You have accessThe ASHA LeaderASHA Convention Coverage1 Sep 2011Co-Chairs: Create Your Own Story Kathy Coufal andPhD, CCC-SLP Bob NovakPhD, CCC-A Kathy Coufal Google Scholar More articles by this author , PhD, CCC-SLP and Bob Novak Google Scholar More articles by this author , PhD, CCC-A https://doi.org/10.1044/leader.ACC2.16092011.23 SectionsAbout ToolsAdd to favorites ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In The compelling story told in the movie “The King’s Speech” has put communication sciences and disorders and our discipline in the public spotlight, illuminating the often powerful and mutually inspirational relationship between clinician and client. Add to that powerful connection the realization that each of us stands on the shoulders of our professional predecessors—their research, teaching, supervision, mentoring, and foundational support. The annual Convention is a time to step away from our busy lives and reflect on what we know, new discoveries, and connections among social and professional “stories.” Although it is a challenge to personalize a convention that attracts more than 12,000 members, we have sought to do so through the program, special events, and the opportunity to tell the story of a member colleague who has inspired you. Some of the new, personal options include an easy-to-use scheduling tool that lets you download sessions and your own meetings directly onto your PDA. Multiple lounges throughout the convention center will provide gathering places to meet and greet. Don’t forget the newly added welcome reception, a communications lounge (Twitter feeds all day long!), our cyber café, and a closing party—all perfect opportunities to meet with and learn from friends and colleagues. Audiologists and speech-language pathologists, this is your San Diego story, and we want it to be memorable. Start planning by looking at the many innovations and exciting program. We listened to your suggestions, and have worked to develop the most dynamic menu of program opportunities possible. We also have been very conscious of once again making the Convention equally appealing to audiologists/hearing scientists and SLPs/speech and language scientists: “two professions, one discipline.” New Features Premier sessions, a new type of session designed specifically to be of cross-disciplinary interest, will be offered Thursday and Friday. With Convention located in the western home of the country’s Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, it is certainly fitting that the premier sessions will focus on the special inter-professional assessment and rehabilitation needs of returning war veterans and other individuals with speech, language, hearing, and cognitive processing challenges secondary to head injuries. We have added early-evening offerings—our new “twilight sessions”—that allow you to maximize your CEU opportunities and encourage local SLPs and audiologists who are not available during the day to participate. Convention planning requires many exceptional volunteer coordinators leading outstanding committee members in the process of inviting speakers, reviewing submissions, and selecting the most informative content. We are especially grateful to the many topic coordinators and topic committee members for their exceptional work in developing this outstanding program. We’ve highlighted only a few of the exciting sessions planned for this year (see sidebar below). With a record-breaking 2,500 submissions for consideration, the Program Committee members did an outstanding job of selecting those that would best meet the objectives of the Convention—to provide a diverse and high-quality learning experience for all. More highlights will be included in e-news communications; detailed information can be found on the Convention website. We look forward to welcoming you to sunny San Diego in November for the ASHA 2011 Convention! Author Notes Kathy Coufal, PhD, CCC-SLP, speech-language pathology co-chair, can be reached at [email protected]. Bob Novak, PhD, CCC-A, audiology co-chair, can be reached at [email protected]. Additional Resources FiguresSourcesRelatedDetails Volume 16Issue 9September 2011 Get Permissions Add to your Mendeley library History Published in print: Sep 1, 2011 Metrics Downloaded 30 times Topicsasha-topicsleader_do_tagleader-topicsasha-article-typesCopyright & Permissions© 2011 American Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationLoading ...