Name: Emily Ward, B.A.
University: University of Mississippi’
Committee: Communications Committee

Hi, everyone!  It is a pleasure to be a student member of the ANCDS!  I found out about this organization through Dr. Heather Clark at the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) 2023 convention in Boston, MA.  Considering my interests perfectly aligned with this organization's focus, I had to join that instant.

I am excited to share that I will now be serving our Communications Committee by contributing to the Newsletter.  My role will specifically serve as a student voice and provide a space for the student member perspectives to be included in each newsletter.  My goal is to include student-relevant content, advice, or perspectives from new professionals and current graduate-level student members, or even announce opportunities for more student involvement.  Please, feel free to contact me ([email protected]) if you have any ideas for student announcements and involvement!

To give more information about myself, I am currently a second-year graduate clinician and research assistant at the University of Mississippi’s Cognitive & Language Evidence of Aphasia Research (CLEAR) Lab in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders under the supervision of Dr. Hyejin Park.  My role in the CLEAR Lab consists of assisting in therapy and assessment protocols, coding and running discourse analysis, training student clinicians in therapy protocol, training undergraduate and graduate students in coding principles, and assisting with the development of new projects.  It is a fun role, to say the least, and it has been a remarkable addition to my clinical education and knowledge.

This year at the ASHA conference in Seattle, WA, I presented alongside Dr. Hyejin Park, Dr. Sarah E. Wallace, and Ms. Elizabeth Burklow on The Feasibility, Acceptability, and Effects of Modified Multi-modal Communication Treatment plus Discourse via Telepractice (teleMCT+D).  As well as this, I am personally researching the feasibility and acceptability, as well as student-clinician perspectives, of teleMCT+D plus Group Therapy via telepractice.

I am thrilled to be a part of the ANCDS and to be more involved as a student member.