Communication Disorders Study Abroad

This morning we were able to do some more sightseeing and shopping. Actually, we only went shopping Today was everyone’s last day to get you all souvenirs, so it had to be done! After a curvy, tilting train ride, we have arrived at the hotel in Geneva, Switzerland. We have to leave fairly early in the morning for the airport, but it’s all worth it because we are coming home!!! I think our plans for tonight include, ordering in food and saving our energy for the thirteen hours we will be on various planes.

Countdown to when we see you: approximately 31 hours!

“There’s nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” ~ Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

This morning we split into groups of two (and one group of three) and went to various locations to observe actual therapy sessions. We saw both children and adults with different disorders, varying from articulation to physical and mental handicaps. Most of us went to private practices, and some girls went to schools. An interesting alternative/augmentative communication tool we saw was the BABAR. It looked like a handheld price scanner at a department store. The child could scan a barcode, and the BABAR would play a recorded message associated with that code. It was a relatively compact tool. The only drawback would be carry a communication book with the codes and corresponding pictures in it, but that can easily be overcome. Today, was the first real therapy sessions most of us had seen on the trip, so it was a great experience. After our outings, we all met with Dr. Dressler and Mrs. Kaufmann-Meyer to discuss what we saw and to answer any questions we might have had.

Right now everyone is headed to the shopping areas and to get some good food because it’s our last day in Biel/Bienne. We don’t leave for Geneva until around 4:45 tomorrow, so we have the morning to sightsee. I think we are considering riding a tram up one of the mountains if the weather is nice!

This is the view from the speech therapy clinic I observed at today. Can you imagine seeing this every morning?!

Yesterday, some of the girls made it to the Louvre. It was so overwhelming. To appreciate it fully and see everything, you would have to spend at least two full days…at least! We arrived by train late last night in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. This city is Switzerland’s largest bilingual city. Sixty percent of the population speak German and forty percent speak French. The Germans know this town as Biel, and the French call it Bienne. Most of the people we have come into contact with know at least three languages. That’s amazing in my opinion.

This morning, we were met at the hotel by Michele Kaufmann-Meyer. She is a part-time speech therapist at a Children’s Pediatric Rehabilitation Center in Biel/Bienne, where we toured and observed today. The rehabilitation center serves mostly children and some adults with mental handicaps. The staff was gracious enough to allow us to sit in on their lunch hour. Feeding one child takes about an hour! Michele also planned observations for us tomorrow at various locations in and around Biel/Bienne. She was over-the-top helpful in locating an ATM and getting us on the bus. She even pointed out the good shopping areas, great chocolatiers, and yummy cheese fondue!

Today, most of the girls are out shopping and enjoying beautiful Switzerland. We all hope to have an amazing dinner of cheese and chocolate fondue tonight! Early tomorrow morning, we all head out to our various destinations. We cannot wait to experience some actual therapy sessions.

One of Michele’s mottos really hit home with me today. She asked us to “Give Respect. Get Respect” when dealing with the our hosts. I think that’s a motto we can apply in all areas of our lives.

All the girls with Michele Kaufmann-Meyer and the red towel!

Just a little taste of Biel/Bienne…if you look closely you can see the Rolex factory.

To help you understand the title you have to read it in a voice like Goofy…Garches is pronounced exactly like Goofy’s catch phrase. I thought you all would find that humorous! We went to the Neurological Hospital in Garches today. They have an extensive area for rehabilitation services, both speech and occupational related. We were able to go on a tour of the hospital. They have a swimming pool, basketball goal, and even rock climbing for rehabilitation. After the tour, we learned about their exercises for improving attention. They even showed us a computer program they had designed specifically for those purposes!

After we returned to the hotel, a couple of us went to see Moulin Rouge…just the building, not the actual show! Some of the other girls went to see and go up in the Eiffel Tower. I think some of us are going out to see the light show put on by the Eiffel Tower tonight. Paris is the City of Lights after all, and it’s supposed to be the most beautiful after dark!

Tomorrow morning, we are all headed to the Louvre. We don’t leave for Switzerland until 3, so we are going to try and fit the museum in before then. Tomorrow night, we take another train to Biel, Switzerland. Dr. Dressler says Biel is about the size of Bowling Green, so we should feel right at home!

The Eiffel Tower at night…all glittery.

Ms. Mona Lisa…

Today, we went to the Federation Nationale des Orthophonistes. We learned about the origins of French speech therapy. Madame Nicole Denni-Kirschel was a great hostess. She provided us with a great sandwich tray and a fabulous dessert tray. We then had a small break before heading to the Paris school for the deaf. We took a tour, and then had a great informal discussion about the differences between French and American speech therapy. We learned that French Sign Language is slightly different than American Sign Language.

After our interesting school sessions, we walked to the Luxembourg Gardens. They were beautiful! Some of us then walked to Notre Dame. It was so amazing and reverent. We were awestruck! Tomorrow, we head to a Neurological Hospital.

Madame Nicole with the WKU red towel!

The beautiful Notre Dame.

Well we’ve arrived in Paris…the City of Light! Yesterday was a busy day in London because we were trying to cram all the sightseeing into one day that we could. Most of the girls woke up early to catch the sightseeing bus tour. The tour took us to multiple stops, and we were allowed to stay as long as we pleased at any location. We took the Royal walking tour arranged by the Big Bus company, and we were able to see the changing of the guards. It was so precise! We then split up, and some of us went to the Tower of London, and the others went to Princess Diana’s Memorial.

We rode the chunnel from London to Paris today. We couldn’t even tell we were under water. After we arrived, some of us went to the Louvre. It was about to close, so we decided we would wait until another day. We continued walking to the Eiffel Tower. We took the lift all the way to the top! The view was amazing!! My knees got weak looking down to the ground…around 1, 063 feet away!

Tomorrow, we are visiting speech therapists in the area and then more sightseeing!

We crossed the Tower Bridge on our sightseeing tour!

Our view from the Eiffel Tower…amazing.

You all will never guess where I am…the local McDonald’s again! McDonalds’s is good for free Wifi thankfully! Today was a relatively short day. We rode the tube to London Bridge, then walked around in search of the Royal College of Speech-Language Therapists. We had a rather informal, but very informative meeting with their head of management and communication, Richard Guy. RCSLT is the English equivalent of our American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. Remember the photo at the Philadelphia airport?

After that meeting, most of the girls headed to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. It was crazy how life-like the statues were! Tonight, most of us are hoping to acquire tickets for the play Wicked. Keep your fingers crossed for us! I’ll let you know how that goes.

Tomorrow, we have an entire free day to spend sightseeing in London! There is a bus tour that takes you around to all the major sights, so I think most of us are going to do that.

The two Richards: Richard Guy and Richard Dressler.

We were able to see the play! It was amazing!!

Today, we went to the Ann Tayler Children’s Centre. It took us over an hour to get there by tube and by bus! When we arrived, we were all split into small groups and sent to separate clinic sites. We were able to listen to different lectures, go to workshops and actually participate in the therapy sessions. It was an enlightening experience!

After we returned to the hotel, some of the girls went to see Abbey Road, significant because the Beatles wrote a song about it. Dinner was at the Hard Rock Cafe. Others napped and searched for a laundromat.

We have big plans for tomorrow, including class at the Royal College of Speech Language Therapists, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, and hopefully to see the play Wicked!

All us girls at Ann Tayler.

Tuesday was a busy, yet amazing day. We split into groups of five, and we each went to a different location in the morning and in the afternoon. Some groups went to St. Joseph’s Special School and they were able to talk with the speech therapists there and tour the different classes. The entire school was dedicated to intellectual disabilities. Other groups went to the Health Services Executive Community Clinic. They were also able to tour the establishment and meet the speech therapists at the clinic. The building had not been renovated since before the 1950s, and they talked of the overwhelming need for improvements to the therapy rooms. Another group went to the University Hospital and learned about the majority of the hospital’s caseload, which was swallowing difficulties. A speech language therapist demonstrated the procedure for tracheotomies. It was amazing! This is one of the only instant gratification fields for a speech therapist because they inflate the trach and the patient can breathe immediately. We were also able to view some xray videos on barium swallowing, which showed extreme aspiration. Aspiration is where liquid isn’t completely swallowed and can end up in your lungs.

After these clinic outings, we went shopping. The entire group went to dinner together at a restaurant called Front Door. After dinner, we went to a traditional Irish pub called Monroe’s where there was a group of people celtic dancing. It was mesmerizing! Sarrah Mihok, Jamie Merritt, and I were able to convince a lovely Irish man to bear with the Americans and be our partner. Some of the dances were very complex, but they made it look gracefully easy. We very much appreciated their graciousness in allowing us to dance with them!

We safely arrived at the London Luton airport on Wednesday. I wrote the most of this blog during our bus ride to the hotel; however, due to no internet service this blog has been delayed.

After we settled in at our hotel, we set out in search of food since we were starving! We used the “tube”, known as the subway for you Americans, to arrive at London Bridge. We then made our way to the London Eye, which is a sightseeing ferris wheel. We were able to see the entire city of London! Everyone was exhausted when we returned to the hotel and we had to be ready to leave for class by 7:30am the next day.

Fancy dirt lion coming in to the London Luton airport.

Today, we walked to the Brothers for Charity’s campus. They are a non-profit organization that provides speech and language services for individuals from birth, all the way into adulthood. We were able to meet the staff, and learn about their positions within the organization. We then introduced ourselves and explained to them the concept of our Clinical Education Complex at Western Kentucky University. They were very interested in this program and asked many questions. After the formalities, they took us to the National University of Ireland, Galway in their own cars. This was a crazy experience because, as I told you before, they drive on the wrong side of the road. I rode shotgun on the way to the university, and I covered my eyes when we pulled out into traffic going the wrong way!! We arrived at the University and took a tour of their speech and language facilities. We learned that previously there was a deficit of speech-language therapists. This year, however, there is a hold on hiring speech-language therapists, and they are worried about their graduates finding jobs.

After eating lunch on campus, the entire group of girls decided to test our map reading skills, and we set out for the beach. Little did we know that Salthill Beach was 2.2 miles from the National University of Ireland, Galway. The beach was different than we expected. There were big rocks lining the beach, to keep the tide away from the road. The sand was a light gray color and had the consistency of semi-wet cement. There were whole shells everywhere on the beach. We were able to see the Mutton Island Lighthouse from our perch on the rocks. The beach was stunning, but that walk was torture! Some of us found a bus stop and rode back to the hotel. The hardcore girls walked back - they’re amazing! We spent the rest of the night shopping, eating and enjoying each other’s company

Our discussion group at the Brothers for Charity.