Winter Retreat 2019 in Wine Country

January 31, 2019 BY Gina Ossanna, CCC-SLP

THFers gathered for our 10th annual (!!) winter retreat last weekend. Looking back, we sure have grown over the years! In 2008, twelve of our clinicians gathered at a mountain cabin for a cozy, casual event. This year, we hit our record with 39 attendees. Wow! Our growth meant that we needed to change venues and move to the Grand Lodge in Oregon’s wine country. We all looked forward to coffee, pastries, a beautiful setting, and lots of catching up among ourselves.

Marydee Sklar joined us in the morning to share information on executive functioning.  Her presentation was engaging, relevant, and based on research. She shared tips about how to best use visual timers and clocks to keep on track with tasks, and knowing how much time it actually takes to get something done. We came away valuable strategies we can use in both our professional and personal lives.

In the afternoon Megann McGill, Assistant Professor in the Speech and Hearing Sciences Department at Portland State University, shared the latest research and strategies when working with children who stutter, with a focus on telepractice. I think we all appreciated a refresher course on stuttering. It is always nice to hear an expert say that it’s okay for children to stutter and that focusing on attitudes and feelings about stuttering is important. Thanks for all you are doing to advance the field, Megann!

Thanks to all our presenters and attendees for making it a great day, and I’m already looking forward to next year!