Getting Started: "Organization Home Pages: Treasure Troves of Information on the World Wide Web"
by Judith Maginnis Kuster - Mankato State University
(kuster@mnsu.edu).
Each week YAHOO's "What's New" features
links to several thousand new Internet sites, including organization
homepages, many containing growing repositories of
important resources. The most significant for the more than 84,000
ASHA members as well as for persons interested in communication
disorders or wanting career and membership information,
was announced in early May. ASHA's homepage features news releases and action alerts;
conference, workshop and convention information; draft position
statements for member response; information on ASHA publications
and advertising; grant, career and consumer information,
including downloadable brochures on a variety of disorders.
Along with the ASHA home page there are at least five
additional organization homepages on the Internet specifically for
speech-language pathologists and audiologists.
- American Academy of Audiology is
developing a homepage to include information about current news,
membership, conventions, continuing education, publications,
legislative activity.
- And the first four state speech-language-hearing associations to
develop an internet presence are these:
Many other national and state professional and non-profit
organizations have developed internet resources of interest to
audiologists, speech-language pathologists and speech scientists.
Often these sites contain extensive articles, brochures,
newsletters, networking information for parents, patients and
professionals, current research information, and more. Seven
sites are highlighted below with some examples of treasures often
hidden in such sites.
- Acoustical Society of America provides an
introduction to acoustics and sound, audio samples of interesting
sounds, as well as information on the ASA and their publications.
- Alzheimer's Association includes caregiver
resources, an extensive bibliography with citations about
nutrition/eating and activities for Alzheimer patients, conference
and support group information.
- Association for Research in Otolaryngology homepage is dedicated to scientific
exploration and research involving the ear, nose, head, neck and
related neural structures. The site contains abstracts of papers
presented at annual scientific meetings and the newsletter of the
association.
- Association for Retarded Citizens site is rich in information on a variety
of topics including Assistive Technology for People with Mental
Retardation, The Americans with Disabilities Act, Down Syndrome,
Fragile X Syndrome, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention, Facts
About Alcohol Use During Pregnancy, and Public Law 94-142.
- Canadian Association of People Who Stutter homepage includes information on stuttering and
therapy resources, an online newsletter, and copies of conference
papers.
- Center for the Study of Autism homepage is packed with information on autism and related disorders such as
Angelman Syndrome, Asperger Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome,
Landau-Kleffner Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder,
Prader-Willi Syndrome, Rett Syndrome and Williams Syndrome.
- National Multiple Sclerosis Society homepage includes information on speech
disorders and dysphagia associated with multiple sclerosis.
There are significant treasures to be found at each of the following
organizational homepages as well as those highlighted above.
Many national organizations do not yet have an internet homepage.
However, many have
toll-free phone numbers or national office addresses which can also be found on the internet in the key word searchable database for finding national support
organizations.
Return to Internet Resource Page
Return to ASHA Home Page
The above information was combined, updated, and adapted from:
Kuster, JM, Organization Home Pages: Treasure Troves of Information on the World Wide Web, ASHA Magazine, October, 1996