A6.4: Reflection on Discussion of 9/13/06

     The essential question that I brought to the class was, “What types of augmentative devices are used with people who have severe Broca’s Aphasia?”  Since the class discussion I have decided to change my question to, “What if augmentative communication was not available for individual’s with chronic Broca’s aphasia and apraxia?”  Contributions that my groupmates made included: Meredith asking about if I planned to focus on a particular device and Crissa asking about my search strategy.  After this conversation I tried to think of a more specific question that would push the envelope of my thinking and research.  To help my classmates I tried to ask questions that would cause them to come to a more specific question.  I asked Crissa, “What interests you the most about Dementia, the behavioral affects or the physiological aspect?”  I asked the question to try and help her narrow down her research topic.  I asked Meredith, “What types of dysfluencies are you interested in?”  This was asked with the same intention as the question I asked Crissa.  I asked Erica, “Are you thinking about just focusing on a specific piece of the spectrum or the whole thing?”  I wanted to help her think about what she really wanted to research and if she planned to research the autism spectrum.

     In order to be positive and influential in a group discussion online, participants should:

• Pay attention to the conversation.
• Think about the topics and make helpful comments.
• Ask questions about things you are not sure about.
• Have a positive attitude.
• Be constructive in your comments.
• Be open to suggestion.
• Take the suggestions and think about how you could improve on your topic.