Category: UCEDD

Remembering Ludell Swenson

A peek into a collection of newspaper clippings about Ludell Swenson reveals the life of an extraordinarily accomplished person: marathoner, competitive tournament bowler, outspoken social services advocate. But what stands out the most is his lifelong participation in research that would lay the very foundation for the Waisman Center’s Communication Development Program (CDP) and the …

Inside Waisman: Meet Lindsay McCary

As a third year graduate student in school psychology at the University of South Carolina, Lindsay McCary, PhD, was looking for a new advisor to help her with her dissertation.

Friends present staff, students and family awards

The Friends of the Waisman hosts this annual event for members of the Friends organization; community supporters of the Waisman Center; and Waisman Center faculty, staff, and students. The 2020 Awards were presented at a virtual meeting on August 18 2020.

The ECHO effect

Project ECHO (the mantra for which is “All teach, all learn”) uses video-conferencing technology to provide education and case consultation on best practice clinical services, training, and resources for individuals with specific healthcare needs that are difficult to meet locally. The Waisman Center ECHO platform will serve as a diagnostic and treatment training hub to share the center’s expertise on intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as autism, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy, throughout the state and beyond.

Serving during COVID-19: AAC outreach services

The Communication Development Program (CDP) is an outreach program of the Waisman Center UCEDD at University of Wisconsin, Madison. This program was developed over 30 years ago in partnership with the Dane County Department of Human Services, and specifically the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) unit. The mission of CDP is to enhance community participation, …

Waisman teacher recognized with staff excellence award

Academic staff members bring UW–Madison’s mission to life — they are gifted teachers, world-class researchers and dedicated administrators. None of that has changed with COVID-19. If anything, their creativity and dedication is more needed and more apparent than ever right now. Though the ceremony to recognize this year’s winners of Academic Staff Excellence Awards has …

Spurred by COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth becomes mainstream at Madison clinics, hospitals

“It was awesome. It saves us from having to take time off work and having to travel,” said Nicole Gantz, whose 8-year-old son Joshua has Down syndrome and an attention disorder. Nicole and Joshua visited with Maria Stanley, a developmental behavioral pediatrician in the Waisman Clinics, using telehealth – a remote and interactive way to administer healthcare services. The visit …

Task force offers tools allowing patients on ventilators to communicate

For a patient suffering from a life-threatening illness like COVID-19, communication means everything. If that person is on a ventilator and no visitors are allowed in the room, doctors and nurses must rely on tools and technology to communicate. Sarah Marshall, a speech-language pathologist (SLP) in the Waisman Center Communication Aids and Systems Clinic (CASC), …

Routine test reveals rare diseases

“The newborn screening is most likely the first test of your child’s life,” says Mei Baker, MD, co-director of the Newborn Screening Laboratory at the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene and a Waisman Center affiliate investigator.

Catherine Kanter named speech-language pathologist of the year

“I then found in speech-language pathology a wonderful marriage of my love for language and communication and helping individuals with disabilities, and came to UW-Madison to complete my graduate degree,” says Kanter, who has worked as a full-time speech-language pathologist, or SLP, at the Waisman Center since June 2018.