What are the areas of professional practice that capture my interest? With regard to the general topic, what would be an essential question for me be? What do I really know about this topic? What don’t I know about this topic?

It is really hard to pick a specific area that captures my interest because I find everything so fascinating. I think it would be much easier to pick an area that doesn’t interest me, but that isn’t the question, is it. I really enjoy areas about development. I know that really narrows things down. I like to see the commonalities among normal developing children then pinpointing an area in a disordered child that isn’t developing as well. I guess I like the investigative stuff. Language disorders have always fascinated me. I don’t know why because everyone else in CD seems to hate the language classes. In addition, we haven’t really gotten into a lot of the different types of language disorders. But, as far as the normal language development goes, it just makes sense to me. After I learn something new in a language development class, I think the information falls into a common sense category. It’s like I think that I should have known the information if I would have thought about it before hand. Another area of professional development that is really beginning to interest me is Auditory Processing Disorders. This fascination began when I attended a meeting about it at WVSHA. It was so interesting when they talked about how different a normal developing brain works from the brain of someone with an Auditory Processing Disorder. The problem is that I do not know a lot of information about Auditory Processing Disorders. I know that people with APD cannot process information as quickly because their neurons are not firing as fast. I also know that there is a controversial therapy program called FAST FORWARD that attempts to increase the speed at which the neurons fire. In our online meeting yesterday, Mary and I were discussing weather APD was a learning disorder or not. I mentioned that I thought that it is or should be considered a learning disorder because these children cannot learn as fast because of the slow firing of neurons. Neither one of us knew exactly how APD is considered in the school system. Lekei helped to give me an idea for a research question. She said that I should try to find information about how many children with APD are diagnosed with ADD. This seemed like a good question because children with APD get active or lose interest in something because they do not understand the information. There is little that I know and a lot that I don’t know about APD, but it really interests me so I thought that I would take Lekei’s suggestion about my research question. I want to know more about APD and Lekei’s suggestion seems like it will be interesting and fun to learn about. Therefore, my essential question is: How often are children with Auditory Processing Disorders misdiagnosed with ADD?

Question: How often are Children with APD misdiagnosed with ADD?

How can I continue to forge my professional and academic development? How might I inquire (research) into my learning in an ongoing manner? How might my professional and academic development practice be informed by my ongoing research? How do I respond to ongoing research? How do I respond to the opportunity for inquiry? How do I meet my own learning needs?

I think that continuing academic development after college is not a privilege or an option, I think it is a must. In today’s ever changing society, we do not have the opportunity to decide if we should or shouldn’t continue learning. We have to continue to discover new things or we will be lost in the profession that we spent so many years studying. New ideas, research, and data develop daily. In addition, old practices become obsolete. It is important for people to consume new information to ‘stay on top of their game’, especially in a field like speech pathology. When you are in a profession that deals with serving the public in some manner, it is your duty to provide them with the best possible service. You cannot provide good service if you do not stay informed with the newest developments. With continual consumption of knowledge, you are able to make informed decisions about professional situations. Now that I have mentioned the importance of persistent learning, I will provide a few ways to continue development. When I am in the ‘real world’ working as a speech pathologist, I think that I will gather information by subscribing to professional journals, attending professional workshops, and communicating with other professionals. I think that you have to have a desire to be good at what you do in order to continue professional and academic development. I have that desire. I want to be the best SLP that I can, and I will be unable to do that if I do not stay informed. To me, reading is the most important way to continue learning. You can attend professional workshops and take new classes, but you will not have time to attend meetings all the time if you want to work. Therefore, I think that reading newspapers, magazines, and professional journals is the best way to obtain new information. I also think that communicating with inter- and intraprofessionals will be a great way to gather new information. It isn’t a difficult way to obtain information either. All you have to do is talk to them, either at work, on the phone, or by exchanging e-mails. Communication with professionals can be a reciprocal way of learning as well. A colleague may provide you with something interesting and new, and you may be able to do the same thing for them.

In reply to the questions about my performance on inquiry I have to be honest, at this point it isn’t very good. I am not the best at uncovering needed information. To be blunt, I am awful. I can find articles that relate and maybe even answer my questions, but I can never find an abundance of good information. After hours of online searching, I end up with one article to work with. When I am given an assignment that requires research, I get nervous. I am scared that I will be unable to find what I am looking for. After looking into the assignment, I get frustrated because I know that there is so much to find on the Internet and I can’t find anything. I guess that I met my needs because I search until I find what I need, but it takes hours. I am hoping to discover the secret to the Internet in this class.

What were some of the values and attitudes toward education expressed in your family? Have these values influenced your thinking and practice as a student?

My parents have always encouraged me to do my best in school for as long as I can remember. When I was in elementary and middle school they were constantly checking homework, helping with projects, and giving me practice tests. They always wanted me to excel in the school department and I did. Out of my family, I was considered to be the “smart one”. If my older sister got an A, I was expected to get an A+. It was an unspoken expectation, but we all knew it was there. In a way it was true, things just came to me a little easier than it did for my sister. She would have to work really hard for her A, and I would do very little and get an A+. When I started high school, I became aware of the fact that I did not have to work as hard for my grades. With socializing, boys, and sports, I began to take advantage of this power. My grades began to drop—never far, but lower than my potential. If my parents questioned my grades, I would just tell them that I worked very hard. I always had intentions of going to college and I told myself that once I got there I would go back to the good study habits that I once had. Unfortunately, I did not do that. I continued slacking in school throughout my first two years of college. Eventually, (As I mentioned in one of my other writing logs.), reality set in. I realized that if I was going to make something of myself I needed to apply myself. I rededicated myself to school about two years ago. I have worked really hard, but it is much more rewarding than sitting back and doing nothing. I truly believe that I would not have to work as hard as I do know if I would have continued good study habits throughout my academic career. Honestly, I have had to relearn how to study. Although they never said it, I think that my parents thought they gave me too much credit when I was younger. Now, I am utilizing the educational values that my parents tried to instill in me as a child. I am a little slow so it took me a while to appreciate the importance of learning. My parents’ views on education have had a profound effect on my performance at Marshall. I may not be at the top of the class, but if I hadn’t starting pushing myself I probable would be in the class at all. I will continue to profit from these newfound values throughout my academic, professional, and personal life.