CD315SLPresearch

Evaluation: Self as Peer Responder

arfalbo — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 18:42:22 +0000

1. Quote three specific pieces of feedback (not the whole responses, just parts of a response) that you received on your work that were particularly helpful to you in revising (not editing, revising the content). Include links to these comments.
Abby commented on my PowerPoint and said that I needed to give simple examples about the components of pragmatic language and that I needed to explain some terms more thoroughly so that the audience would grasp the meaning. This comment can be found by clicking here. Kara suggested on my poem that I address Asperger’s Syndrome specifically, instead of just mentioning autism in general. This comment can be found by clicking here. Abby suggested on my newsletter that I make it clear where the piece of information is coming from whose point of view the material is being discussed (the SLP or parent). This comment can be found by clicking here.

2. Quote three specific pieces of feedback (not the whole responses, just parts of responses) that you gave to someone else that you believe were most likely helpful to them in revising their own work. Include links to these comments.
I suggested to Lacie the possibility of considering extended care in her brochure. I didn’t think it was a bad idea to explore the possibility of what the center she developed could really offer. This comment can be found by clicking here. I suggested to Kara on here poem to consider the positive outcomes of surgery. I reminded her that we had leaned a lot in CD 463 about the positives of implantation and thought it would be good to express them. This comment can be found by clicking here. I suggested to Kara on her journal entrees that it would be a good idea to include and entry about the parent’s decision of whether or not they were going to implant the child. I told her that is she decided to form another entry that she could include the pros and cons of implantation and the parent’s thoughts on the surgery. This comment can be found by clicking here.

3. Examine your examples for the first two items above and write about what this information tells you about the kind of peer responses you give.
I feel like I give adequate feedback to my group mates. I always ask myself “what I would do differently” and “what could make this piece of work better.” I try my best to provide information that will help my group mates improve their work, but sometimes I feel like I don’t know as much about there topic as they do and find it hard to give a lot of good feedback. I don’t like responding to my group mates and just providing them with information about typos or grammar. I always try to dig deep to provide them with some sort of valuable feedback.

4. Write a goal (behavioral objective) for yourself as a peer responder. Specifically (this is an important word as I do not mean generally), the next time you participate in a peer response group, what do you intend to do differently?
Before making any suggestions I’ll be sure and read the work thoroughly and let it sink in. If there is something about the piece that I don’t understand I’ll try to do a little research to find out more information. I will be sure and review my group mates with constructive criticisms.

Self-Evaluation

arfalbo — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 22:03:59 +0000

Site Name and URL: Computer Networking in Communication Disorders http://arfalbo.wordpress.com/.
Accuracy
1. Does the author cite sources to develop the site? Yes, there is a resource page with proper citations.
2. Is it possible to verify the legitimacy of these sources? Yes, there are links available to some of the sources, if appropriate and there are also sources listed with all of the bibliographical information.
3. Does the background of the author point to knowledge of the subject covered? Yes, there is information about the author that indicates she is an undergraduate student studying the field of Communication Disorders.
4. If the site is research-based, does the author clearly identify the method of research and the data gathered? Yes, there are web sites that are linked within the site to resources that were used and correct cititations provided for other resources.

Authority
1. Do you recognize the author’s name? Yes, but unless the reader knew me personally they wouldn’t’t be familiar with the name.
2. If you don’t recognize the name, what type of information is given about the author? Position? Organizational affiliation? E-mail address? Biographical information? There is An About the Author page that is linked to the site that provides personal details about the author such as where she grew up, her journey throughout her education, and her current position at Marshall University.
3. Was the site referenced in a document that you trust? Yes, it was provided in the Commnication Disorders 315.

Objectivity
1. Determine what is the aim of the author or organization publishing the site. The aim of the publishing site is to produce a Mulit-genre Research Project about a topic of interest for educational purposes.
2. What is the purpose of the web site. To provide information about a research project..
3. Do you trust the author or organization providing the information? Yes

Currency
1. Is the date clearly displayed? Yes, the date and time is listed beside each item that was published on the website.
2. Can you determine what the date refers to? When the page was first written? When the page was first posted on the Internet? When the page was last revised or updated? The copyright date? The date refers to when the piece was published and thus copyright. If a piece was edited the date and time to which it was publised changes, but I do not believe you are shown the original date anymore.
3. Are the resources used by the author current? Yes, some resources are more current than others but I believe that they are all valid.
4. Does the page content demand routine or continual updating or revision? At this point it seems that eht page contect is contiunally being updated and revised.
5. Do the links on the page point to the correct Internet site addresses? Yes.

Coverage
1. Are the topics covered on the site explored in depth? Yes
2. Are the links on the site comprehensive or used as examples? Yes, they all seem to work.
3. On the site, are the links relevant and appropriate? Yes, they are appropriate.
4. How valuable is the information provided? The information provided is pretty valuable given the audience is interested in the given topic.

A13.5: Week 13 Reflection

arfalbo — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 20:42:55 +0000

Aims/Objectives:
This week I set out to make a draft of the table of contents for my MRP in order to organize all the pieces of work. I also had to once again peer review two of my group mates work in order to provide them with adequate feedback about their last genres. Another assignment required me making a reference page that included all the pieces of work that I have cited throughout the process of composing all seven genres. The last assignment was to revise a piece of work in order to improve it and make it better. Along the way of completing the MRP I knew that there were pieces of work that needed some tweaking and now I had a chance to do it.

Declarative Knowledge:
This week I learned about the order in which I should present my table of contents. I learned that the order in which the information is presented is the order in which the author wants readers to navigate through their work. I also learned how to use the SCAR (S=Substitute, C=Cut, A=Add, & R=Rearrange) method to improve one of my pieces of work. I learned that a revision deals with the message of the piece of work and that editing deals with the mechanics of a piece of work. I wanted to make sure that I revised instead of edited so that I was making the piece of work more meaning and clear to the reader. I had never heard about or used the SCAR method before but it was actually very helpful and provided me with a guideline of how to revise my work.

Procedural Knowledge:
In order to draft a table of contents I first had to create a page and then provide the work in a specific order. The order provided was: preface, acknowledgements, about the author, unifying genre, references, & reflection. This order would make it easy for readers to easily navigate through my work. The next thing that I had to do was provide a list of all the genres that I’ve completed. I choose to list the genres in the order that they were completed. The list order provided was: webliography, acrostic poem, newsletter, podcast, interview transcript, & PowerPoint. The list of the genres will allow readers to go directly to each individual piece of work. The next assignment I completed was peer reviewing two of my group mate’s pieces of work. While I was reviewing their work I had to ask myself the following questions:
1. Voice: Whose voice is this piece in?
2. Audience: Who is this piece written for?
3. Say Back: What do you think the author is saying with this piece? (not what do you think they mean to say, but what are they actually saying)
4. Bless: Find something specific in each piece that you can “bless.” You might like the originality of an idea, a particular word used, whatever.
5. Address: Find something specific in each piece that the author should “address.” Make this something that will actually improve the quality of the piece…your group mates are counting on you to help them make their work stronger (just like you are counting on them).
Once I had answered the questions, I posted the responses as comments on my group mate’s personal weblogs. I then had to compose a reference page for all the pieces of work that I have cited throughout the completion of my project. I had to go back and gather all the references and cite them using APA guidelines. When I was done I posted the references page as a page to my webpage. The last assignment for the week was using the SCAR method to revise a piece of work. I choose to revise genre 4, which was two journal entrees. I choose to revise this genre because I thought it would be a good genre to revise into a unifying genre. The first thing I did was ask myself what I could substitute. Then I figured out what I could cut, add, and rearrange to make the piece of work meaningful and clear. I played around with a few ideas at first, and then I figured out exactly where I wanted to link all of the other genres. I linked each genre in one by one so that all the material flowed together. Once I was done I had a unifying genre that I feel was meaningful and got a point across.

Conditional Knowledge:
I feel that I have learned a lot over the course of the semester that will help me throughout my professional life. From this past week’s assignments I am now familiar with how work should be organized and viewed (table of contents). I am also now aware of how to revise a piece of work properly (SCAR method). I know that I will be using the SCAR method a lot now because I often tend to start all over when I don’t like the work I’ve created. Instead of just starting over I’ll now look over the work to see what I should substitute, cut, add, and rearrange.

A13.4: SCAR Revisioning

arfalbo — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 00:26:01 +0000

This week one of the assignments was to revise a genre. I know that all of my genres could use some tweaking, but I chose to revise my journal entry genre to make it a unifying genre. I did not have one genre that pulled everything together and contained links to all the other genres. I did my best to use the SCAR (S=substitute, C=Cut, A=Add, & R=rearrange) method to revise the journal entry genre to turn it into a unifying genre.

The piece was originally in parent voice and I wasn’t for sure how I could link it all from that point of view. I ended up keeping it in parent voice, but I discussed things that the doctor and speech-language pathologist (SLP) had told the family during appointments. The way I explained the information from the parent’s point of view ended up linking everything nicely. There were some emotions and experiences that I had in the original piece that I ended up cutting out because they weren’t necessary. I feel like I kept most of the original format that I had and just went back and added information to it. I needed all the information to intertwine so that it made since. In the beginning the journal entrees were mainly about the father’s feelings about his daughter’s diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome (AS); in the end the journal entrees ended up explaining the process the family went through from the time of the diagnosis to the time they got their daughter help to improve her pragmatic and social skills.

The information that I added were links to all the genres so that the journal entry genre would transform into a unifying genre. For this to be possible I had to explain what happened during the visit to the doctor from the parent’s point of view. I also had to explain about the visit to the SLP. I also added some other emotions and feelings of the parent. By incorporating all the genres together I was able to create a unifying genre that still had meaning and got a point across.

I don’t feel that I really rearranged any information from the original genre. I mainly had to add information to complete the task of making it a unifying genre. However, while I was composing the unifying genre I kept playing with different ideas of “how” to incorporate each piece of work so that it all made since. I wanted to make sure that the journal entrees made since and that the unifying genre was easy to understand. Once I had rearranged a few different ideas and revised the piece I was very happy with how it flowed. It was much better than the original piece and now it was unifying, which was fantastic!

A12.7: Week 12 Reflection

arfalbo — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 21:48:26 +0000

Aims and Objectives:
This week I set out to complete the last genre of the semester, comment on my group mates work from last week, research and reflect digital literacy as a whole, draft a preface, draft acknowledgements, and drat an about the author section. I had to think carefully about what I wanted to say in the preface, acknowledgements, and author sections. I also wanted to make sure that I provided my group mates with sufficient feedback and draft a good final genre.

Declarative Knowledge:
This week I learned what exactly a preface, acknowledgements, and about the author consists of. According to the information on the class webpage about the multigenre research project (MRP) it says that a preface should provide information about how or why you chose your research topic. In the preface you can also include some insight to why you chose a certain genre. The acknowledgments section is where the author thanks or acknowledges someone who has influenced them along the way of completing the MRP. This person may have helped them decide on a certain topic or provided them with insight about the topic they chose to research. The about the author section should include biographical information. For me, this section included my childhood, journey through middle and high school, and where I am today as a communication disorders major.

Procedural Knowledge:
This week I had to complete a PowerPoint project. I had used PowerPoint many times before, so it wasn’t a hard task to complete. I used a variety of resources to complete the assignment about Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) focusing on the areas of social skills and pragmatic language. I also added pictures to the PowerPoint that I locate on various autism websites. Once I was done with the PowerPoint I moved onto the next assignment. This week I once again peer reviewed my group mate’s genres from last week. After answering the same questions as in the weeks before I posted the comments to their genres, so that they could review them later. I then had to take another look at digital literacy. This week I examined each component of digital literacy and reflected on why it is necessary to produce skills in all area. I also had to respond to my group mate’s reflections on the topic. We all agreed that knowledge in all areas of digital literacy is a must. The next assignment involved a draft of preface. After reading up on what a preface contained I was able to compose this piece of work. I provided information to “why” I chose the topic specific topic for my MRP then went on to make acknowledgements. In the acknowledgements section I recognized the people who have helped me and motivated me along the way of completing my MRP. Without them it wouldn’t have been possible. The last assignment for the week was composing a draft about the author for my MRP. This was easy since I was writing about my life. However, I had to draw a line of what to include and what to no include. There are a lot of pieces to my life that makes me who I am, but I tried to focus on the most important ones that have lead me to where I am today.

Conditional Knowledge:
The information I have learned along this journey of completing a MRP will be useful to me the rest of my life. I have learned how to create a webpage, which I have never done before. I also was given the opportunity to research digital literacy and its five components, which I made me realize that I am in fact a digitally literate person. I am also glad to know what is included in a preface, acknowledgments, and about the author sections of a project. All this information as a whole is what starts to close the circle to my project. Without it I wouldn’t have been able to complete my original task of setting out to complete this project.

A12.3: Digital Literacy

arfalbo — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 19:44:31 +0000

What do you know about digital literacy?
   Living in such a technical generation has high demands to be digitally literate. I actually possess more digital literacy skills than I thought. However, I did learn a lot about the digital world and what it actually means to be literate. Digital literacy is the ability to understand new high-tech digital culture according to Creativity at Work: Articles & Tips. Digital literacy is composed of five components. Photo visual literacy is the concept in which letters have become icons or graphics. This literacy is based on the idea of using vision to think. Reproduction literacy is the ability to take existing information and manipulating it into new work that reassembles, but that is different from the original piece. Information literacy is the ability to review a source to find out if it is reliable and valid. There are certain steps one must follow to ensure that a resource is in fact reliable and valid. Socio-emotional literacy is the ability to tell the difference between right & wrong and good & bad while on the internet, as well as protecting yourself from online preadtors Creativity at Work: Articles & Tips. Branching literacy is “the non-linear nature of modern hypermedia technology that has introduced computer uses to new dimensions of thinking, which are necessary in order to make educated use of this elaborate technology,” EURODL. I have learned that to be considered digitally literate that you must possess all of these skills. Being digitally literate is a must in today’s society because it is technology based. People who are digitally literate use there knowledge everyday to complete tasks that those who aen’t could more than likely not accomplish. It is very important to be in the digital literacy loop.
What are your reactions to the idea that there are certain digital literacy skills?
   I totally agree that in order to actually consider yourself digitally literate that you must possess all five components to some extent. It is acceptable to think that some areas may be stronger than others, but all must be present. I feel that I am competent in all areas, but I am by no means at all an expert. I am capable of handling small technical difficulties and guiding others through simple tasks, but I don’t know all there is to know. One aspect that is often confusing to me is when I am having Internet problems because I don’t know how to fix it. If I call for assistance I often have no clue what the technician is talking about because they are using such technical terms. At this point I usually tell them that I am computer illiterate, which isn’t necessarily the case but I am having problems with an area that I am not strongly educated in. I am able to assist my parents with their digital camera software, which I find very easy to use and don’t understand why they have problems sometimes. I believe that anyone can be taught how to use a computer but that they do have to possess certain skills in order to be able to carry out the tasks.
How do you think this “new” literacy will change education/schooling?
   As the digital world grows I believe that this “new” literacy will continue to change education/schooling in many ways. I know that the technology that is taught in schools has changed a lot since the time I was in school. I believe that the school systems are realizing the demand for technology in this digital society that we live in and are starting to prepare children at younger ages to benefit them throughout their education and life. I believe that teaching digital literacy to young children is a great idea and that it can only benefit them in the future.

A11.4: Week 11 Reflection

arfalbo — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 01:09:04 +0000

Aims and Objectives:
This week I set out to complete my sixth genre, provide feedback to my group mates on their fifth genre, and research socio-emotional literacy. It took me a while to figure out which genre I wanted to do, but I finally decided on composing a transcript interview.

Declarative Knowledge:
This week I learned about the fifth type of digital literacy, which is socio-emotional literacy. Socio-emotional literacy is the ability to tell the difference between right & wrong and good & bad while on the internet. It is involves surfing the web with discretion to be able to identify the real person from the fake person and to take precautions in chat rooms, instant messaging, or any other type of interaction on the internet (http://www.creativityatwork.com/articlesContent/aphek/digital-literacy.html). I also learned this week that I am closer to having a finish product in terms of my multi-genre project. I realized that I have completed my foundation questions and now I need to be really thinking about how I will be tying it all together.

Procedural Knowledge:
I selected an interview transcript as my sixth genre. In order to complete this assignment I had to do some more research on Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) and develop a format for the interview. The interview was in clinician and client voice and took place in a speech and language clinic. Once I had the material that I wanted to include in the interview I composed the genre, posted it as a page to my personal weblog, and sent an email out to my class so that they could check out my work. I also had to respond to two of my group mate’s fifth genres. In order to give them feedback I had to answer the following questions:
1. Voice: Whose voice is this piece in?
2. Audience: Who is this piece written for?
3. Say Back: What do you think the author is saying with this piece?
4. Bless: Find something specific in each piece that you can “bless.” You might like the originality of an idea, a particular word used, whatever.
5. Address: Find something specific in each piece that the author should “address.” Make this something that will actually improve the quality of the piece.
When the above questions were answered for each group mate I then posted the responses as comments on my group mate’s genre page. After responding to my group mate’s genres, I then had to research the last digital literacy, socio-emotional literay, and do a reflection. Once I researched the topic and got a good idea of what socio-emotional literacy was I had to answer the following questions:
1. What [do you know/can you find out] about reproduction literacy?
2. What are your reactions to the idea that there are certain reproduction skills?
3. How do you think this “new” literacy will change education/schooling?
The reflection had to consist of 400-500 words and follow APA guidelines. When I finished providing answers to the above questions I then posted the response to my personal weblog.

Conditional Knowledge:
Over the past few weeks I have been developing genres to answer my foundation questions. I finally feel like I am ready to pull everything together so that anyone who visits my webliography will get the whole picture regarding children with AS and pragmatic language. By peering reviewing other peoples work and having my own work peer reviewed as well will allow us all to produce better work by receiving feedback. I want my work to be the very best that it can be so that anyone who reads it will have a clear understating of what is being discussed. Socio-emotional literacy has also made me more aware of the cautions I should take every time I am online. Being aware of all the dangers of the internet has really opened my eyes and made me thinking more carefully before signing up for anything online or giving out personal information.

A11.3: Socio-Emotional Literacy

arfalbo — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 19:00:52 +0000

What [do you know/can you find out] about socio-emotional literacy?
   Before this assignment I didn’t know anything about socio-emotional literacy. I had come across the term before while researching the previous literacy’s, but I didn’t know exactly what it meant. According to Creativity at Work: Articles & Tips, socio-emotional literacy is the ability to tell the difference between right & wrong and good & bad while on the internet. It is involves surfing the web with discretion to be able to identify the real person from the fake person and to take precautions in chat rooms, instant messaging, or any other type of interaction on the internet. Often people pretend to be someone that they’re not, so it is very important for people to be socio-emotional literate.
What are your reactions to the idea that there are certain socio-emotional skills?
   I think that there are certain skills that one must possess in order to literate in a particular literacy. I feel that this literacy has a lot to do with a person’s awareness and judgment. People generally know when they are doing right or wrong and can make a decision of whether or not something is good or bad. The internet opens up many windows for children or teens to explore and there are often times when they may come across something that is inappropriate. When that happens they need to make the right decision and steer away from the bad. Children are at risk these days in chat rooms and even with instant messaging because you never truly know who is on the other end. A few concerns I have is that pedophiles often use these means of communication to prey on innocent children. Another concern I have is people who meet people on in singles chat rooms. You could think that you were going to meet a new friend at the park and end up getting abducted by a pedophile or psycho. Due to the many risks of the internet I feel that is important for everyone to be cautious and for parent’s to set parental controls on there computers so that their child doesn’t come across any type of danger. There are even instant messaging settings where only people on your buddy list can see when you’re online. This is also another way to protect children from harm. Even though the internet can be very helpful when researching a topic it can also be very harmful too. I believe that is very important for people to be socio-emotional literate.
How do you think this “new” literacy will change education/schooling?
   I don’t feel that this literacy has impacted education/schooling much and are not sure how much it actually could. I do feel like that teachers could make their students aware of the dangers of the internet and encourage them to never meet a stranger that they have meet online because they don’t actually know who they are talking too. I thin this type of literacy is mainly one that needs to be taught and monitored at home so that no child ends up in a place online where they shouldn’t be.

A10.5: Week 10 Reflection

arfalbo — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 22:09:05 +0000

Aims and Objectives:
This week my goals consisted of developing my fifth genre, commenting on my group mates genres from last week, researching reproduction literacy, and commenting on the mailing list that I joined at the beginning of the semester. I was most concerned and worried about developing my fifth genre because I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to do. Once I decided on developing a podcast the weekly assignments went smooth.

Declarative Knowledge:
While completing the weekly assignments I found out more about what a podcast is and what it consists of. According to Gcast a podcast is an audio recording that is stored as an MP3 that anybody can download. Podcasts are a new way of sharing audio files on the Internet. When you record a podcast you should also include the text of the podcast and the reasoning for doing the podcast so that the audience isn’t questioning its purpose. I also had to research reproduction literacy this week in order to complete an assignment. Reproduction literacy is the art of creative recycling of existing materials. The ability to reproduce and distribute digital information has opened many doors scholars and artists, while requiring the development of criteria for originality, creativity, and talent (Eshet-Alkalai, 2004).

Procedural Knowledge:
I decided to do a podcast about pragmatics with a focus on deficits in children with Asperger’s Syndrome as my genre for this week. To develop the podcast I first had to compose what I was going to discuss in Word. Once I had my information ready I had to visit www.gcast.com to obtain the phone number to call to leave the podcast. When I called to leave the podcast I was given directions on what to do and told that I would be able to review my podcast and rerecord it if necessary. When I heard the beep I started to read that information that I had composed in Word. Lucky I didn’t make any mistakes so I saved the podcast the first time. Once it was complete I waited for it to appear on my Gcast homepage. It didn’t take anytime for it to upload. When it was there I began trying to link it to my weblog. I was having difficulty getting it linked and then found out that the Gcast program wasn’t compatible with wordpress. I ended up just copying and pasting the link into the page so that the viewers would be able to play it. In the page I also included the text of the podcast and the reasoning for why the podcast was done. For the second assignment I had to comment on two of my group mate’s genres from last week. I had to answer the following questions:
1. Voice: Whose voice is this piece in?
2. Audience: Who is this piece written for?
3. Say Back: What do you think the author is saying with this piece? (not what do you think they mean to say, but what are they actually saying)
4. Bless: Find something specific in each piece that you can “bless.” You might like the originality of an idea, a particular word used, whatever.
5. Address: Find something specific in each piece that the author should “address.” Make this something that will actually improve the quality of the piece…your group mates are counting on you to help them make their work stronger (just like you are counting on them).
Once I responded to the questions I posted them as comments on my group mate’s weblogs. I then had to research reproduction literacy and compose a 400-500 word response based on the following questions:
1. What [do you know/can you find out] about reproduction literacy?
2. What are your reactions to the idea that there are certain reproduction skills?
3. How do you think this “new” literacy will change education/schooling?
Once I had researched the topic and reflected on the questions the best to my ability I posted it as a post to my weblog. Since the beginning of the semester I have been signed up to a mailing list concerned with augmentative devices. This week I had to use the information I had been reading up on to describe the community that I had joined. I had to take into consideration what I knew about the community and the people in it, the purpose of the community, and if the community fulfills the purpose that it is intended to. I reread emails that I had saved to critique the community that I have been in for the past 2 ½ months. When I completed the assignment I posted it as a post to my personal weblog.

Conditional Knowledge:
Over the past few weeks I have been required to research different types of digital literacy. As always I know that the knowledge of all the different literacy’s will help me throughout my professional career. Having knowledge of all the different types of literacy’s, such as reproduction literacy, can only help me and others succeed in the digital world. When I first heard the word “podcast” I had no idea what that was. As I learned about it last week in class and played with it this week I really think it is something that I will use a lot in my school and everyday life. It is really easy to do and useful in many different ways. I have already thought how I could use podcasts in other classes as part of a presentation or even to record school notes to hear them aloud.

Questions:
Would you recommend a PowerPoint as an integrating genre? I really wanted to use it as my integrating genre, but after last weeks discussion about how people typically use PowerPoint’s I am kind of leery about it now.

A10.4: Online Community

arfalbo — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 00:14:03 +0000

   I didn’t know much about the online community of mailing lists until I joined one. I joined a mailing list about augmentative communication devices. On a daily basis I get between 10-12 emails from members of this mailing list. Sometimes the emails are responses to questions that I never got, so I have no clue what they are discussing. I also receive a lot of good information such as suggestions for bilinguals and information about devices.
    The majority of the people in the community have a spouse or child with an augmentative device. I recently saw a post from a speech-language pathologist (SLP) who said that she had been lingering on the mailing list for about a year. She was asking for advice from the members of the mailing list in regards to their knowledge of any companies that were accommodating or unaccommodating to people with disabilities. She also asked if anyone had used an augmentative device in the workplace and asked for feedback about any challenges that they encountered. One member responded back to her saying that they had come across information that said Walgreen’s hires people with disabilities. I think it is very interesting how if a group member has a question that someone on the mailing list is bound to have an answer.
   The purpose of the mailing list is to interact with others who are experiencing the same situation as you are. It is a place where people can exchange information and ask questions to better benefit their understanding of augmentative devices and experiences. The evidence of the context of the emails on this particular mailing list supports my reasoning for the purpose of the mailing list. There are always emails asking questions to the group members or providing new information about augmentative devices.
    I believe that the community does fulfill its purpose. The community works together to answer each others questions and provide information to those who may be clueless about what augmentative devices are. I feel like this is a tight and strong community because there have even been personal emails sent to the group wishing another client good luck with their family members evaluation.
    I wish that the mailing list did provide more concert information, such as links to journal articles. Since I haven’t commented on any of the emails or sent any myself, concert information would probably benefit me the most because I don’t have the emotional ties to someone who in fact has an augmentative device. I have really enjoyed reading the emails from the group members and respect their dedication to educate others from their first hand experiences. There is one particular email address that I receive emails from a few times a day and I feel like that they are one if not the most dedicated member. They take the time to answer other group member’s questions sufficiently and carefully.
    When I first knew that I was going to be joining a mailing list I really wanted to join one that focused on autism or Asperger’s Syndrome, but they were no longer working. I have come to the conclusion that it didn’t matter what list I signed up to because if every mailing lists main goal is to help others then I got the experience that I needed. I am sure that everyone’s experience may differ to an extent, but I hope that everyone experienced the will and dedication of people helping others like I did.