Engagement mini grant funds training for cohort

By: Sara Banton
Creative Services Student Writer

 As a student in the online master’s program for speech-language pathology (S-LP), Carlie Madsen’s first thought when she came across the engagement mini grants offered by JMU’s Faculty Senate and Student Government Association was “How can I use this as an online student?” After pondering that question for a while, she submitted an application, detailing her plan to use the grant money to fund specific professional training for her cohort. Her application was chosen to be one of the eight mini-grant recipients for 2018-19.

“The professional trainings we can do as S-LPs not only enhance our career, but also enhance how we can serve,” Madsen said. “This was a way to bring the cohort together and receive training outside of the class.”

The training, LSVT LOUD®, is a speech treatment program for individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Individuals with Parkinson’s often begin speaking more softly, making it difficult to be heard. The training is meant to recalibrate their perceptions and help them learn to comfortably use their voice at a normal volume.

“It’s very intensive,” Madsen said. “It ends up being really fun though. You’re pumped afterwards because everything has to be loud. It makes a difference in people’s lives. That’s the reason I love it.”

The grant was able to provide the training cost-free to any student in the cohort who wished to participate. “As a student, you have so many opportunities to participate in things at discounted rates. The catch is, you may be short on tuition or books,” Madsen said. “The grant was the perfect opportunity to diminish costs.”

Karin Maloney, another student in Madsen’s cohort, participated in the training. “I think a lot of us wouldn’t have done the training otherwise, because of the expense and time, but this grant made it feasible,” Maloney said. “I’m really grateful for that. It was an opportunity I wouldn’t have expected to have.”

Maloney was able to use the training to help patients beyond those with Parkinson’s during her clinical placement. She used the techniques on a patient who had suffered a stroke, to help them learn to speak louder again. “You never know when knowledge like that will be beneficial to somebody,” Maloney said.

Map showing location of LSVT LOUD® speech-language pathologists after grant

The cohort is spread out geographically and like the program, the training was conducted online. There are now 13 communities throughout Virginia and across the U.S. that have LSVT LOUD® certified clinicians to serve individuals with Parkinson’s in their communities.

“I felt a lot of gratitude towards the engagement grant committee for seeing the value in what we can do,” Madsen said. “We’re non-traditional students. We have people who are career changers, I’m a mom of three kids, we’ve got moms of up to five kids, we have people in the military and husbands who are deployed. It gave me the connection to the university that I’ve been looking for. This training has helped me feel really engaged with JMU.”