2006
Awarded $4,000
Stephanie P. Hirsh
MA candidate
Northwestern University
2003
Awarded $4,000
Alexandra Eng
MS candidate
University of the Pacific
Alexandra Eng is pursuing a master’s degree at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. After earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology, Alexandra worked for a year with a boy with severe autism and other children with pervasive developmental disorders. Seeing the difference speech and language made in these children drew her to graduate work in speech-language pathology, with the long-term goal of working with individuals who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), central auditory processing disorders, and learning disabilities.
Alexandra has worked to overcome some of these problems in her own life, and so has both empathy and experience to share with her clients. She is also the northern California student representative for the California Speech and Hearing Association’s Executive Board of Directors, and is helping develop a mentorship program for undergraduates interested in speech-language pathology.
2002
Awarded $4,000
Brett Kluetz
PhD candidate
University of Pittsburgh
Brett Kluetz is pursuing a doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh, where her primary interest is stuttering and other fluency disorders.
Her interest was sparked by several professors, most notably Dr. Scott Yaruss, who specialize in fluency and conveyed their excitement about the topic to her. Brett has studied fluency disorders, treated patients who stutter, and become very active in the National Stuttering Association (NSA) and its support group. She will participate this year in the first joint research symposium for scientists and consumers sponsored by the NSA. Brett’s pursuit and completion of a complex study of fluency disorders has had direct, current relevance to both theory and clinical practice in this type of communication problem.
Brett plans to pursue a position as a professor and researcher of fluency disorders at a university. She would like to encourage students to become interested in diagnosing and treating individuals who stutter. She would also like to conduct research on the linguistic and motoric factors that may be implicated in stuttering.
2001
Awarded $4,000
Jason Davidow
University of Georgia
Currently on the doctoral track in speech-language pathology at The University of Georgia, Jason Davidow plans to continue on in academia as a professor of speech-language pathology with an intended focus on the treatment of child and adult stutterers. He believes he is particularly qualified to make advances in the understanding of this disorder, because he himself is a life-long stutterer. He compares stuttering to an emotional and physical roller coaster, and it is his professional ambition to make life easier for those who have the disorder. Of course, the ultimate goal is to find a remedy, and though Mr. Davidow realizes that it is a problem that has perplexed great minds throughout the ages, he feels especially up to the challenge.
2000
Awarded $4,000
T. Renee Watkins
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Renee Watkins is obtaining her master’s degree in speech-language pathology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a graduate student she has already emerged as a leader in the communication disorders profession by presenting at several speech-language and hearing conventions throughout the country. Ms. Watkins’ experiences as a graduate student clinician include working with parents, teachers, and professionals from other disciplines to promote social inclusion of children with disabilities in the classroom and conducting speech and language screenings in the Cerebral Palsy Clinic at UNC Memorial Hospital. In addition, she has participated in an integrated vocational and residential training program for adults with autism. Her vision is to one day work as a professor at the university level and continue contributing as a presenter at speech and hearing related conferences.
1999
Awarded $4,000
Amber J. Berry
Saint Louis University
Amber J. Berry is obtaining her master's degree in speech pathology at Saint Louis University. As a young child diagnosed with dyslexia, Ms. Berry worked closely with a speech-language pathologist. Her learning experiences inspired her to pursue the area of communicative disorders associated with learning disabilities, as well as phonological awareness as it relates to literacy. As a speech-language pathologist, she hopes to aid those with disabilities to realize their potential. Her other areas of interest include brain function in people with learning disabilities and ways in which damaged brains compensate in order to complete communicative functions. Ms. Berry's ultimate career objective is to practice speech-language pathology in a private practice or school for the learning disabled.
1998
Awarded $2,000
Kimi Chung
California State University, Northridge
Kimi Chung is pursuing her master's degree in audiology at the California State University at Northridge. With a goal and passion to serve the ethnic minorities in Southern California, she hopes to develop a means to bridge the gap between the monolingual audiologist and patients with limited English proficiency. Her strategies to obtain this goal include providing speech testing in languages in which the patient is familiar, teaching speech reading in Asian languages, and developing a limited-English-speaker's user-friendly word list with an appropriate procedure guideline. Fluent in both Korean and English, Ms. Chung is aware of the growing needs of the accurate diagnosis of non-English-speakers with hearing loss. Her professional objective is to use her awareness to provide the most favorable pronosis utilizing the culturally sensitive strategies she has suggested.