Learning Needs

What are the areas of professional practice that capture my interest (this might be a disorder, anything related to treatment or diagnosis, etc)? With respect to this general topic, what would an essential question for me be? What do I already know about this topic? What don't I know about this topic?

Swallowing disorders have always interested me. I think this first occurred to me when my brother-in-law could no longer swallow and had a feeding tube inserted into his stomach. It really bothered me that Kenny could no longer eat because he enjoyed his food a lot. I kept thinking there has to be a better way. Because of this feeding tube he seemed to have less interest in the activities going on around him. I felt like he was starving to death. I hated this feeling of helplessness and I wondered why there wasn't a device or something to make it better for him. At the time I knew absolutely nothing about swallowing disorders or how the swallow reflex was triggered.

I feel like my essential question should deal with this aspect. After talking to Ms. McComas about this I decided on: Why do people who can't chew or swallow feel like life has less meaning? I am also interested in swallowing disorders in children, as I truly love working with children.

What do I already know about swallowing disorders is very little. I know that some of the causes could be a disturbance of the nervous system or there could be a problem in one of the swallowing phases. I can't fully answer what don't I know about this topic because I have so much to learn.

What are the areas of professional practice that capture my interest (this might be a disorder, anything related to treatment or diagnosis, etc)? With respect to this general topic, what would an essential question for me be? What do I already know about this topic? What don’t I know about this topic?

I guess the area that captures my attention is swallowing. The biological function of swallowing sounded so complicated to me until Ms. Allman explained it last semester in neurogenics. She told us to swallow and then think about what was involved. The only thing that I knew was that my tongue pressed up against the roof of my mouth, my airway closed, and I could feel my larynx with my fingers move upward. So basically I knew very little of what the swallowing process involved. I’m not saying that I know much more than that now because I don’t but Ms. Allman was able to fill in some of the gaps that I had. She taught us that there are four phases to swallowing, oral prep phase, oral phase, pharyngeal phase, and esophageal phase and that the brainstem is our swallowing center. So now in regards to my knowledge about swallowing I feel like I have a basic foundation and I hunger to know more.

Another burning desire that I have had for a long time is related to an individual’s satisfaction with being able to chew food. What is it about the chewing process that makes a person feel satisfied and content with food? Why must a person chew their food rather than drink it through a straw or be feed by a tube? What is it about the chewing and grinding process? Is this a psychological factor or is it deeper than that? I don’t know but I am extremely curious about the feeling people get from the chewing process. Are humans just geared this way? I don’t even know if this question is appropriate to be my essential question but one day I would like to find the answer.

Geneva

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 and practice be informed by my ongoing research? How do I respond to opportunities for inquiry (research)? How do I meet my own learning needs?

Well let me start by WOW!!! That’s a lot of questions.

The communication disorder program has definitely taught me how important information is. I have been taught that it is imperative that I continue on this learning road. Because to me that’s what learning is a road.

This question also made me think about the conference we attended last year. As I think back about the seminars we attended I remember my feelings then. I thought this is great for students because there is only so much you can learn in the classroom and actually being able to attend a conference did make an impact on my learning. I know that our class has been told over and over about breath support and how crucial it is to voice. But it really didn’t hit home until I was sitting there listening to this man talk about the Lee Silverman Voice Therapy Program. I was thinking oh man I wish I were working so I could try this on someone.

I do understand how important learning will be to my professional and academic development. I mean what if some great technique for therapy is developed and I’ve chosen to stop learning then I won’t find out about it. This would lead to a violation of the code of ethics because I haven’t maintained my highest level of professional competence. It will be my duty to continue developing my knowledge and skills so that I can better serve my clients. A hunger for knowledge is just a given for SLP’s. So I plan on taking every opportunity to update and share my knowledge even after I graduate. It’s not only in the best interest of my clients but also myself as a person. I feel I can be a better person because of learning.

Geneva