My research area focuses on dysphagia. My question was: What are some possible causes of dysphagia and how can I help make clients with dysphagia more comfortable?

What are the steps of a swallowing evaluation and diagnosis?

What are the different types of diet for clients with dysphagia?

What are different techniques that could be used in order to make swallowing easier with or without diet change?

How can I better understand different causes for swallowing disorders?

What can I do that will better explain the disorder to the family and client and help them make the proper adjustments?

After I completed the VARK inventory, I ended up with Visual 3, Aural
6, Read/Write 4, and Kinesthetic 7. The inventory said that I had a
multimodal (VARK) learning preference. It said that I was interesting
and quite varied. Funny, that is also what *I* think! The description
said that some people have admitted that if they want to be annoying
then they stay in a mode different from the person whom with they are
working. But I wouldn't do something like that. I just thought it was
slightly funny. I would want to have positive reactions and work with
other people around me. The inventory description also said that I
needed to use more than one strategy.

I think that this is fairly true when I think about it. I like to learn
by writing, listening to lectures, seeing what is being done in order
to come up with an outcome and being involved. I am pretty flexible. If
I'm in a lab where I have to participate, then I'll participate. If I'm
in a class where there is only lectures and tests, then I'll take notes
and study for the tests. The VARK inventory was interesting.

Kara

In high school, I can actually say that I didn’t learn a whole lot. I can’t think of a class that I really took seriously besides my English classes and that’s just because they were the teachers that meant business. I have always done terrible in math, decent in science, and fairly well in English. I remember that I didn’t learn how to do anything in Geometry, Algebra, or Chemistry. I did good to pull C’s. The math teachers were good people, they just didn’t teach. In Algebra I learned more about hunting than any one girl should know (unless you’re a girl who likes to hunt). I can actually say that my Chemistry teacher was horrible. We called him Butch. He didn’t explain things very well and when we asked him questions, he just looked at us like we were idiots and never answered us. He was a nut! I hate to say that but he was. I don’t think he liked me very well because I was always badgering him. I remember one time I studied so hard for this test and when I got it back I had gotten a C. Oh that made me mad because I knew that stuff so I made him give me a retest and I ended up getting a B. I guess because of things like that it made me just not care a whole lot. I typically kept a 3.2 or better but high school was more of a social function for me. I had these two biology teachers, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Meadows. My friends and I would just set and talk and Mr.Meadows would just look at us and shake his head and mumble, “seniors”. Mr. Lewis would beg our class (Advanced Biology, mind you) for just 15 minutes of gems of wisdom and nuggets of knowledge. And that’s about all we gave him.

Now that I think about it, this could be a reason why I did so horrible my freshman year. I came here and actually had to work. Man, I didn’t know what that was like! I’m still trying to adjust. While I was here at Marshall, I took some math classes and I rocked! I ended up getting A’s. That totally shocked me. I didn’t know I had it in me. Mom and I laughed when I got a letter in the mail asking me if I wanted to be a tutor for math. I have done so well here at Marshall. Sometimes I shock myself when I think. It’s awesome what you can do if you just put your mind to it.

Some barriers and griefs that I do have is when I get stumped on something or even worse, when I have no clue about what is going on. Yes, sometimes that happens to me. I think my brain just has a temporary meltdown for a little while. I think I start out the beginning of each year like that. It may have something to do with the summer break. That’s another thing! I feel like I have forgotten everything after summer break. I came back this year and found myself reviewing the stuff we did last semester in order to do some of my work this semester. This causes me to have a slow start on trying to fit together everything I have learned and what I am currently learning. However, I eventually get it together.

Kara