PSHA 2019 Conference

The 2019 Pennsylvania Speech-Language-Hearing Association (PSHA) held its annual convention April 10 through 13 at the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square.

Clinicians, faculty, and students in the Speech-Language Pathology and Hearing professions joined together for a discussion of the latest research and case studies in the realm of hearing, voice, modalities, social aspects, cognition, language, fluency and swallowing.

Members of our Salus Community that were in attendance included Robert Serianni, MS, CCC-SLP, clinical director of the Speech-Language Institute (SLI) and assistant professor in the University’s Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) program; Amy Lustig, MA, MPH, PhD, clinical educator in SLP.

Lustig presented with Susan DeMilia, MA,CCC-SLP, clinical educator in the Starting a Private Practice and Making it Work seminar. Lustig’s practice is dedicated to adults and she is a solo practitioner, and DeMilia’s practice is primarily pediatric and employs both speech pathologists and occupational therapists. In their presentation, they compared and contrasted how they started their practices, how they manage issues such as billing, insurance, marketing, privacy and the like, and what personal and professional resources they believe are necessary to be successful in private practice. The presentation was well-attended and they had a lively discussion with participants.  “I enjoyed PSHA this year,” said Lustig. “I especially enjoyed presentations by Ed Bice, Med, CCC-SLP, on the assessment and management of swallowing disorders (dysphagia), and I plan to include materials from his presentation in my future courses, and hope to bring him onto campus for a presentation.”

Kimberly Edmonds, MS, CCC-SLP, clinical educator, also presented facts and myths of working with bilingual children and families.

Students from the University’s Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) program presented a poster session – originally their capstone project – on educating direct-care providers on dementia and speech-language pathology services.

Serianni was nominated last year by PSHA members as president elect, a position he started in July. The three-year term coincides with a different position each year: president elect, president, and immediate past president. In his new role, Serianni had a host of duties on the executive board from assisting in introducing speakers across multiple sessions to presenting association awards at the president’s reception. One of the duties he found most intriguing was the PSHA Booth – where executive board members answered questions from attendees. He also presented a session with his colleague Mary Beth Mason, PhD, CCC-SLP, from Thiel College, where they moderated a meeting of University faculty and staff to discuss topics that impact all the programs in Pennsylvania from local to state-wide.

“Certainly there are new clinical skills that we can apply to client care at SLI,” said Serianni. He is also interested in creating new partnerships from other attending Universities from across the state that he wants to pursue.

According to the PSHA website, the Pennsylvania Speech-Language-Hearing Association was founded in 1960, and is a professional organization of speech-language pathologists, audiologists and teachers of the hearing impaired.