2009 News Archive -School of Communication Sciences and Disorders

News Archive - 2009

Barbershop Harmony Society supports CSD

At a ceremony held on Dec. 9, 2009, the Ontario District Association of Chapters of the Barbershop Harmony Society presented textbooks to new CSD students. This association has been very generous to our students for many years and we are very appreciative of their support.

In the Photo from left to right:Pat Moauro- Barbershoppers, John Hillier- Audiology Student, Julie Herczeg- SLP Student, JB Orange, Director CSD

School of Communication Sciences and Disorders awards students

2009 awards
At a recent ceremony, the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders awarded students for their outstanding achievements in both academic and clinical efforts in the program. Awards are presented each fall and are made possible by donations.

The following awards were presented at this year's ceremony:
Unitron Entrance Award - Jacob Sulkers - Yr 1 Audiology
Phonak Entrance Award - Jason Cheung - Yr. 1 Audiology
Jean Kienapple Award - Elizabeth Brunger - Yr. 1 Audiology
Phonak Clinical Excellence Award - Lindsay Acton - Yr. 2 Audiology
ListenUp Canada! Award - Terri-Lynn Gagnon - Yr. 2 Audiology
W.A. Cole Award - Kelly Jellous - Yr. 2 Audiology
Daniel Ling Award - Ashley Howarth - Yr. 2 Audiology
Leeper Family Award - Paula Malczewski - Yr. 2 SLP

Congratulations to all of the recipients for their achievements and thank you to our generous supporters who make these awards possible.

Pictured are front row from left to right:
Paula Malczewski, Terri-Lynn Gagnon, Jason Cheung, Elizabeth Brunger
Back Row from left to right:
Jacob Sulkers, Ashley Howarth, Lindsay Acton, Kelly Jellous

NCA Featured by Audiology Online

Research from The National Centre for Audiology was showcased during the month of November on Audiology Online with three presentations given during the month.

The first on November 4th was on “Universal Design for Hearing: Considerations for Examining Hearing Demands and Developing Hearing Friendly Workplaces” by Prof. Mary Beth Jennings. The second on November 11th was titled “Modified Verification Approaches for Frequency Lowering Devices” and was presented by Danielle Glista. The month finished with a presentation by Sheila Moodie on November 18th on “Clinician Fit-to-Targets: Preliminary Results of a Network Study”.

Dr. Marlene Bagatto of the NCA organized this wonderful opportunity for researchers at the NCA. AudiologyOnline, www.audiologyonline, is the leading online resource for audiology and the hearing industry, providing news and information, an international career center for audiology employers and job seekers, and continuing education for audiologists and hearing instrument dispensers. On a typical day, there are approximately 3,400 visits to the site. On a monthly basis, Audiology Online averages 400,000 page views and have approximately 60,000 unique visitors. This year, they expect to process more than 50,000 hours of continuing education (CEUs) through the 600+ courses in their library. The presentations given by NCA researchers will now be part of this CEU library.

Dr. Janis Cardy presented with donation from Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation

At a special ceremony on Saturday, October 31, 2009, Dr. Janis Cardy (School of Communication Sciences & Disorders) was presented a donation from the Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation in support or her research entitled “Brain markers of auditory integration in autism spectrum and language disorders”. The Foundation has provided a $100K grant over 3 years.

The Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation of Canada is a private charitable Foundation, funded by donations and bequests from the 26,000 members of The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of Canada. The Foundation concentrates its assistance in focused areas of research into the causes of intellectual impairment.

Visit Dr. Cardy's bio page

Moodie presented with Paul Kuttner Pioneer Award

On Thursday the 29th October 2009 Professor Shane Moodie of the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders was presented with the Paul Kuttner
Pioneer Award at the Canadian Academy of Audiology Conference held in Toronto Ontario. The award is presented to an individual considered a pioneer in audiology in Canada and who has developed programs or procedures which have impacted audiology service delivery in our country.

Purcell awarded Ontario Early Researcher Award

Dr. David Purcell was recently awarded an Ontario Early Researcher Award from the Ministry of Research and Innovation. This award will provide five years of student support for thesis based graduate degrees pursued with Dr. Purcell. This funding will support research to help us better understand the role of auditory feedback in the maintenance of accurate speech production. Dr. Purcell's laboratory uses an experimental approach where auditory feedback is manipulated in real-time. This elicits a change in speech production that informs us about the interactions between the auditory and speech production systems. Interested students can read more at the SAFE Lab website. This research area may be of interest to students with a broad range of backgrounds such as psychology, neuroscience, communication sciences, physiology, medical biophysics, life sciences, health sciences, or other related areas.

Masonic Foundation of Ontario supports research of Dr. Mary Beth Jennings

Masons 2009 Dr. Mary Beth Jennings with Mr. Jim van Trigt, Chairman (left), and Mr. John Kroezen (right), District Deputy Grand Master, Waterloo District 2008-2009.

The Waterloo District of the Masonic Foundation of Ontario is generously supporting the research of Dr. Mary Beth Jennings at The National Centre for Audiology with a gift of $6,920. The cheque was presented at the Waterloo District Masons Open House on Saturday September 19, 2009.

The focus of Dr. Jennings’ research is on adult aural rehabilitation with a special interest in assessing outcomes from group aural rehabilitation (AR) programs. Other areas of research include barriers and facilitators to the uptake and use of hearing assistive technologies for older adults, assessing workplace accessibility for older workers with hearing loss, stigma and disclosure of hearing loss, and the application of universal design principles to hearing.

Susan Scollie featured in this year's CIHR Annual Report

The School of Communication Sciences and Disorders(CSD) is proud to recognize that Susan Scollie was recently featured in the 2008-09 CIHR Annual Report. Congratulations Susan! (read the report)

Speech-Language Pathology group visits Peru

The School of Communication Sciences and Disorders' Sue Schurr, Taslim Moosa and 4 clinical placement students (Victoria Lewis, Adriana Lopez, Michelle Colli and Jana Zalmanowitz) departed for Peru on
Thursday morning to participate in a very special clinical placement.

As part of their trip, the group will be blogging and posting photos to a Flickr gallery giving us a taste of their experiences.

Follow along here.

Check out the Flickr gallery here.

The Faculty of Health Sciences and School of Communication Sciences and Disorders is pleased to announce an anonymous gift of $25,000 (endowed) to create the Richard C. Seewald Entrance Scholarship in Audiology. This scholarship was established by friends, former students, and colleagues of Dr. Richard C. Seewald, a leading international expert in pediatric audiology, particularly children’s hearing amplification fitting. After 21 years at Western, Dr. Seewald retired on July 1, 2009.

The scholarship will be awarded annually to a full-time student entering the first year of the audiology program in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders who demonstrates a strong professional commitment, as well as academic excellence. Preference will be given to the student who demonstrates all-around academic excellence and exceptional potential relating to the practice of clinical audiology. The gift will provide a $1,000 award. Over time, it is hoped additional support will allow us to increase the value of the scholarship to $1,500.

Special thanks to Drs. JB Orange, Richard Seewald, and Marilyn Kertoy for working with the donor and establishing the scholarship criteria.

Other gifts to this award are being accepted and for further information please contact Catherine Dorais-Plesko Development Officer, Corporations & Foundations at Ph: 519 661-2111 x.85199 email: cdoraisp@uwo.ca

New biotech invention developed by FHS professor Ruth Martin, former graduate student, and colleagues at Western’s School of Communication Sciences and Disorders to be launched worldwide

Ruth Martin Invented at The University of Western Ontario, a novel therapy system for treating dysphagia has been licensed to Trudell Medical International (TMI) for development and world-wide distribution.

Read the Western News Story here

CSD Participates in Relay for Life

Relay for Life team On March 21st, 2009, a group of Communication Sciences and Disorders students participated in the UWO Relay for Life for the Canadian Cancer Society. This 12 hour overnight event raised money for all types of cancer research and involved teams walking around a track all night. The team, called CSD For Life, raised over $3000 in less than a week, which put them in 1st place!

Congratulations to Dr. Richard Seewald -Distinguished University Professor Award

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Richard Seewald (Communication Sciences and Disorders) is one of four members from Western honoured with a 2008 Distinguished University Professor Award. The Distinguished University Professor Award is Western's highest recognition for a faculty member. This award is presented in honour of sustained excellence in teaching, research and service during an outstanding scholarly career at The University of Western Ontario.

Dr. Heather Laschinger (Nursing) was presented with this honour in 2006

H.A. Leeper Speech and Hearing Clinic Audiologists Honoured by the Canadian Hearing Society

CHS presentation The Canadian Hearing Society (CHS) has played an instrumental role over the past 17 years as a valued partner to the faculty and to the students in the H. A. Leeper Speech and Hearing Clinic in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). Professors Shane Moodie and Frances Richert, audiologists in the H.A. (Andy) Leeper Speech and Hearing Clinic, were honoured today when they were presented with a plaque from The Canadian Hearing Society to celebrate their work of patience, care and dedication to the many clients that have been referred to the CSD teaching and research clinic. Ms. Kim Paulton from CHS presented a plaque depicting a monarch butterfly, the logo and symbol of the CHS. This image that symbolizes the mission and the vision statement of CHS -a society where all people are respected, have full access to communication, and are able to participate without social, economic, or emotional barriers.

Ms. Paulton works with seniors who have hearing impairments and often turns to Professors Moodie and Richert for guidance and advice. Ms. Paulton is then able to follow-up with clients in their home and community settings after clients have been seen by Shane and Frances. With the help of Shane and Frances, the CHS has been better able to provide hearing counselling to their clients. The faculty within the H.A. Leeper Speech and Hearing Clinic provide exemplary training and experience to their students as they enter the profession of audiology so that the clinicians possess a respectful, supportive and scientific approach to care. Faculty and students in CSD appreciate the relationship that exists with the CHS which has yielded tremendous benefit to those in our community with hearing loss and which has improved the quality of clients’ lives by virtue of improved communication. On behalf of all faculty, staff, students and clients in the H.A. Leeper Clinic, we thank the members of the CHS for their token of appreciation and for all that they do. Thanks CHS!