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Inez Miller Conference on Communication Sciences and Disorders

The Inez Miller Conference on Communication Sciences and Disorders is hosted annually by the Speech-Language Pathology program at UCO and is designed to provide continuing education opportunities to those in Speech-Language Pathology and associated fields. The event is held in honor of Inez Miller, a former Oklahoma teacher with an abiding love for children, who experienced hearing loss in her later years and was sensitive to those who have difficulty with communication. Her generous gifts to the UCO Foundation support the UCO Inez Miller Endowed Chair, student scholarships, graduate research assistants and the Inez Miller Conference.

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ASHA CEU Approval Pending


2024 Inez Miller Conference

8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Friday, April 12, University of Central Oklahoma, Location TBA

For more information or questions, contact Amy Thomas, Director of the Inez Miller Conference on Communication Sciences and Disorders

 Registration coming soon conference payment form coming soon

Presenter: Margaret Lehman Blake, Ph.D., M.S., CCC-SLP

Margaret Lehman Blake, Ph.D., M.S. CCC-SLP is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Houston. Her research focuses on apragmatism and cognitive disorders associated with right hemisphere damage with the goal of understanding the underlying deficits and developing treatments. She is the author of The Right Hemisphere and Disorders of Cognition and Communication, a founding member of the International Right Hemisphere Collaborative, and the co-creator of RightHemisphere.org. She has also co-authored two textbooks: Clinical Neuroscience for Communication Disorders: Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology and Acquired Neurogenic Communication Disorder: An Integrated Clinical Approach and is the recipient of the University of Houston Teaching Excellence Award.

Disclosures: Financial -Travel and stipend from University of Central Oklahoma. Salary from the University of Houston. Book royalties from Plural publishing. Course royalties for RHD webinars produced by Northern Speech Services. Nonfinancial – Co-chair of the ANCDS Right Hemisphere Writing Group. Co-founder of the International Right Hemisphere Collaborative

 

 

Abstract

This presentation will cover the characteristics, assessment and treatment of apragmatism and cognitive deficits associated with right hemisphere brain damage (RHD). The focus will be on adults with acquired disorders. Apragmatism (deficits in linguistic, paralinguistic, and extralinguistic aspects of context-dependent communication) and cognitive disorders (including attention, executive function, and awareness) will be covered. Evidence-based assessment and treatment of these disorders will be discussed along with strategies for what to do when there is little evidence to support clinical practice. 

2024 Conference Agenda

8:00-8:30 a.m. – Breakfast

8:30-9:00 a.m. – Disclosures/introduction, Evidence-based practice for RHD & Cognitive rehabilitation 

9:00-10:00 a.m. – Apragmatism: definitions & examples

10:00-10:15 a.m.  – Break

10:15-12:00 p.m. – Assessment & Treatment of apragmatism

12:00-1:30 p.m. – Lunch

1:30-2:30 p.m. – Cognitive communication disorders: attention, memory, executive function & awareness

2:30-2:45 p.m. – Break

2:45-4:30 p.m. - Assessment & Treatment of cognitive disorders

Visitor Parking Map | Campus Building Map 

Conference Learning Objectives

  1. Define apragmatism and provide examples of linguistic, paralinguistic, and extralinguistic aspects of communication.
  2. Describe the common RHD cognitive disorders and how they may impact communication
  3. Describe how to select or design treatments in the absence of evidence.

ASHA CEs have been applied for and are pending at this time.

 

Past Conference Presentations

  • 2023: Tiffany Waddington, M.S., CCC-SLP - Limitations of standardized assessments and differentiate between diagnostic versus strengths-based assessments
  • 2022: Richard K. Peach, Ph.D. - Attentional Approaches to Understanding and Managing Acquired Language Disorders
  • 2021: Sandra Laing Gillam, Ph.D. - Implementation of Evidenced Based Practices for Narrative Instruction
  • 2020: Bonnie Martin-Harris - Current and Future Directions in Swallowing Assessment and Treatment
  • 2019: Barry Guitar - The Treatment of Stuttering at All Ages
  • 2018: Mary Kennedy - Executive Functions & Self-Regulation after Traumatic Brain Injury: Coaching towards Independence
  • 2017: Pamela A. Hadley - Grammatical Assessment and Intervention in a Sentence-Focused Framework: Targeting Verbs and Sentence Diversity
  • 2016: Christine Sapienza - Respiratory Strength Training
  • 2015: Brian A. Goldstein - Assessing and Treating the Speech and Language Skills of Bilingual Children