By Judith Maginnis KusterEasy. There is SO MUCH information on the Internet now, that it is impossible to keep up with all the "good stuff." Sometimes I come across material that has been online for years that I didn't know about. One such site is eMedicine which began in 1996, and has grown to a rich informational resource, available to physicians, health professionals, and the general public. The most exciting part of eMedicine is what is freely available from The Patient Education Center This clinical knowledge base has been built by close to 10,000 primarily physician authors, and covers 7000 diseases and disorders. The information is current and peer reviewed. It provides good information from a physician's perspective. In some cases, professionals in our discipline could have added additional important insights.
Exploring eMedicine will uncover many current resources relevant to speech-language pathology and audiology, of interest to professionals, students, and our clients, including:
Insensitivity and One More Site on Bullying
Other times, even when I've explored a topic such as bullying ("Tears and Jeers", August 6) someone will write a thoughtful note that typically begins, "I was so pleased to read your article and references. . . " and then share a wonderful site I wish I had known about and included. And while we're on the subject of bullying, this morning I received a very insensitive email probably from a child who thought this message was funny: "i think people who studder are huge lousers. and they need to get a life and learn how to talk rite." That note, along with information from a thoughtful colleague compelled me to include the bullying site below. I hope that somewhere the child who wrote to me is sitting in a school served by a speech clinician who is now reading this. We not only need to reach those children with communication disabilities. We need to reach the children that taunt them.
The Don't Laugh at Me (DLAM) program is part of the Operation Respect project, the goal of which is to eliminate bullying in the schools. Begun by Peter Yarrow of the folk group, Peter, Paul, and Mary, DLAM "disseminates educational resources that are designed to establish a climate that reduces the emotional and physical cruelty some children inflict upon each other by behaviors such as ridicule, bullying and - in extreme cases - violence." There are three curricula available (grades 2-5, grades 6-8, and one for summer camps and after-school programs). These resources contain wonderful ideas for helping classroom teachers or school clinicians reduce bullying of children. The entire curriculum (ranging from 50-100 pages) and all the materials, including songs and videos are freely available online or can be ordered.
Judith Kuster is in the department of speech, hearing, and rehabilitation services at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Contact her by email at email@example.com. All of Kusters Internet columns are on the ASHA Web site in HTML format with active links although URLs change and there is no guarantee that links from previous articles are still functional.