Ayala Manolson, MSc,(1965) has been chosen as the first ever recipient of the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders鈥� Distinguished Alumni Award for Professional Leadership. The Distinguished Alumni award is awarded to professionals for their outstanding contributions to scientific and clinical advancements in the field of communication sciences and disorders following their graduation. 
Renowned for founding and developing the Hanen Centre, Ms. Manolson began her training right here at 平特五不中 and graduated as one of the school鈥檚 first students: 鈥淚 loved the old grandeur of Beatty Hall and my young committed colleagues. As well, I had my first experience as an activist when, as class representative, I criticized the schools' emphasis on research to the exclusion of clinical training. The students demanded change and steps were taken.鈥� A pretty impressive feat for a young student who initially saw herself as an actress: 鈥淚nitially I wanted, like many young women, to be on the stage. In pursuit of acting, I enrolled in a Speech Arts program at the University of Wisconsin but my second year I realized I didn't have the chutzpah to knock on doors and be rejected. I wanted a career in speech where doors would open. Speech Pathology was the obvious choice.鈥�
Luckily for Canada, and the rest of the world, Ms. Manolson found the far more welcoming world of speech pathology to be just what she was looking for. However, the switch did not come without its challenges, and she recalls that: 鈥渆arly in my career, when I was expected to follow through with a therapy approach I did not have confidence in, I was frustrated and I had doubts.鈥� But frustration with a problem can lead to new ideas and solutions; and the ideas that came from Ms. Manolson lead to what she includes as some of her most rewarding experiences: 鈥� Facilitating parents鈥� involvement in their children鈥檚 language learning opportunities; providing training to small groups of parents to heighten teaching and learning experiences; using video segments鈥f parent-child interaction as a powerful teaching aid for parents; confirmation of the value of parent involvement as evidenced in SLP鈥檚 use of this approach; and creating with Barbara Ward the You Make The Difference Program, an adaptation of the Hanen Parent Program for mothers living in high risk areas."
These contributions are exactly what distinguish Ms. Manolson as a speech-language pathologist and it all started with the development of the Hanen Resource Centre in 1975. So what was it that motivated Ms. Manolson to develop such a centre? 鈥淭he warm, wonderful parents in my first parent program convinced me that they were the UNTAPPED NATURAL RESOURCE. Finding the best resources and training to enable parents to be effective in helping their child learn to communicate became my passion. The Hanen Centre gave me the opportunity to pursue that passion. It was made possible by funding from the estate of Samuel Benjamin and Lena Anne Hanen.鈥� Initially developed in Montreal (but later moved to Ontario), the Hanen program has since become a major success with over 20,000 speech-language pathologists and therapists trained around the world! The program has become known internationally with partnerships in over fifty countries. New developments in the field of language development also lead to major developments in the Hanen program and one must ask, is the current Hanen Program what Ms. Manolson envisioned it would be? 鈥淵es and more. The original program has been revised and expanded to reflect research findings. New programs and resources have been developed to train Early Child Care Educators (in collaboration with Elaine Weitzman) and to support parents of children exhibiting autistic behaviours (in collaboration with Fern Sussman).鈥�
However the Hanen Program is not the only thing that has changed over the years; the role of the speech-language pathologist is ever-evolving and we were curious to know, not only how this role has changed over the course of Ms. Manolson鈥檚 career; but also what directions she thought the profession of speech-language pathology would take in the future: 鈥淭here is a greater awareness of the value of speech therapy services and consequently more funding and work opportunities today than existed when I was young. The advances in technology and research have expanded the knowledge base and opportunities in the field of speech pathology. The future will require speech pathologists to specialize in their area of interest and acquire advanced training.鈥�
The contributions that Ms. Ayala Manolson has made to the field of speech-language pathology have made the 平特五不中鈥檚 School of Communication Sciences and Disorders proud to be involved in her early training. So, as new clinicians begin what we hope will be long and rewarding careers, what advice comes from a woman who has changed the way we look at parental involvement in early language development? 鈥淓xplore the diverse opportunities speech pathology offers. When you find the population and problem that excites you....pursue it with a passion.鈥�
