Jeff Meeks is a Speech-Language Pathologist and special education administrator in northern Arizona. He is a graduate of Northern Arizona University where he obtained a Master of Science degree in Clinical Speech Pathology. His education has enabled him to gain valuable experience in skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, early childhood settings, and public schools. In addition to his degree is Speech Pathology, he has earned an Education Specialist degree in Teaching and Learning with a focus in Special Education. He is currently in the process of completing his doctoral dissertation after which he will have completed his Doctor of Education degree with an emphasis in Teaching and Learning. His dissertation addresses the effect of speech amplification on managerial time in small group speech therapy.
Jeff’s work history includes clinical as well as administrative experience in both school and medical settings. He has the unique experience of having served as both an interim Director of Rehabilitation in a small community hospital as well as a public school administrator. His present employment as Director of Special Services for the Navajo County Superintendent of Schools is an administrative and supervisory position focusing on special education and therapeutic services for local school districts. This position requires that he provide remote and direct supervision to twenty-seven physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists and school psychologists distributed among twenty-six school districts. He provides inservice training to these employees as well as consulting with school districts concerning special education law, policies, and procedures. His areas of special interest include service delivery models, assistive communication, neurogenic communication disorders, and classroom management / behavior management.
Jeff has most recently served as the President-Elect of ArSHA and his term as President begins summer of 2010. As President-Elect, Jeff has introduced the Praxis Bowl during the 2010 convention. This event is intended to bring together universities and students in our state and ArSHA’s general membership under the larger umbrella of our state association during a fun activity. The theme of the Praxis Bowl is consistent with Jeff’s goals for ArSHA which include: improving university relationships and increasing membership of new graduates; increasing availability of quality speech and language services in the state; and improving communication between ArSHA and its members.
2010 ArSHA Child of the Year
Thursday, 06 May 2010
Kendall Crum is a delightful 12 year old girl. She lives in Gilbert, AZ with her parents and her sister, Chloe. She attends school in the Gilbert Public Schools. Kendall’s interests include acting in church programs, singing musical numbers in music therapy, and celebrating birthdays.
Kendall has been benefiting from speech-language therapy for most of her life. She began early intervention and clinic based therapies at 10 months of age. She was introduced to gestures and modified baby signs. Her first signs were “cracker” and “play.” At age two, she started to receive home based therapies. Here she was introduced to communication cards and charts. Kendall quickly learned the power of the “goldfish” and “swing” cards. At the age of four, she entered preschool and was introduced to a voice output communication device. She used a Go Talk 9 to talk about snacks and to choose activities. In kindergarten through second grade, Kendall continued to use the picture cards and her modified signs and gestures to express herself. In third grade, Kendall started using the Dynavox M3, and two of the first things she learned were how to ask for snacks and to select movies to watch. She soon surprised her father by saying “Happy birthday, Daddy” as he walked through the door after work. Currently, Kendall uses the Dynavox M3 to share information and to express her likes and dislikes. Watching her navigate through the pages on her device is like watching a tornado. She almost always finds what she wants to say and delivers her message loud and clear. Kendall has a voice of her own.
Kendall is a cheerful, loving girl who has always strived to communicate her needs and wants with others. Her family support has been a positive influence in helping her communication skills to grow. Although she has faced, and continues to face, many challenges associated with her diagnosis of Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome, she has grown into a dynamic young lady with so much to offer.
Kendall is a wonderful testimony of the positive changes that can be wrought in the lives of children due to speech-language services and collaboration between parents and professionals.
Kendall was nominated by Kathleen Sawyers, a Speech-Language Pathologist and Assistive Technology Specialist, from the Gilbert Public Schools.
Congratulations, Kendall, ArSHA Child of the Year.
Karen Labrozzi, ArSHA Public Relations Chair
2010 ArSHA Silent Auction Acknowledgment
Thursday, 06 May 2010
The proceeds from the 2010 Silent Auction will be used to help fund our projects
to build awareness of the work of audiologists and speech-language pathologists
in Arizona.
ArSHA thanks the following businesses and individuals for their generous donations
to the 2010 Silent Auction
Acoustical Calibration Sales & Service
Arizona Cardinals
Luis Zendejas
8701 S Hardy Drive
Tempe, AZ 85284
Arizona Education Cadre, LLC
Joanne Phillips
Bruce Grawburg
Desert Caballeros Western Museum
Becky Rovey
21 North Frontier Street
Wickenburg, AZ 85390
Dicks Sporting Goods
Megan O’Hara
345 Court Street
Coraopolis, PA 15108
Hearing Solutions of Arizona
Debra Venkatesh
Irma Gomez-Sanchez
Karen LaBrozzi
Lori Taniguchi
Mary Ellen Sidler
MSR West Inc.
Rod Warembourgh
National Stuttering Association
Judith Eckert
Out of Africa Wildlife Park
Ashton Powell
4020 North Cherry Road
Camp Verde, AZ 86322
Southwest Gardener
Lynn & Amy
2809 North 15 Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85007
STARS
16428 East Kingstree Blvd.
Fountain Hills, AZ
The Phoenix Zoo
Annette Heath
455 North Galvin Parkway
Phoenix, AZ 85008
Valerie Andrews
Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium
1651 W. Northern Avenue
LitchfieldPark, AZ 85340
Please visit the businesses and thank them for supporting ArSHA. Also thank the ArSHA members and friends of ArSHA for donating to the silent auction.
Karen LaBrozzi ArSHA Public Relations Chair
Proposed DSM-V Changes Affecting SLPs
Friday, 16 April 2010
Dear Colleagues,
We want to alert you to an opportunity to participate in the review process for the upcoming fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). The DSM provides diagnostic criteria for classifying many communication and related disorders, so SLPs have a vested interest in the outcome of this revision process.
Urgent: The comment period is only open for a short time, so make your voice heard. You will need to review the proposed changes below and then go to www.dsm5.org to submit any comments by April 20, 2010.
Proposed DSM-V Changes Affecting SLPs The revised Communication Disorders section has not yet been posted for public comment. We will e-mail you a second time as soon as that posting has occurred.
The following proposed changes that affect SLPs are up for comment:
Autism
Subsuming pervasive developmental disorder into autism spectrum disorder. See the DSM-V rationale for more information on the proposed revision.
Eliminating subcategories of autism (e.g., Asperger’s syndrome, Rett’s, childhood disintegrative disorder) due to lack of evidence for discrete categories.
Changing the criteria for defining autism. The proposed definition of autism spectrum disorder includes two criteria: deficits in social communication and interactions and restrictive and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities.
Learning Disabilities
Changing subcategories of learning disabilities (currently learning disorders) to dyslexia (currently reading disorder) and dyscalculalia (currently mathematics disorder), and eliminating the disorder of written expression as a subcategory. The proposed definition of dyslexia is limited to decoding and does not address reading comprehension.
Intellectual Disabilities
Changing the definition of intellectual disabilities (currently mental retardation) and eliminating classification by severity (i.e., mild, moderate, severe, profound).
Cognitive Disorders
Changing the category name Delirium, Dementia Amnestic, and Other Geriatric Cognitive Disorders to Neurocognitive Disorders. The subcategories include delirium, major neurocognitive disorder, and minor neurocognitive disorder. The new diagnostic criteria do not require memory impairment as a primary factor, recognizing that other cognitive areas may be more affected in disorders other than the Alzheimer’s disease subtype.
SLPs have been involved in an advisory capacity for some of the disorder areas, including communication disorders (language impairment, speech sound disorders, stuttering, voice disorders), learning disabilities, autism, and intellectual disabilities. Not all of the recommendations offered by advisory groups have been included in the posted revision.
The DSM, along with the ICD-9-CM, is widely used in the United States and other countries by a variety of professionals, agencies, and policy makers—including clinical practitioners, researchers, and third-party payers.
This is an important opportunity to weigh in on the diagnostic criteria used by other professionals for disorders SLPs treat.
Reminder A second e-mail will be coming from ASHA as soon as the Communication Disorders section is posted. The deadline for comments for this section may be extended, but the deadline will still be tight. We wanted to make sure to get this on your agenda. For now, please go to www.dsm5.org to review the proposed changes and provide comments by April 20, 2010.
Thanks, Diane R. Paul, PhD, CCC-SLP Director Clinical Issues in Speech-Language Pathology American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
James Case Student Clinical Award
Monday, 12 April 2010
The Honors Committee selected the following 4 students to receive the James Case Student Clinical Award: Amanda Van Vianen from UA, Crystle Alavez from NAU, John Burkart from ATSU and Kristen Taylor from ASU.
Continuing Ed Opportunity for Participation Based Services for Children & Youth with Disabilities
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
This 30 hour continuing education project will use information created by a federal grant for 6 others states in the nation. There will only be 12 participants selected for this project, 4 from each therapy discipline. This is a pilot project, funded by grant dollars which offers participants an excellent opportunity to learn the Participation Based Services Approach while earning free CEUs. Join us to learn more about embedding therapy strategies into the daily routine for individuals with disabilities and how to teach the family and caregivers how to do these activities to help the individual meet their outcomes.
Individuals demonstrating significant contributions to clinical science and practice over a 20-year career are eligible for nomination by fellow professionals to receive a recognition award. Supported by the Kleffner Fund. Nominations are now being accepted. Download the guidelines and nomination materials [PDF].
Please note that all applications are PDF documents and will
require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.
ASHA News
Wednesday, 03 March 2010
Senate Passes Extension of the Exceptions Process
Late last night, the Senate passed legislation to temporarily halt the 21% reduction in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and resume the therapy caps exceptions process. H.R. 4691, which passed in the House last week, was passed by the Senate through a vote of 78 to 19. This bill provides a short-term extension to the therapy caps exceptions process retroactive to January 1, 2010. The bill also extends the moratorium on the scheduled cut in the physician fee schedule. Both provisions are slated to expire on March 31, 2010. It is anticipated that President Obama will sign the bill later today.
Congress hopes to use this time to negotiate a slightly longer extension to expire at the end of 2010. ASHA, along with over 40 patient, consumer, and provider groups, participated in a press conference this morning on Capitol Hill thanking Congress for the short-term fix while shifting the focus to a long-term permanent solution for the therapy caps and physician fee schedule.
For more information regarding congressional action related to the therapy caps, please contact Stefanie Reeves by e-mail at sreeves@asha.org.
The 2010 Annual ArSHA Convention: “Reflecting on the Past and Looking to the Future”
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
April in Phoenix-2010 ArSHA Convention
Celebration of ArSHA’s 50th Anniversary
“Reflecting on the Past and Looking to the Future”
The 2010 ArSHA Convention will be held at the beautiful Desert Willow Conference Center in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday and Saturday, April 23-24, 2010. Plans are underway for a robust slate of speakers, vendor exhibits, Silent Auction, and poster sessions.
Price includes continental breakfast, morning break, lunch, and afternoon break on both days.
Early Bird Registration 2 Days: • $225 ArSHA Member • $350 Non-Member • 3 or more ArSHA members, same agency $200 each • $100 Student Member
Early Bird Registration 1 Day: Friday -or- Saturday • $175 Association Member • $225 Non-Member • 3 or more ArSHA members, same agency $160 each • $50 Student Member
After April 11, 2010 • $50 2 Day Late Fee • $25 1 Day Late Fee
Jeff Meeks is a Speech-Language Pathologist and special education administrator in northern Arizona. He is a graduate of Northern Arizona University where he obtained a Master of Science degree in Clinical Speech Pathology. His education has enabled him to gain valuable experience in skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, early childhood settings, and public schools. In addition to his degree is Speech Pathology, he has earned an Education Specialist degree in Teaching and Learning with a focus in Special Education. He is currently in the process of completing his doctoral dissertation after which he will have completed his Doctor of Education degree with an emphasis in Teaching and Learning. His dissertation addresses the effect of speech amplification on managerial time in small group speech therapy.
April in Phoenix-2010 ArSHA Convention