It's been over two weeks since ASHA wrapped up. I'm finally regaining control over the various loose ends (thank goodness for holidays!).

As stated in my earlier blog post, my goal at ASHA this year was to experiment with sketchnoting. I was extremely pleasantly surprised by both the overall experience and my resulting notes (especially given that I don't consider myself any kind of artist, unless stick figures count).

One of key premises of sketchnoting is that you release yourself from furiously taking notes, trying to capture every piece of information, and instead just draw what resonates most with you. At first glance, this sounds like you might miss a lot of information, or be too distracted by your drawing to follow the speaker.

I can vouch that the exact opposite was true for me during this conference. Sitting in a solid 16 hours of sessions, I was more engaged and feel I retained more information-- even fine details-- than ever before (which includes my 6.5 years of post-secondary education). Adding curlicues to my lettering or shading in a sketch seemed to facilitate a greater ability to tune in and internalize what I was hearing. And, I never really felt worried about "missing" anything. Everything just flowed and focused naturally.

I was also pretty pleased with how my sketches turned out, something I was very skeptical of going into the conference! I rifled through The Sketchnote Handbook in between sessions for ideas, and had fun becoming more adventurous with every session.

A key feature of sketchnotes, and something I committed to early on, is not stressing out about how skilled your drawings, how things are laid out, or how much information you're drawing. I let myself try out whatever came to mind, and there are definitely some cases where I'm not a fan of the results, but that's ok.

A few other benefits I discovered are as follows:

  • Traveling light: two sharpie pens, my Moleskine (I went with the traditional approach after all), and my Camelbak were all I carried with me
  • Reviewing is fun: I've re-read my notes tons of times since the conference, which is a big shift from the usual store-and-forget pattern
  • Sharing with others: sketchnotes make a great talking point, especially when sharing session takeaways with fellow SLPs

And finally: my sketchnote gallery for ASHA 2013! The gallery is presented in the order the notes were drawn, so you can see the evolution and experimentation with styles and patterns.

1012: Telepractice in Different Settings: Does It Matter Where You Are?

Presented by Cohn, Tindall, Golding-Kushner, Grogan-Johnson, Jakubowitz

Telepractice sketchnotes 1

Telepractice sketchnotes 2

Telepractice sketchnotes 3

1062: Refusal of Service Provision: Is It Ever Ethical?

Presented by Deweber, Harten, Coles-White, Torres

Ethics sketchnotes 1

Ethics sketchnotes 2

1106: New Evidence for a Neurodevelopmental, Epigenetic Theory of Stuttering: Implications for Researchers and Clinicians

Presented by Smith, Weber-Fox

Epigenetics sketchnotes 1

Epigenetics sketchnotes 2Epigenetics sketchnotes 3

SC11: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Theoretical Underpinnings & Applications to Individuals Living With a Stutter

Presented by Georgescu, Palasik, Beilby

ACT sketchnotes 2013 1

ACT sketchnotes 2013 2

ACT sketchnotes 2013 3

1488: The Use of Telecommunication to Promote Carryover in Stuttering Therapy

Presented by Tetnowski, Azios

Telecom sketchnotes 1

Telecom sketchnotes 2

 

1616: Updated Perspectives on the Neural Bases of Stuttering: Sensory and Motor Mechanisms Underlying Disfluent Speech

Presented by Beal, Daliri, Loucks, Neef, Walsh

Neural bases sketchnotes 1

Neural bases sketchnotes 2

Neural bases sketchnotes 3

Neural bases sketchnotes 4

1668: Intensive Voice Treatment of Select Motor Speech Disorders: Beyond Parkinson's Disease with LSVT LOUD

Presented by Mahler, Ramig, Fox

LSVT sketchnotes 1

LSVT sketchnotes 2

Atypical PD sketchnotes

1770: Introduction to the Variable Release Threshold (VRT) Hypothesis of Stuttering

Presented by Brocklehurst

VRT stuttering sketchnotes 1

VRT stuttering sketchnotes 2

That completes my ASHA 2013 sketchnote experiment. I'm looking forward to my next conference just so I can draw more notes. In the meantime, I'm practicing my brain-sketching skills...