My name is Julie and I am 21. I am a junior at Marshall University and have been studying Communication Disorders for about two years. I have enjoyed learning about communication disorders and am looking forward to helping people at different ages with various problems. I plan to graduate in the year 2004 and then go to graduate school.

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First, I would like to thank my grandfather, since he is the reason that I chose to do research on Parkinson's disease. I am not thanking him because he has this disease; however, I am thanking him for being such a good person that I look up to. He has accomplished so many things in his life and I truly look up to him. Thanks Granddad for being such an inspiration!

Second, I would like to thank the people on my mailing list. They are a wonderful group of caring people. Everyone works together to create a great support group. At first, I was a little hesitant because I do not have PD, but they welcomed me right in. Thank you!

I would also like to thank Abbye, Kara, Tiffany, and Cindy. Abbye, Kara, and Tiffany were in my group and helped me to improve my genres. They looked out for me incase I made some mistakes or was really off track. So, basically, I know who to go after if I don't get a good grade...just kidding:). I want to thank Cindy and Abbye (again) because they helped me out a lot. There were so many times of frustration;luckily our most frustrating moments did not occur at the same times…but during those times, they reminded me that I was not the only one and pushed me to keep on goin’. Thanks guys!!!

And last, but not least, I would like to thank Mrs. McCommas. Even though sometimes I felt like pulling my hair out, you were always good to help us along. If I was having trouble, I knew if I emailed the class list, you would respond ASAP and would be more than happy to help me. Thanks!!

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I started and have been working on this project for a Communication Disorder class I have been taking. It is a writing intensive class that is mostly done through the computer. I have learned a lot about the Internet and websites from this class. My teacher, Mrs. McCommas, has been giving us assignments that built up to create a whole research project. I decided to do my research on Parkinson’s disease. I chose this topic for two main reasons. The most obvious reason is because I may be working with Parkinson’s disease patients and need to know useful information that will help me facilitate them to my full capabilities. The other reason I chose Parkinson’s disease is because my grandfather suffers from it. He has had it for many years now and has gotten pretty bad. He can no longer communicate with us. It has always been very confusing for me; no one has been able to explain to me exactly what Parkinson’s disease does to a person. My first impression was that it simply made his hands trimmer. Then as he got worse, he could not talk very well, and we had trouble understanding what he was saying. This motivated me to find more information on the disease.
Our projects had to be made up of seven different genres. We had to create a webliography, do a power point presentation, and write a poem. The other genres we did were up to us. The genres I chose were the ones that I thought could best describe the disease. They are in different voices; some are in a clinician’s voice, while others are in family members’ voices and the client’s voice. Although, this project was hard and took a great deal of time, it was interesting and educational when I tried to put myself into the other person’s position. It forced me to think about their feelings and experiences. I think it is very important that I do this when I become a speech-language pathologist; this project has helped me to realize that.

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