumphs as it became the premier professional organization for African American speech, language and hearing professionals. The Seymour’s keynote address reflects upon NBASLH’s past 30 years through a prism of their own careers as teachers, clinicians, researchers and administrators.  They are both whimsical and serious as they reminisce about the past and the future.

Learner Outcomes:  Participants will be able to list historical milestones of the emergence of NBASLH.  Participants will be able to list several components necessary for successful research in communication disorders. Participants will be able to list several components necessary for successful grantsmanship in communication disorders. Participants will be able to list qualities essential for leadership in communication disorders and sciences.

Friday, April 18, 2008 – 9:30 pm

Saturday, April 19

8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

NSIG- Sponsored Hot Topic: Pros and Cons of VitalStim® Therapy, Yolanda Fields, M.S.; Jeri Logemann, Ph.D.; Christy Ludlow; David Hutchings, M.S.; Yorick Wijiting, DPT; and moderators Shulonda Gibson, M.A.; and Michele Norman, Ph.D.

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been approved for use by speech-language pathologists who have been trained and certified to execute specific procedures for diagnosis and therapeutic intervention. Despite FDA approval, this therapy program remains at the forefront of controversy among clinicians and researchers. This session intends to present an overview of the therapeutic intervention and advantages and disadvantages of the use of NMES from the clinician’s and researcher’s perspective.