(Rockville, MD - January 16, 2009) The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and BrainLine.org have agreed to collaborate on the BrainLine site in ways that will highlight the contributions made by speech-language pathologists and audiologists to persons with a traumatic brain injury (TBI).
For example, ASHA will contribute to BrainLine's "Ask The Expert" feature in the BrainLine newsletter, produce fact sheets on speech therapy and hearing for posting to the site and provide guidance for living with TBI. (Currently, ASHA's Director of Health Care Services Janet Brown, MA, CCC-SLP responds to the importance of rest on the BrainLine site.) Also, BrainLine.org, will feature ASHA's nationally-recognized Better Hearing and Speech Month in May, help promote ASHA's TBI related hearing loss Webinar that is scheduled for fall 2009, and post articles on the subject of TBI from ASHA's journals and The ASHA Leader, ASHA's major membership publication.
In the United States, approximately 1.4 million reports of TBI are seen annually. A TBI is caused by an injury to the head and can range from mild to moderate to severe. People with TBI can experience physical problems such as hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in the ears) seizures, blurred vision and headaches. Communication problems often present themselves to those with TBI and people can have difficulty concentrating, processing or "taking in" new information, remembering events and people, and speaking clearly due to weak lip and tongue muscles.
"ASHA looks forward to this collaboration with BrainLine which is a valuable resource for TBI patients and their families," according to ASHA President Sue Hale. "Together, ASHA and BrainLine will continue offering consumers vital information that will help with recovery from and dealing with a traumatic brain injury."
About the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 130,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems including swallowing disorders. www.asha.org.
About BrainLine
BrainLine ,a service of WETA, the public TV and radio station in Washington, DC., is a national multimedia project offering information and resources about preventing, treating, and living with TBI. BrainLine includes a series of webcasts, an electronic newsletter, and an extensive outreach campaign in partnership with national organizations concerned about traumatic brain injury.
BrainLine is funded by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, the primary operational TBI component of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, through a subcontract award with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine. www.brainline.org.
This material is based upon work supported by the USAMRAA under Contract Number W81XWH-08-C-0066. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USAMRAA.
