HDC Partners with Team Gleason for ALS Conference

The Human Development Center at LSU Health New Orleans School of Allied Health Professions will host a conference addressing communication strategies for people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The two-day conference held in partnership with Team Gleason, called ALS, Communication and All That Jazz, will take place June 9 and 10, 2017, at LSU Health New Orleans’ Human Development Center, 411 South Prieur Street.

            The conference is intended for allied health and other health professionals caring for people with ALS, people with ALS and family members, and any other person interested in participating. National experts will address subjects including no-tech, low-tech and high-tech augmentative communication strategies, pro-active message banking, strategies to enhance speech clarity, voice banking, partner-assisted scanning and laser pointer with low-tech boards, assessment and feature matching for speech-generating technology, successful use of computer/AAC device strategies, as well as environmental controls and home automation systems for all budgets. Attendees will participate in a hands-on demo and practice with communication technologies.

            As ALS progresses, motor control and speech production may decline.  Movement of the arms and legs, and use of speech are severely compromised. People with ALS leave their jobs, give up use of the computer and accept assistance with even simple tasks as their abilities to engage in these activities are compromised. Most people are unaware of the broad range of adaptations and devices designed to compensate for decreased motor control. Many patients can benefit from use of a head mouse, arm supports, or voice recognition software for example. Many people with ALS can continue doing certain tasks, just in a different way. The program can be found here. Links to the presentations, handouts and videos (videos available only after the conference to conference attendees) can be found here.

            The registration fee is $60 for the two-day conference. The registration fee includes all conference sessions, breakfast and lunch on both days of the conference.