Now HEAR This!

Parent sees progress through birthday party

2011-05-10T17:39:00.001-05:00

Colleen Waguespack, BRSHF President, sent the following email over the weekend, telling how she saw her son's and other former BRSHF students' progress at his 6th birthday party.

"Three of Christopher's former BRSHF classmates were at his birthday party this weekend. It is really neat that we can mix his former BRSHF friends with kids from his other school now. I used to pick: either BRSHF or the other school. If I had told people that 3 of the kids in the room were in the autism program at BRSHF, your average party-goer would not have been able to pick them out of the crowd. It shows how far these kids have all come! (Of course, the biggest hit was a girl who Christopher still calls "his girlfriend" and whose family says she still plans to marry Christopher!)"

Substitute Therapists make an Impact

2011-04-20T10:22:00.001-05:00

As you may be aware, children in our program for Autism Spectrum Disorders go through multi-disciplinary therapy - individualized Applied Behavior Analysis therapy, combined with our unique Group Language Therapy preschool classes. We also have a rather small but very passionate, dedicated corps of substitute therapists who step in to cover therapy when a staff member is out. Sarah Brunet, Speech Therapist, had this story to share about the impact one of our substitutes had on a child with ASD in her speech group:

"I was out about 6 weeks ago on vacation and had a substitute therapist cover my groups. She hasn't been around much since, until last week when one therapist was out for jury duty. Well, one day last week, I was out on the playground with my group and she walked outside. The little boy I was playing with looked up and cued himself, saying 'Go say Hey, Ms. Pam!' He ran over to her smiling & gave her a big wave! I was surprised to see not only that he remembered her name, but that he was so excited to see her that he stopped what he was doing to go say hey! It's proof not only that our kids are constantly full of surprises, but also a testament to the spirit and importance of our wonderful subs!"

InRegister's Autism story inspires community, helps spread the word

2011-04-05T14:45:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Autism Awareness Month! This month's InRegister features a cover story on resources for Autism Spectrum Disorders across the capital region (page 20), with a profile on BRSHF's President, Colleen Waguespack, and her son Christopher, who was enrolled in our autism program from 2007-2010. When the issue hit stands last week, Jenna, who works in our front office, got the following emotional phone call:

"I got a call from a lady who had read the InRegister article, and she was just choked up on the phone. She has a daughter with a similar diagnosis and was interested in our services. She was amazed by Colleen and Christopher's story, she read it 3 times in a row. She was impressed at the progress Christopher made here, and was just so glad she read the article, because she didn't know about us before."

As a non-profit clinic, it can be hard for us to get the word out about our services at all, much less to paint an accurate picture of the incredibly rare, comprehensive, effective programs we offer, especially in the area of Autism. Many people don't realize that we accept 5 different types of private insurance, in addition to Medicaid and offering financial assistance, so we exist for people of all incomes, not just the medically under-served. Autism is almost an epidemic and the resources in our community are scarce, but as the article showed, there IS hope for people living "on the Spectrum" in and around Baton Rouge. This April, we hope to reach more people with that message.

If you have a loved one with needs that BRSHF doesn't meet, we encourage you to contact our friends at the Resource Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, at Families Helping Families.

Sounds Like...

2011-03-21T10:00:00.002-05:00

Meg Sprunger, one of our Speech Therapists, has this story from recent therapy lessons...

"This winter, the children had lots of fun with our 'bear' theme – we talked about hibernation, made a pretend cave to sleep in, and read books about bears. One of our budding artists began drawing and coloring an endless array of bear caves. Since 'cave' was a bit difficult to say, he would proudly show off his pictures every day, loudly proclaiming 'A bear house! A bear house!'

Fast forward to March, when bear activities had long been replaced by Mardi Gras preparations, with discussions of parades and beads and king cakes. One day, as we looked at a Mardi Gras book filled with parade pictures, this same boy excitedly called out, 'A bear house! A bear house!' I scanned the pictures quickly, looking for anything that might resemble a cave. I was at a complete loss. Then I noted that he was pointing to a picture of children waiting for a parade to pass, and my mind went back to what I had said about that picture the session before: 'See the children hanging on the barricade, they’re waiting for the parade,' I had explained. Ah yes, I quickly began to put it all together….. Barricade = bear cave = bear house!

And that’s how it goes, never a day without something to smile about!"

Patients use "buddy-system" for hearing health

2011-03-14T14:34:00.001-05:00

Dr. Natalee Menge, Audiologist, shared this story about patients with a uniquely proactive approach to hearing healthcare:

"I have an 81-year old patient who always comes to the clinic with her friend, "Ms. Suzie." They attend most of their doctor's appointments together in hopes that if one of them misses what is said, the other one will catch it. They also walk each week and regularly share meals together. As I was making adjustments on her hearing aids, I overheard my patient voice her desires to travel "out west" on a train. "Ms. Suzie" responded simply, "Well, why don't you go." My patient responded that she didn't want to go by herself. "Ms. Suzie" then said, "You just want to drag me along with you." They laughed and made small talk for a few minutes. I returned my patient her hearing aids and checked to make sure they were working well. As they left they were making plans on where they were going to lunch. After they left I found myself hoping that one day I have a girlfriend like "Ms. Suzie" to spend retirement years with."

Student Aide touched by working with BRSHF kids

2011-01-24T10:38:00.002-06:00

As you may know, BRSHF relies on a cadre of students from local universities who, overseen by licensed professional staff, assist with and facilitate autism and speech therapy and audiology services here in the clinic. Often, these students go on to pursue post-graduate studies in Speech Pathology, Audiology, Psychology, Occupational Therapy, and Special Education. BRSHF is proud to be one of few clinics in town where these students can get hands-on experience working with children to add to their resumes. One such student, Gina, cited an experience she had working in our program in the personal statement for a grad school application, and she allowed us to share part of it with you:

"I have a unique passion for the field of Speech Pathology. This was made clear to me during my clinical practicum, as I worked with a particular 4-year-old girl. This child, having severe Apraxia, had a very limited vocabulary and repetitive phrases were common. (*Ed. note: Apraxia is a motor planning disorder, which makes it difficult to sequence how to make a sound, or to decide what to say and then say it. Once these children know how to say a word or phrase, they often repeat it because they know they can say it correctly.) One day she replaced a name in one of her regular utterances ("Where Shaun?" - a boy in her class) with my name ("Where Gina?"). The day that she first spoke my name was the day that I became absolutely certain that I wanted to be a part of this field. I look forward to being able to make a difference in people's lives by helping them to conquer their communications deficits and to grow as more social and competent human beings."

This story is an example of common, every-day progress that goes on here at BRSHF. But it is an honor to provide these pivotal learning moments, not just to the children enrolled in our programs, but also to the many student workers who dedicate countless hours to our clinic.

Tricia shares story of hope

2010-11-30T09:52:00.000-06:00

Tricia Henderson, supervisor for speech services, shared this story of inspiration from a recent speech evaluation:

"I met an extremely brave person while doing an evaluation a few weeks ago. A beautiful mother of two came in to have her youngest son evaluated for language delay. Her older son was already in our program, diagnosed with autism, and making good progress... saying words he never attempted prior to joining us. The sweet mother smiled as she told me she feared her second son was also autistic; she recently had seen the neurologist who hesitated to diagnose the second boy at 18 months since he had some very appropriate social skills.The mom wanted to get some idea about his language delay and to hear what a speech pathologist thought.

As we did the interview, I was encouraged to see that the baby had many good and promising social behaviors... he laughed, sought the source of voices, played speech-gesture games like "pat a cake", and sought interaction with his brother by crawling up to him to look at his toy. This young one was definitely delayed but did not seem autistic; he was interested in others and responded to language. Only time will tell.

Our plan is to place him in an appropriate language group just as soon as possible since early intervention is the KEY for both autism and for language delay. As the mother left she said, 'I'm pregnant and the neurologist said if it is a girl, the odds go down for autism. We're hoping for the best!' I could not help but offer a silent prayer for the baby to be born....knowing that no matter what, that baby would be loved and cared for by a very brave mother and father."

For Lisa, 50th Anniversary provided inspiration, affirmation

2010-11-02T14:24:00.003-05:00

Lisa Sloan-Limmer, speech pathologist, shares a story of affirmation from the 50th Anniversary party:

"As a somewhat new staff member, I found our 50th celebration both educational, heart-felt and a bit of a reaffirmation in my job of choice. Life is a journey, not a destination. We have too few chances to see the end results in the children's lives that we touch. It was so wonderful to see the return of children from past journeys at BRSHF, who are now adults leading lives of their choice and opportunities.

For me, the most heart-felt experience was not the squeals of joy and delight from the children that were enjoying the activities and playground, but the squeals of joy and delight of adults as they reconnected with others who have shared their past. It was so exciting seeing such a powerful connection between former classmates and families, as well as the reconnection between the women who recognized the potential of a special population that was significantly underserved, had a vision, made a plan and jumped into founding this wonderful organization. The bonds that are made through trials and successes such as those that created BRSHF started a great journey. Learning the history behind where I work and meeting those who lived it gives me a better perspective of the journey that we are on now, and that will make a difference for the next 50 years in the lives of the wild and wonderful children that we "chase and pull, coddle and coax" on a journey through the 'Loud and Clear!'"

Current and former staff reflect on BRSHF's history Former BRSHF students recreate their groundbreaking photo from 1967

Audiology Mobile Testing Unit impresses at 50th Anniversary

2010-11-02T14:18:00.000-05:00

Dr. Natalee Menge, BRSHF's Audiologist, shared this interaction she had with a gentleman at the 50th Anniversary celebration on Sunday, September 12:

"My department has a Mobile Testing Unit (MTU) that we bring to health fairs and group homes around the 10-parish Capital Area United Way service area. We're pretty proud to be the only ones in the Baton Rouge area that provide free hearing screenings as outreach to this area, so we wanted to make sure the MTU was on hand for the 50th Anniversary celebration!

I knew that the MTU was provided by members of the Sertoma Club of Baton Rouge, who found an abandoned hearing booth in a field and converted it into the mobile unit that I use today, thanks to funds from the local chapters of Quota Club and Delta Zeta. Well, while I was explaining the uses of the MTU during the celebration, a man walked up and introduced himself as the Sertoma member who built the trailer! It was so great to get to meet him and hear about the process of finding and building the unit. He was very excited to see it and to know that it was still in use, providing services to community members who might not know about or have access to hearing healthcare otherwise."

Sertoma and Quota Club members furnishing and presenting MTU, 2003

Tricia sees former client's success at 50th Anniversary

2010-11-02T13:01:00.000-05:00

Tricia Henderson, Supervisor for Speech Services, has worked at BRSHF for many years. She shared this experience that touched her at our 50th Anniversary celebration earlier this fall:

"A young man in his 20s walked into the clinic carrying a ziploc bag and asked if a former therapist still worked here. I said 'no,' but told him she still lived in Baton Rouge, happened to be a neighbor of mine, but was now working in another field. He held up the ziploc and within were lots of memorabilia from his days at BRSHF some 20+ years ago! His mother had saved them all and, in one picture, there he was on top of the slide smiling ... an adorable 3 year old. That young man is now a manager of a car repair shop. As he spoke I could not help but be amazed at how mature and well spoken he is as an adult....another ordinary miracle at BRSHF!

(And by the way, I dropped a copy of the photo off at his former therapist's house. She was thrilled to hear of his success! That's the deal here....we carry our clients in our hearts long after they leave BRSHF!)"

Former clients, parents, and staff reflect and catch up at the 50th Anniversary Party

Current clients helped celebrate 50th Anniversary

2010-11-02T12:49:00.001-05:00

Irina Kochergin, speech pathologist, had this update to share about the 50th Anniversary celebration, held at BRSHF on September 12:

"As we've been preparing for the 50th Anniversary party, a lot of the focus has been on the history of the Foundation - getting former clients, staff, and friends to come back & celebrate the work of this outstanding organization over 5 decades. But the celebration was just as much for them as it was for our current clients and patients, who are a part of the amazing work we're doing here and now! This was proven by one young child, a current speech client, who was so excited to come to the clinic's birthday party, that he and his mother baked and decorated a birthday cupcake. He brought it with him to the party and shared it with his friends, along with the other food and treats available. It's moments like this that prove we are making an impact in these kids' lives, and I'm proud to be associated with BRSHF at such an exciting time!"

Lisa shares a story of Halloween progress

2010-10-26T14:33:00.001-05:00

Lisa Sloan-Limmer, speech therapist, conducted groups around the theme of halloween, carving pumpkins and making pictures of trick-or-treat candy, as many of our therapists have this week! One student exhibited major progress through these activities:

"We had a major Halloween break-through in class today. One student has had a difficult time with the theme of halloween - everything is scary! Mom reports even shopping in stores right now is hard. We have been working on aleviating those fears in class with stories, touching, making halloween sounds, etc. Today we carved a pumpkin. This student was able to touch the bumpy outside, put her hands in the pumpkin and pull out "slimely seeds," and even poke her fingers through the eye holes. She did start to tear-up at one point, but it wasn't because she was afraid of the jack-o-lantern anymore. She was sad because Mrs. Lisa might hurt the pumpkin when I cut it!"

Another tale of promise from Tricia

2010-10-11T12:51:00.001-05:00

Tricia Henderson, Director of Speech Services, as well as other speech therapists, often conduct speech evaluations to diagnose a child's specific speech needs, and to determine placement in our programs. She shares another recent story of encouragement:

"The young child came in with his grandmother and case manager since he was a ward of the state, having been removed from his home. Both adults discussed the deprivation and chaos in the home. He was now residing with the grandmother and would stay with her for at least the next 11 months. Both the social worker for the state and the grandmother reported that he did not use any words, could not imitate words and had not really been exposed to books.

As the evaluation began, he played very quietly on the floor with several truck making no sounds at all. As the interview continued, the evaluator asked him to sit in a chair by her and he eagerly climbed up. When a book was opened, he was THRILLED to point to objects named. When a flashlight was used as a bribe (every child's delight), he eagerly imitated most consonant sounds and even repeated words. He smiled and laughed, eager to do his work, in exchange for a turn with the blocks, truck or FLASHLIGHT! As they left, the grandmother said, 'He never did that before. I didn't know he knew so much or that he would imitate you!' We discussed that he showed great promise and we would try to place him immediately in a language group. The young boy smiled and repeated "Bye bye" when the evaluator told him goodbye. He then turned and ran back to hug her around the legs with a big laugh.

How thrilling to know this one child's future will be very bright because of what we can and will do for him in the next 11 months!"

Tricia tells how our history lends credibility

2010-10-07T15:33:00.001-05:00

Tricia Henderson is Director of Speech Services, and has been employed at BRSHF for 27 years. As part of her job, she (along with the other speech therapists) conducts speech evaluations to diagnose a child's specific speech needs, and to determine placement in our programs. She has this recent story to share:

"The child came in with three people, the father, the mother, and the stepmother. They were quite serious about the evaluation of their small son and as we walked down the hall, the father, a policeman, asked quite seriously: "So how long has this clinic been here?" I happily replied: "Oh, we just had a birthday party celebrating our 50th year!" He looked totally surprised and said, "Well, then, I guess you know what you are doing!" I laughed and said, "Yes, we've been at it longer than anyone else in Baton Rouge. We were the very first speech and hearing clinic in town. We know very well what we are doing. You came to the right place!"

As I said this, I felt very proud of our history.....50 years.....loud and clear!"

Ms. Meg tells about a surprise visit!

2010-09-27T13:01:00.003-05:00

On Friday, Ms. Meg, one of our Speech Therapists, submitted this story about a surprise learning experience:

"The blaring sound of the fire alarm pierced the air, so we gathered up the kiddos and hurried outside to the back of the playground. It happens sometimes – one of the kids reaches up and pulls the alarm, setting off an impromptu fire drill. It’s not easy to keep the children seated and calm on any day, but it was a particularly hot mid-day, and we had to wait longer than usual since it wasn’t immediately clear who or what had set off the alarm.

The fire truck arrived and gave the “all clear.” But Melissa, never one to pass on a learning opportunity, persuaded the firemen to stay and let the children see the truck.

What a great reward for sitting so patiently! The kids were very excited to climb inside the fire truck, try on the hats, and see the equipment. Those who were a bit too scared to climb in still touched the truck, examined the huge wheels and waved to the firemen. The firemen left us with stickers and coloring books, along with promises to return again. It was an exciting way to finish off a Friday language session!"

Audiology Patient Gives Back

2010-09-20T15:46:00.002-05:00

We had a very successful 50th Anniversary celebration last week, thanks to the participation of many individuals and community organizations! One such individual is a client of Dr. Menge's, who was so grateful for BRSHF's services in the area of reduced-cost hearing aids, that he wanted to donate some of his time back to the clinic. This is his story, as told by Natalee:

"One of my patients came in a few weeks ago for a hearing aid follow-up appointment and mentioned that he had seen a sign in the clinic about people volunteering. He asked, 'What do your volunteers do?' I mentioned that we have a group of LSU student workers who help out in the group therapy classrooms or filing charts - both of which I figured he would not be interested in, being a middle-aged man. He asked about helping with yard work and if I thought it would be a good idea. I told him that we don't usually turn down free labor and that I would talk with our director, Melissa Juneau, about him coming to help out with the front flowerbeds. Thanks to this gentleman's hard work, our front hedges and lawn have been trimmed and tidied up just in time for the 50th Anniversary! While that was certainly not necessary of him, it's nice to know we touch people's lives in a way that moves them to such kind action."

Introducing Irina!

2010-08-31T13:24:00.002-05:00

Last week, we sadly bid farewell to Mrs. Trenae' Webb, a Speech Therapist who is near and dear to many hearts here at BRSHF. Though Trenae can never be replaced, we're excited to announce the arrival of a new speech therapist, Irina Kochergin, who'll be taking over Trenae's spot. Here is a little introduction to BRSHF's newest addition:

"Hello, I’m Irina and I’ll have the pleasure of working with the amazing toddlers and preschoolers at BRSHF this fall! I am thrilled and excited to begin the adventures of learning with these little ones. I am a graduate of LSU's Masters program in Speech Pathology, and although I am newly aboard to the staff here, I am not a stranger to the Foundation. I worked here two years ago alongside the wonderful therapists and have gained a wealth of experience in this program. I love working with children and love the many opportunities I have in their learning development in my field of speech pathology. I look forward to becoming well-acquainted with everyone here!"

Two fun facts about Irina are that she was born in Russia, and she has worked at Disney World! Welcome aboard, Irina!

Birthdays All-Around!

2010-08-13T10:26:00.002-05:00

This week, as we're gearing up for BRSHF's 50th Anniversary celebration, we had a staff birthday of our own to celebrate! Trenae' Webb, Speech Pathologist Extraordinaire, gives this update:

"At BRSHF we celebrate the little things, we celebrate the big things, we celebrate our clients, we celebrate us! If you see one of our language clients spontaneously requesting "water" as they pass the water fountain or pausing from taking a step as they are cued to "wait!" with a shout by a therapist, our faces light up with excitement. When we're blessed with new therapy supplies or funding for necessary equipment around the clinic, happy energy shared between us all yields the ambiance of pay day!

This week, the fun continued as we took a pause out to celebrate our boss, Mrs. Melissa Juneau's 50th birthday! Decorated by our wonderful office administrators, Mrs. Bonita and Mrs. Jenna, streamers, birthday banners, and balloons nicely adorned her door and office and were awaiting her entrance to her surprise. It didn’t stop there! The staff gathered around the intercom to serenade her in singing happy birthday as she cut into her birthday cake!

It’s wonderful to have a great boss! And it’s not quite above suspicious that as she celebrates her 50th year of life, the Foundation shares in its 50th celebration of operation! What can I say? Some things just “fit” so well! Happy Birthday Mrs. Melissa!"

BRSHF common site of reunions

2010-08-03T11:59:00.002-05:00

Not only is BRSHF gearing up for our 50th Anniversary reunion & celebration on September 12. Dr. Natalee Menge, staff audiologist, observed this chance meeting of two hearing impaired clients as a result of her clinic schedule!

"I saw 2 hearing impaired teenagers back-to-back last week, both have been long-time patients at the clinic. I didn't think anything of it, but I knew in the back of my mind that they had attended the same elementary school. When the second child and mother arrived for their appointment, they recognized the mom in the waiting room. They were so excited to see each other again, it had been a few years since they had seen one another. The moms were able to visit and catch up, I was unaware of this since I was in the sound suite with the other child working on their hearing aids. I had a knock on my door and when I opened it, they were all standing there, both moms and 2 children, waiting to see the child I had been working with. She was surprised to say the least. It was great to see two children re-connect after being apart for a few years, especially when no one anticipated it. Reunions like this occur frequently at BRSHF, whether it be between childhood friends, parents, or grandparents, and each time it happens it makes my day a little brighter."

Lisa says therapists not responsible for future behavior

2010-07-30T14:25:00.001-05:00

Lisa Sloan-Limmer, a speech therapist, reported this update:

"Today I had a phone call from a parent that makes all of the challenges in being a pediatric speech pathologist so WORTH IT! The parent called to tell me how pleased they were with their child's progress in my group and how much more their child is speaking. The family has reached a huge milestone: The child has begun to be able to communicate his/her wants and needs and the stress and frustration of trying to 'figure things out' several times a day has greatly decreased! Of course, as I personally experienced from my 17 year old being in speech therapy when he was 2; when my student reaches the wonderous 'preteen' age, they might not feel quite so grateful to me! I feel I must add this disclaimer: I am not responsible for future 'sassiness or backtalk.' Ha ha!"

Jennifer shares one last story

2010-07-22T10:00:00.002-05:00

Jennifer Cortes has worked at BRSHF for many years. As an undergraduate worker, she has worn many hats, from group therapy aide to individual ABA therapist working with children on the autism spectrum, to coordinating our front office, scheduling and billing. Unfortunately for us, Jennifer's last day was yesterday, as she is moving to Valdosta, GA to begin a Masters in Social Work in the Fall! Before she left, she shared this note about her experience here:

"I have been privileged to work with many of the children and families we serve at the Baton Rouge Speech and Hearing Foundatio, as both an ABA therapist and administrative assistant, and here is one of my stories:

One little boy whom I have worked with one-on-one for quite some time had been struggling to learn the skill "arms up." I kept trying to come up with ways to get him to learn this skill, such as holding candy above his head to get him to reach for it, or tickling the palms of his hand, which he loves, when he would even slightly lift his arms. One day when his mom came to pick him up, she mentioned that he likes to do twists off of the couch. I had never let him do flips in the room before, but I thought that maybe, just maybe, he would might go for it. Sure enough, it worked! During our ABA session the next day, I stood up, told him "arms up" and he stood up from his chair, took two steps towards me, and with the biggest smile I've ever seen on his face, he lifted his arms as high as he could for me to pick him up! So, what did I do? I picked him up, threw him in the air, tickled him, and let him twist! I think he knew he got it right, and I was so proud of him I had tears in my eyes!"

Sarah's client says thanks

2010-07-14T10:11:00.001-05:00

Sarah Brunet is one of our speech therapists who provides group and individual speech therapy at our clinic, and also off-site through the Federal Early Steps program. She had this experience recently:

“I had an Early Steps patient who I’ve worked with since October, and my last session with him was a few days ago. When we started he was only using single words and gesturing a lot – now he asks questions appropriately and uses complete sentences. His mom has been warning him for a few weeks that his time with me was almost over. Well, at the end of the session, unprompted by me or his mom, he looked at me and said, ‘Thank you for playing with me.’ When a student comes up with a spontaneous sentence like that, I really know I’ve had an impact!”

Kristen is motivated by progress daily

2010-07-12T09:11:00.001-05:00

Kristen Abbondate is a Ph.D. candidate in psychology who has worked within our autism program (based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA) for 2 years. At the end of the summer, she will conclude her assignment here at BRSHF, but not before she relates some of her favorite stories and memories with us!

"As the ABA supervisor, I have the opportunity to watch the children grow and overcome new obstacles each week. I live the struggle trying to come up with new and imaginative ways to help the students grow in our program. Although miracles happen everyday, some stories leave a little more of an imprint than others…

I was making my usual rounds viewing the children’s programs, giving advice to the therapist, and offering my help where needed. That day, I happened to walk into an ABA session with a particular student. This student had struggled in our program. He would tantrum for most of the session, did not speak any words, nor touch known items. When I walked in that day, I saw a very different scene. He was making eye contact with the therapist, laughing as they sang songs together, identifying objects in his environment, and requesting for wanted items. I had to hold back the tears in my eyes as I almost could not believe what I was seeing. I believe I almost did a back flip when I praised him for his hard work. I will never forget that day.

That child is still doing well and I continue to see miracles like this everyday. I get asked a lot why I do what I do. When I tell stories like the one above, and I have many, it is very easy to understand why I do what I do."

Slimy snails solidify speech

2010-07-08T15:02:00.001-05:00

Trenae Webb, one of BRSHF's speech therapists, submitted this blogpost after an exchange with nature this morning:

" 'Look! I got a slimy, sticky snail! You wanna see? Are you scared?' is what I heard echoing through the halls of the clinic this morning, prepping for my 9 o'clock client. Praying that the cute little ones from Ms. Tanya's mornining language group would not navigate to my office with their new "slick" friend, I cheered them on in their precision in articulation show and tell, mastering their "S" sounds with little to no cues from their therapist. Nothing's off limits when it comes to reaching those speech and language targets at our clinic. Nothing! Not even nature's best creatures. I bet Mr. Snail had no idea he would be the hot topic as he traveled to speech therapy this morning. I noticed he was rather non-verbal. He had no complaints! If you haven't become suspicious of it already, it's a fact...we love what we do!"

Tough Bet

2010-07-01T09:45:00.001-05:00

Missy Devillier, BRSHF's Occupational Therapist, overheard this quick exchange yesterday during therapy:

"Parts of my therapy involve a big bucket full of beans. At pick-up time, Dad says to one of my little guys, 'If you guess how many beans are in the bucket, you can win a million dollars.' Little guy stops and thinks and says, 'a lot.' Dad and I smile and say, 'that's a good answer!' Little guys says, 'where's my money?!'"

Even non-therapy staff inspired by kids at the Foundation

2010-06-28T15:20:00.003-05:00

Here is an update from me, Lauren Michaud, administrator of the BRSHF staff blog.

"As Development and Marketing Coordinator, I created this blog in order to be able to post stories from the therapy and audiology staff, as a glimpse into the day-to-day experiences they encouter with our students and clients. I had no intention of posting myself; my role was simply going to be collecting the content and creating the posts. However, even as a layman with no medical background, it's impossible to work in this building without being impressed (and entertained) by our children on a daily basis, and this is a snapshot of the clinic I had to share.

I was on the playground this morning during play time, mapping out the layout for our 50th Anniversary party in September. While I was out there, I had a few observations about the students playing. One young student started our autism/preschool language therapy program this spring with gross motor impairments (meaning she held her arms up at face-level at all times and walked in big stomping-steps). Today on the playground, I noticed she was walking with her arms down in a much more natural stride, navigating steps on and off the pavement that would have likely tripped her a few months ago. Even though our focus is on correcting communication delays, the occupational therapy this child receives in conjuntion with her speech and ABA therapy is clearly having an impact on her overall development. Her progress was abundantly apparent, even to me!

Another child, always good for fascinating narrative, was running around the playground with a zucchini. When I asked him about it, I learned he brought that and an ear of corn from his garden to play with today. Another student asked him to play with a ball he was also holding, and he bargained with her, saying "no, but you can have this zucchini!" It just goes to show, dear readers, that there's always something exciting going on at BRSHF!"

Ms. Bonita inspired by kids' resilience

2010-06-23T14:56:00.000-05:00

Ms. Bonita, our front office manager, told me this story from an encounter this morning:

"One of the students here broke his arm over the weekend. He came in this morning & greeted me 'Hi, Ms. Bonita!' like always, and when I saw his cast, I said, 'Oh no! What happened??' He wasn't bothered at all, he just said 'I broke it, jumping on the trampoline on Sunday. Had to go to the hospital & get a cast.' I just couldn't believe that, he was so calm! If I were in that position I'd probably be moping, but he just told me, matter-of-factly, what happened and ran off down the hallway to go to group! I love observing the kids when they come and go everyday. I get to see how they progress through their therapy, and so many of them greet me by name or run up and give me a hug. It really is a great perk of this job!"

BRSHF's Autism Program Growing

2010-06-14T13:58:00.005-05:00

Dr. Brian Esteve, coordinator of BRSHF's program for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, shared this quick update about the program:

"Last week as we kicked off the summer session, the Autism program welcomed twenty new and returning students into therapy. We started the program in conjunction with LSU six years ago with four children. Two of the undergraduate therapy aides from that first group in 2004 still work with us today - Sarah Brunet is a licensed speech pathologist leading group and individual speech therapy, and Carolyn Barahona is a Ph.D. candidate in Psychology helping to oversee the individual ABA therapy. We're so proud to be able to offer the only clinic-based, scientifically-proven therapy for autistic children here in Baton Rouge, and look forward to growing the program to meet the community's needs in coming years."

Trenae's client goes from jargon to full sentence

2010-06-11T08:42:00.002-05:00

Trenae Webb, one of our speech therapists, has this update from parent conferences a few weeks ago:

"It was that time of the year for parent conference... a time to report all the progress that my client has made over the course of our quaterly sessions. A precious little two year old in my group began with me not yet producing multiword combinations like her typically developing peers and primarily producing jargon-like speech, her own "personal" language. Well, we've been working diligently on the production of true words through imitation and really manipulating the enviroment for spontaneous productions as well. She had been progressing well, imitating 2-3 word phrases. A few days prior to the conference, she began imitating 3-4 word utterances. It was during the parent conference that my little client burst into speech with her own, spontenous request for a ball: "I want the ball!" Mom was practically in tears, overwhelmed and exclaimed: "Wow, I'm amazed! She's talking sentences!" Shortly after our confererence, Mom had a great report of how her little girl is suddenly a social butterfly and her use of words is increasing daily. Ha! What a moment! Simply priceless and a reminder of why I do what I do!"

Summer Student Aides: The Best of the Best

2010-06-04T14:49:00.006-05:00

Ms. Ann Nader coordinates the student workers who provide therapy for our Therapeutic Language Center's group language preschool classes, as well as those who work one-on-one in the TLC's autism program. She provided this update about the new group of aides coming on board for the summer:

"For the last few weeks, I've been working with getting the aides in place for our summer session. Around the semester transitions, we do a lot of work finding students, usually in psychology and speech language/communications to work in the Therapeutic Language Center. We seek student aides from LSU, Southern, and Southeastern, and we have a pretty comprehensive process in place before classes start up again. We're really dependent on these aides for the quality of service we provide, so they go through interviews with human resources as well as the therapy staff, reference and background checks, and are asked to observe group/individual therapy, and attend orientation training sessions. This week, we trained 30 aides to work with us for the summer, 17 of whom are new to BRSHF.

It's a lot of work to get them all trained and assigned, whether they're in groups or working individually with a child on the autism spectrum, but it's so exciting this time of year to be involved with the incoming aides! They are so energetic, eager to learn, and enthusiastic about the chance they have here to gain direct experience working with children. They really enjoy it and we just love having them around. Our clinic wouldn't be what it is without our student workers!"

Dr. Menge sees impact of hearing aids on patient's happiness

2010-05-28T10:40:00.003-05:00

Dr. Natalee Menge, our staff audiologist, shared this story about the empowerment of healthy hearing:

"I saw a 90-year old nursing home resident suffering with Parkinson's for a hearing evaluation a couple of months ago. His hearing was very poor, he looked at me blankly as we struggled to communicate. My heart tugged a little as I saw how he struggled to control his tremors and thought about the years of isolation his hearing loss must have caused him. Due to limited financial resources, the social worker at the nursing home and I helped him complete an application for financial assistance for hearing aids. He was fit earlier this month with a high-powered hearing aid for his right ear, but due to the severity of his loss his left ear could not be fit with a hearing aid. I saw him today for his follow-up appointment to make sure that his hearing aid was working well or if any adjustments needed to be made. I was in awe of the way his face lit up when we visited - he was connected with me, understanding what I was saying and was able to carry on a conversation that 2 weeks ago would have been nearly impossible. He was so happy with the hearing aid and told me about how the ladies at the nursing home help him put it in and take it out. He even shared what he had done for a living before his Parkinson's had gotten so severe. I know we always talk about how hearing aids can help people not only hear better, but re-connect with the world around them. That's what happened for this gentleman, and I couldn't have been happier for him."

Melissa inspired by student's progress

2010-05-26T11:24:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the blog! We hope these posts give you a real sense of what goes on at BRSHF & why we do what we do, from the perspective of the staff. I thought it would be appropriate to begin with a quick anecdote from our Executive Director, Melissa Juneau, who shared this story with me today:

"It's exciting to mark the students' progress this time of year, as the spring session comes to a close. I saw a student in the parking lot this morning, and before I could speak to him, without any prompting from Mom, he shouted, 'Hi, Mrs. Melissa!'. This is from a child who wouldn't make eye contact in September. He's become like our resident greeter, saying hi to everyone by name as he walks down the hall in the mornings. His progress has been incredible, and it's not over yet! It is just wonderful to hear the chatter of little voices of kids in BRSHF's Therapeutic Language Center echoing down the hallways."

We hope to bring you more stories like this - little inspirations, huge breakthroughs, and other happy stories from the classrooms and hallways - and hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy working with them!