EVENTS
Center for Health Aging seeks participants for senior exercise program
The Center for Healthy Aging, in the Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences, is seeking participants for a supervised exercise program beginning in August 2008. The 16-week program includes classes on Wednesdays and Fridays from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. in the TCU Recreation Center. Registration deadline is July 21, 2008.
The group exercise classes, designed for anyone age 60 or above, are comprised of a warm-up, followed by flexibility, cardiovascular, strength, and balance training according to each participant’s level of functioning. Classes will be conducted by a certified exercise instructor.
The goals of the exercise program are to help seniors become more physically fit, lose weight, increase strength and flexibility, and improve their overall quality of life, while having fun and making new friends. (more)
Speaker discusses education strategy for deaf Latino students
From teaching at the only university for the hearing impaired in the country to establishing bilingual education for the deaf in Barcelona, Spain, Communication Sciences and Disorder’s Green Honors Chair speaker has raised awareness of the need for multicultural education for deaf and partially deaf students.
Barbara Gerner de Garcia, the speaker, is professor and chair of the educational-foundations and research department at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.
The majority of students who are deaf and partially deaf at TCU happen to be part of the Hispanic population, said Terri Gonzalez, program coordinator for the habilitation of the deaf program. Gerner de Garcia has the expertise of communicating with those students, she said.
William Ryan, chair of the department of communication-sciences and disorders, said people like Gerner de Garcia who specialize in the area are much needed.(more)
Social worker shared field experiences
The former president of the National Association of Social Workers spoke about his experiences and the state of the profession at the Dee J. Kelly Alumni and Visitors Center, the social work department chair said.
Gary Bailey, who served as president of the organization from 2003 to 2005, was the Green Honors Chair this year, said David Jenkins, chair of the social work department. Bailey serves as chairman of the National Social Work Public Education Campaign.
He is also a member of the National Association of Social Workers Foundation Board of Directors and is an associate professor of social work at Simmons College in Boston, said Lorna Runge, social work administrative assistant.
The topic of the speech was "The Future of Social Work and the Need for Diversity Within the Profession."
"We as a profession really don't look like what we represent," Bailey said. "People of color are overrepresented as being recipients of service, while underrepresented as practitioners."
Junior social work major Andrieka Lockett said in a field where students work with people of diverse backgrounds, having a diverse workforce makes it easier to empathize with clients. (more)
Miller Clinic hosts free hearing screenings
May is national Better Hearing and Speech Month. To recognize that, and to encourage people to incorporate hearing tests into their annual health check-ups, TCU's Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic offered free hearing screenings. TCU's hearing screenings were available on a reservation basis at the Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic, on Tuesday, May 20.
The 30-minute screenings, available to adults and children ages four and older, consisted of a 15-minute preliminary evaluation to determine hearing loss and a 15-minute counseling session to explain test results. Screenings were conducted by TCU graduate students, supervised by ASHA-certified (American Speech Language Hearing Association) audiologists.
"Hearing loss affects one out of ever four persons over the age of 60 and increases to one out of three over age 70," said Helen Morrison, associate professor in TCU’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. "With noise exposure (video games, stereos), noise-related hearing loss is appearing as early as school age. Even minimal loss has been demonstrated to affect language development and school performance.”
Hearing loss can results in social isolation due to reduced connectedness to environment and reduced
awareness to warning signals. Anger, depression, embarrassment are common emotions as the hearing impaired listener struggles to fill in communication gaps. Hearing loss can change relationships sometimes causing increased dependency of family members, lack of assertiveness and dependency on others. (more)
