What are the areas of professional practice that capture my interest (this might be a disorder, anything relating to treatment or diagnosis, etc.)? With respect to this general topic, what would an essential question for me be? What do I already know about this topic? What don't I know about this topic?

I am interested in many areas of professional practice, especially those relating to children. When I started thinking about topic I might choose to research in this class, I thought to myself, “Oh my God. I have no idea what I want to research.” But as I started thinking more and more about it, I came up with a couple of things. First, I am extremely fascinated by autism. I actually work at Autism Services Center and I love my job. I work with a wonderful boy and I do a lot of receptive and expressive language training with him. Another topic that interests me is articulation and phonological disorders in children. I have pretty much decided that I want to work with children, so these are the areas that I will probably encounter most in my professional career.

Since I haven’t decided between autism (how it relates to communication disorders) and artic./phonological disorders in children, I have devised essential questions for each topic. In regards to autism, I suppose I might ask: “What is the most effective way for speech-language pathologist to deal with the behaviors of autistic children?” Also in regards to treating communication disorders in autistic children, I may want to ask this: “What are some of the most effective methods for improving upon pragmatics in an autistic child?” When it comes to articulation and phonological disorders in children, I may want to ask: “What are the most effective ways to treat articulation disorders in children?” Also, I may want to pose these questions: “How might I go about treating a child who has a severe phonological disorder?” and “What are the most effective methods for treating phonological disorders?”

Regarding these topics (autism and artic./phonological disorders), I feel that I know some things about autism and artic. disorders, but very little about phonological disorders. I know the nature of autism and the characteristics thereof. I also know that perhaps the main and most common communication problem that autistic individuals face lies within the pragmatics of language. When it comes to artic. disorders, I feel that I know some about how to treat them. I definitely know when to recognize one (thanks to you, Mrs. McComas) and I am quite familiar with Van Riper’s traditional approach to treating artic. disorders (thanks again!). However, I am not so certain when it comes to phonological disorders and this is an area that I want to explore more of. Perhaps I’m choosing my topic as I speak!

As far as not knowing about autism, I feel that I could learn more about how speech pathologists get a handle on the behavioral characteristics of autistic individuals. In other words, what are they allowed to do when an autistic child has a behavior in therapy and what are different techniques used by speech-therapist to redirect autistic individuals and to get autistic individuals back on task. In regards to artic. disorders, I want to know more about therapy techniques (I’m familiar with the Van Riper method, but what else is out there?). Also, just as I had mentioned above, I know very little about phonological disorders and I am very interested in learning more about how to recognize them (what sets them apart from artic. disorders) and how to treat them.

I guess I have my work cut out for me. Hopefully I'll know more about what I want to research (exactly what I want to reasearch). Anyway, I think I'm on the right track for now.

Heather

How can I continue to forge my professional and academic development? How might I inquire (research) into my learning in an ongoing manner? How might my professional and academic development and practice be informed by my ongoing research? How do I respond to opportunities for inquiry (research)? How do I meet my own learning needs?

I feel that I can continue to forge my academic and professional development by continuing to engage in active learning. It wasn’t until I started the CD program that I realized that this was how I learned best. I began having teachers (namely you, Mrs. McComas) that encouraged information literacy and the active learning process, and when I feel involved in something (learning), I become very passionate about it. Some things that I may encounter, such as certain topics like aphasia and dysarthria, would have never sparked my interest in the past; however, now that I have been given the opportunity to research these topics and find out about them on my own, I now find them to be interesting and perhaps something that I will continue to want to learn about. This is because when I do my own research, I begin to feel passionately about what I am researching that is, if I didn’t feel passionately about it already.

I feel that I can research into my learning in an ongoing manner by continuing to be a “reflector”. I may come across things that I feel are relevant to me academically and professionally, but it’s not until I reflect upon what I have found that it becomes something learned and part of what I know. In a more concrete sense, I will definitely continue to research areas of Speech-language Pathology by means of Internet articles, ASHA publications (e.g. journals), news articles, and books so that I may maintain a “state-of-the-art” knowledge base and that I may continue to be information literate and an active learner. Also, I feel that by continuing my education, whether it be going to graduate school or attending Continuing Education seminars in the future, that I will be able to both forge my professional and academic development and research into my learning in an ongoing manner.

I feel that my professional and academic development and practice can be informed by my research in many ways. I think that by researching and maintaining an ample amount of current knowledge and information that I will be the very best student and clinician that I can be. Research will inform my practice as a student and as a clinician, but it is the REFLECTION upon that research that will truly enhance my practice. As a student, ongoing research is key when it comes to really knowing and loving what you are studying. When I do research, I always find out a little more than what I expected to learn and this is truly something that I love about being a student. When I am given an assignment or a research project to do, I often go into the assignment having that aversive “I have to do this” attitude. However, when I begin to do my own research and begin to feel that passion about something, I suddenly become open to whatever it is that I am researching and by doing this, I often find out some very fascinating things that I would have probably never known. This will probably carry on into my professional practice and knowing this excites me. Also, ongoing research into who I am as a learner will be very beneficial to me as a continuing student and a professional. Many times you think you know what kind of learner you are and then you do something or discover something that changes that. I feel that this will happen many times throughout my career as a student and as a speech-language pathologist and this too, excites me because I love finding out more about myself (and even surprising myself!).

I feel that I respond to opportunities for inquiry in two different ways: one way for research into my own learning (who I am as a learner) and the second way for research opportunities that are relevant to my academic and professional careers. As I kind of mentioned above, when I discover things about myself, I get very excited and I am very surprised. With this comes a desire to try to learn even more about how I learn so then, I begin to try different things and see which things help me to learn most effectively. This is why I love active learning and application so much, because I feel that this is how I learn best and how I learn most effectively. However, with a few more years to go in school and a professional life ahead of me, I am sure I will encounter new ways to learn and new ways to see myself as a learner and my responses to these new ways will be welcoming, inviting, and eagerly anticipating. When it comes to how I will respond to research opportunities that are directly relevant to my academic and professional careers, I feel that I will be quite inviting as well as excited. I love to learn (this is probably something I wouldn’t have said prior to my active learning quest!), because I feel involved in learning and as I had said before, when I feel involved I feel passionate. So, when opportunities for research that are directly relevant to my academic and professional pursuits, I will be genuinely excited and be waiting with open arms.

I feel that I meet my learning needs by being open to new things. I hardly ever think an assignment will be pointless and boring, because I know that something can always be learned from a “nothing” assignment. I can also meet my learning needs by continuing to be an active learner and staying involved in what I am trying to learn. Of course, being information literate allows me to meet many of my learning needs as well. Perhaps the most important thing I do to meet my own learning needs is to reflect, reflect, reflect. I mean it. I always find myself asking “why?” and “how?” and then “why?” again. Reflection upon what I learn takes my knowledge to the next level and I feel that I truly do know what I learn. I am a thinker, a reflector, and this I feel is and will continue to be a great personal asset.

Heather Perdue

What were some of the values and attitudes toward education expressed in your family? How have these influenced your thinking and your practice (as a student)?

I have never had a good relationship with my mother, but I have always been quite the daddy's girl. My parents both graduated high school, and received no formal education. As a matter of fact, I have only one cousin on my mother's side who has graduated college and also obtained a masters. Other members of the family on my mother's side have went to technical schools and such, but no one else had went to college. My father epitomizes a true blue collar worker. I think that he graduated high school on a Saturday and went to work in the coal mines the very next Monday (which is what the majority of young men did where I live--Boone County). My grandfather worked in the mines and after working underground in the coal mines all day, he would come home and work the land (my grandparents on my father's side were also farmers). My father must have inherited his work ethic from my grandfather, because he has always worked diligently and hard to put food on the table and we never wanted for anything. This has been passed on to me.

My father has always stressed education. He has told me many times throughout my life that "You can never be anything without an education." Then he would say, "Well, you can, but you will have to work your butt off for the rest of your life." My sister is a very intelligent woman. She was always an overachiever much like myself; however, she got married, became pregnant while in college, and after having my beautiful nephew, never went back to school. She now works for an insurance company as a claims rep. My sister quitting college was a big disappointment to my father (he never said that, but it's something that we just know). Therefore, my father's emphasis on a formal education just became stronger with me. Anytime we had a deep discussion of some sort (those were sometimes few and far between with my dad), he would always bring up the fact that I need to get a good education. He also said I should try to do something that I could make a good living at (my dad is by no means a shallow person--he just wanted the best for me). To this day and even though I am a senior in college, he still gives me the "You have to have a good education these days to get by" lecture. I suppose he will give this same speech to my children, his grandchildren, and for that I am grateful.

My grandmother (my father's mother) was always a very witty and intellectual woman. As a matter of fact, she had no formal education, and I'm not sure how far she actually went in high school. When I was about pre-school aged, I stayed with her during the days while my parents were at work. She and I had the greatest times and she made sure that I was learning things when I was there. She's the reason I knew all of my states and their capitals before I went to kindergarten and the reason I knew how to read and count to 100 before I started school as well. She was a brilliant woman and her love for learning rubbed off on me--God rest her lovely and intelligent soul (I'm crying now, thank you).

As you can see, My father has always instilled in me a need for formal education. When I was younger, my mother did stress the importance of reading and writing and imaginative play (she loved it when I pretended). My daddy didn't push me, but he always had a way of letting me know what he expected out of me. Even though I knew he couldn't afford college, and he knew that I knew, he always believed in me. He knew I was bright and that I would make the grades to get scholarships. My grandmother gave me the boost that I needed to get ahead in school. She sparked my interest in learning and she made it an enjoyable experience. That, to me, is the most important factor--making learning enjoyable and not adversive. She also made me see that education is really where you find it and what you make of it. She was a teacher--my teacher and she was a learner herself.

As a student I am passionate about what I pursue in learning. I am ambitious and to say that I am an overachiever would almost be an understatement. I ask questions--I'm very inquisitive and I always have been and when I have questions, I pursue their solutions stealthfully. It drives me crazy to think that there may be others out there who are ahead of me when it comes to knowing. I know, that's incredibly silly, but I cannot help it. Part of this comes from the fact that I want so much to make my daddy proud of me and while I know that he is (he tells me all the time), I still can't shake it. As a student, I am ridiculously organized and I owe this to my father who is even more meticulous than I. I come from a long line of hard workers and people who may not have had a lot of book knowledge, but who were extremely brilliant and who had infinitive amounts of common sense. Looking at this, I feel proud of myself. I am proud of who I am and where I have come from. I will never, ever deny the fact that I come from Boone County, West Virginia, I am a coal miner's daughter, a coal miner's granddaughter, and a farmer's granddaughter. My family passed on to me a strong work ethic and a desire to know and learn. They have helped me to see the significance of education and hard work. All of these things I have with me today and I have carried them with me thorughout my college career and it's these things that I will pass on to my children.

Heather Perdue