Professor receives award for contributions to aphasia community

Katie Strong, Ph.D., faculty member in Communication Sciences and Disorders received the State Clinical Achievement Award for Recent Clinical Achievement from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (ASHF). Strong was nominated for her contributions to the aphasia community in the state of Michigan. Aphasia is a language disorder which affects a person’s ability to communicate, most commonly after a stroke or head injury.  

Strong provided access to services for hundreds of people living with aphasia during the COVID-19 pandemic and created a virtual aphasia book club. Strong is a founder of the Lansing Area Aphasia Support Group and during the COVID-19 pandemic, facilitated members of the support group to form the Aphasia Education and Advocacy Team. This team trained 150+ first responders from the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office on how to communicate with people living with aphasia. Strong also created a group for people living with aphasia dependent on technology called Getting’ Tech Savvy for Virtual Connections for Aphasia.  

“Since meeting and knowing Dr. Strong these past four years, my life as a stroke survivor has become much less lonely. I am more optimistic about the future,” says a client of Strong’s. 

The ASHF “asks each state association to select one person [which has] demonstrated contributions to the advancement of knowledge in clinical practice in audiology or speech-language pathology within the past six years. That person receives a certificate from the ASHF and is named a State Clinical Achievement Award recipient.”  

Strong received her award on a national stage at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association convention in New Orleans.  

Katie Strong, Ph.D., received an award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation for her multiple programs for people with aphasia.