Speech/Language Patholigist Goes International
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2009
The Children’s Institute Speech/Language Pathologist Goes International
Pediatric Rehabilitation Specialist from Pittsburgh Travels to Teach Halfway around the World.
Marybeth Trapani-Hanasewych, MS, CCC-SLP, director of Speech/Language Therapy at The Hospital at The Children’s Institute, is preparing to take the trip of a lifetime. Next month, she will travel to Singapore to teach the speech/language component of an eight-week certification course in Neuro-Developmental Treatment (NDT).
NDT, Mrs. Trapani-Hanasewych explains, is a problem-solving approach to the diagnosis and treatment of impairments and functional limitations stemming from neuropathology—for example, from cerebral palsy, stroke or traumatic brain injury. NDT focuses not only on function but also on quality of movement.
Mrs. Trapani-Hanasewych has been an instructor for the Neuro-Developmental Treatment Association (NDTA) since 1993 with a focus on pediatrics. She and other certified NDTA instructors are invited throughout the year to teach certification courses all over the globe in locations such as England, Ireland, Colombia, Mexico and India. The spring course is being held at the Rainbow Centre – Margaret Drive School (RCMDS) in Singapore from March 10-15. This course is Marybeth’s first international class, though she has taught in seven locations throughout the United States.
Says Marybeth, “I’m really looking forward to this experience. Whenever you teach, it’s an opportunity for you yourself to learn because every situation, and every group of students, is unique.” She says, for example, that, as part of the discussion about functional feeding, she’ll be teaching the concept of food texture analysis but it’s not yet certain what foods will be available in Singapore. “We’ll certainly find something that works, and it will be a learning experience for all of us,” she says.
Mrs. Trapani-Hanasewych has been a staff member at The Children’s Institute for 22 years. She resides in McCandless with her husband John and her son Patrick.
