Category: Down Syndrome

Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder where the affected individual has a partial or full extra 21st chromosome. This happens at or near conception due to a mistake as cells divide and multiply, eventually becoming a fetus. The resulting individual usually has some of the typical physical characteristics of Down Syndrome such as small stature, low muscle tone and upward slanting eyes. Down Syndrome also often affects communication and language development as well as cognition and learning.

Literacy Intervention for Children with Significant Disabilities: Bilingual Students (Part 2)

Leaders Project

Unfortunately, the question of whether or not to support bilingualism in students with severe disabilities is still a common question, even among educators and other professionals. Stephanie presents the research that has demonstrated that bilingualism, even in students with severe disabilities, has many cognitive as well as socio-emotional benefits. In addition, students with severe disabilities are able to learn both language just as well as their non-disabled peers when accounting for development age.

Ghana January 2014: Arrival and Immersion at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital

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accraThis morning we left Sunyani for Accra to visit and work in the largest hospital in all of Ghana. After landing in Accra we immediately boarded the bus and headed straight to the only mall in Ghana to refresh our snack supply. We headed to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to provide speech and language therapy to both adults and children.

Upon arrival, we were introduced to the famous Albert, one of 9 speech language therapists in Ghana. We also met Clement and Josephine, two SLTs who are starting the first masters program for SLT at the University of Ghana. We split up into three groups of five students and began providing therapy. We were all nervous, but excited to begin applying our knowledge and thinking on our feet. We saw a variety of patients with varying disorders such as autism, Down syndrome, aphasia, cerebral palsy, and speech disorders. Each student was given a different role during the evaluation and we all worked together to create functional goals and techniques that would benefit each patient. We taught these techniques to the patients and caregivers so they could practice at home.

Providing therapy today was a challenging but rewarding experience! We are beginning to realize how much we have already grown and will continue to grow as clinicians throughout this trip. After leaving the hospital we had an amazing Ghanaian meal at our hotel. We all ate many helpings of chicken, fish, plantains, pasta with steamed veggies, rice and beans, and watermelon. It was delicious! We also met to discuss all the patients seen, their progress, and what lies in store for us tomorrow.

Thanks to Shannon Luckovich for the post